Our Wine Cellar

The Wine culture in France

French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, on over 800,000 hectares (over 2 M acres) of vineyards, and in a typical year between 50 and 60 million hectolitres of wine is produced, or some 7 to 8 billion bottles. France has the world's 2nd largest total vineyard surface (behind Spain) and
competes with Italy for the position of having the world's largest wine
production.

The wine regions in France

Alsace

Alsace is primarily a white-wine region, though some red, rosé, sparkling and sweet wines are also produced. It is
situated in eastern France on the river Rhine and borders Germany, a country with which it shares many grape varieties as well as a long tradition of varietal
labelling.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a large region on the Atlantic coast, which has a long history of
exporting its wines overseas. This is
primarily a red-wine region from Medoc (Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton Rotschild, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Haut Brion), St-Emilion (Cheval Blanc, Ausone), Pomerol (Petrus, Le Pin). Bordeaux also makes dry and sweet white wines,
including some of the world's most
famous sweet wines, from the Sauternes (Chateau d'Yquem) and Barsac (Chateau Coutet, Chateau Climent) appellation.

Champagne

Champagne, situated in eastern France, close to Belgium and Luxembourg, is the coldest of France's major wine regions and home its major sparkling wine. Champagne wines can be both white and rosé. A small amount of still wine is produced in Champagne (as AOC Coteaux Champenois) of which some can be

Burgundy

Burgundy or Bourgogne in eastern France is a region where red and white wines are equally important. Probably more terroir-conscious than any other
region, Burgundy is divided into the largest number of appellations of any French region. The top wines from
Burgundy's heartland in Côte d'Or
command high prices. The burgundy wines are divided in three part :
* La cote de Nuits ( Marsannay-La-Cote to Nuits-Saint-Georges)
* La cote de Beaune (Beaune To Santenay)
La cote Chalonnaise (Givry, Rully and le Maconnais)
Two parts of Burgundy that are sometimes considered as separate regions are:
Beaujolais in the south, close to the Rhône Valley region, where mostly red wines are made, in a fruity style that is usually
consumed young. The "Beaujolais
Nouveau" is the only one wine that can be
legally consumes in the year of his
production (Third week end of November)
Chablis, halfway between Côte d'Or and Paris, where white wines are produced on chalky soil giving a more crisp and steely style than the rest of Burgundy.
There are three main varietal of wines used in Burgundy: Chardonnay which is used to produce white wines. Pinot Noir to produce red wines. Aligoté is known to be a componant of Kir.

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean the wines of which are primarily
consumed on the island itself. It has nine AOC regions and an island-wide vin de pays designation and is still developing its production methods as well as its regional style.

Jura

Jura, a small region in the mountains close to Switzerland where some unique wine styles, notably Vin Jeaune and Vin de Paille, are produced. The region covers six appellations and is related to Burgundy through its extensive use of the
burgundian grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, though other varieties are used. It also shares cool climate with Burgundy.
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon, by far the largest region in terms of vineyard surface, and the region in which much of France's cheap bulk wines have been produced. While still the source of much of France's and Europe's overproduction, the so-called "wine lake", Languedoc-Roussillon is also the home of some of France's most innovative producers. They try to combine traditional French wine and international styles and do not hesitate to take lessons from the New World. Much Languedoc-Roussillon wine is sold as Vin de Pays d'Oc.

Loire

Loire valley is a primarily white-wine region that stretches over a long
Distance along the Loire River in central and western France, and where
grape varieties and wine styles vary along the river. Four subregions are
situated along the river:
Upper Loire is known as Sauvignon Blanc land, producing wines such as Sancerre AOC, but also consisting of several Vin de qualité supérieure (step down from AOC) areas; Touraine produces cold climate-styled white wines (dry, sweet or
sparkling) from Chenin Blanc in Vouvray AOC and red wines from Cabernet Franc in Bourgueil AOC and Chinon AOC;
Anjou-Saumur is similar to the Tourain wines with respect to varieties, but the dry Savennières AOC and sweet Coteaux du Layon AOC are often more powerful than their upstream neighbours. Saumur AOC and Saumur-Champigny AOC provides reds; and Pays Nantais is situated closest to the Atlantic, and Muscadet AOC pro-duces white wines from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.

Provence

Provence is in the southeast and close to the Mediterranean. It is perhaps the warmest wine region of France and produces mainly rosé and red wine. It
covers eight major appellations led by the Provence flagship, Bandol. Some Provence wine can be compared with the Southern Rhône wines as they share both grapes and, to some degree, style and climate. Provence also has a
classification of its most prestigious estates, much like Bordeaux.

Rhône

Rhone Valley is primarily a red-wine region in southeastern France, along the Rhône River. The styles and varietal
composition of northern and southern Rhône differ, but both parts compete with Bordeaux as traditional producers of red wines.

Savoy

Savoy or Savoie, primarily a white-wine region in the Alps close to Switzerland, where many grapes unique to this region are cultivated.

South West France

South West France or Sud-Ouest, a somewhat heterogeneous collection of wine areas inland or south of Bordeaux. Some areas produce primarily red wines in a style reminiscent of red Bor-deaux, while other produce dry or sweet white wines.
Areas within Sud-Ouest include among other:
* Bergerac and other areas of upstream Dordogne;
* Areas of upstream Garonne, including Cahors;
* Areas in Gascony, also home to the
production of Armagnac, Madiran, Côtes de Gascogne, Côtes de Saint-Mont, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Tursan;
Bearn, such as Jurançon; and Basque Country areas, such as Irouléguy.
There are also several smaller production areas situated outside these major regions. Many of those are VDQS wines, and some, particularly those in more northern locations, are remnants of production areas that were once larger.
 

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