No matter what national leanings you may have in your wine enthusiasm, there is no doubting that France is the spiritual home of wine and that French wines and the French wine regions are pre-eminent. It was here that the skills of silviculture were honed and the wide range of grape varieties and thus wine types were developed. I suppose it is possible that other countries like the USA , Australia , Italy or Spain may eventually be able to come up with the perfect match between climate, geology, choice of grapes and style of wine.
It may take them some time, of course, because the country which has achieved this balance is France and it has been testing, abandoning, re-discovering and finally settling on the magic formula for over 2000 years. And while pundits and authorities have only recently got to grips with classifying the good, the bad and the ugly from other countries, France has been cataloguing and classifying the best vineyards in detail for over 200 years, and consequently French wines and French wine regions have enviable worldwide reputations.
Naturally, France 's geographical position does give it a head start. Between Champagne in the north and the Pyrenees in the south, French wine regions and French wine country has virtually every grape-growing condition you could wish, from the downright chilly and somewhat desperate, to the torrid and broiling. As different grape varieties ripen at different times, a 2000 year long process of natural selection has narrowed down the choice of local varieties which ripen best in each French wine region. Allied to this each French wine valley has developed along with local food tastes and the association of French food and wine is now legendary.
France is only the second biggest wine producer in Europe, behind Italy , but virtually all the classic French wine styles have been copied throughout the world. Along with red Bordeaux - the classic French red wine - and champagne there is red Burgundy - another unrivalled French red wine, which is regarded as the pinnacle of Pinot Noir grape performance. Then there are the great French white wines with white Burgundy leading the way with what is at present the world's most fashionable grape - Chardonnay. Sauternes is regarded as the text-book French sweet wine. The Hermitage wines from the Syrah, the quick maturing fruity styles of the Gamay grape of Beaujolais and the snappy , ultrafresh light French white wines of Sancerre are also picked out as prototypes and copied throughout the world.
As with all wine producing areas there are some bad French wines and some fraud associated with the pre-eminence of the French wine country. It was for this reason that the French have worked out a system of guaranteeing the origin of a wine which is also copied throughout the world by people trying to authenticate their own local wines. At the top of the scale are those French wines awarded the Apellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AC) which controls the origin of the wine by certifying the land, grape variety, degree of alcohol, yield per hectare of the vines, methods of grape-growing, methods of wine-making, and finally analysis and tasting. Next come those French wines that have gained the Vin Délimitéde Qualitié Supérieure. This is a shrinking category, because French wines get promoted up to AC when they have earned their spurs, but the qualifying rules are basically the same as for AC. Vin de Pays is the third category pertaining to more regional wines and conforming to laxer rules than the AC that allow more grape varieties, higher yields and lower minimum alcohol levels. For the rest there is Vin de Table .
For the best in French wines and food there is no better way than to undertake an organised tour of the French wine country and many online wine tour operators provide exciting opportunities. Alternatively experience French wines at home by buying French wine online and savour the best French red wines, saucy French white wines and even the best French food especially French cheeses.
