France is considered the motherland of viticulture as well as of great wines, although the country has to share this status with Italy. But the fact is that here, too, the history of viticulture goes back several thousand years, beginning long before the time of the Romans. In the south of France, for example, Phoenicians and Greeks already planted vineyards. The controlled designation of provenance, the AOC (today AOP), introduced and established in the first half of the 20th century, was the model for many wine-growing nations, such as Italy and Spain. Bordeaux is also the provenance of the famous cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, which has found imitators in many regions of the world, such as Tuscany, California and South Africa. Many winemakers have also learned the skillful use of the new, small oak barrels, the barriques, from the chateaus in Bordeaux and transferred them to their own ideas of great wines. Champagne is still considered the noblest of flint wines in the world, and the art of blending and the skill of making a still wine shimmer has found many imitators, in Franciacorta or Trentino in Italy, or even in California or Australia. Ca 400 AOP's from north to south and from east to west with a total of almost 800,000 hectares of vineyards compete for the favor of wine lovers from all over the world with an incredible variety of grape varieties and wine styles. These are also based on the enormous diversity of terroir with different climates. Bordeaux and BURGUNDY have set standards for red wines and with their classifications have provided the model for other regions and countries, such as Alsace or Germany. The Loire stands for a variety zan white wine styles from dry to noble sweet, from here also the variety Chenin Blanc started its journey to South Africa to become one of the most important white wine varieties there. With Cabernet Franc, an exciting alternative to Cabernet Sauvignon is also cultivated on the Loire. Alsace also boasts fascinating white wines that are among the best in the world at the top. The Languedoc and Roussillon regions, long ridiculed as purveyors of inexpensive mass-produced wines, are currently undergoing an exciting EVOLUTION, increasingly bringing highly provenanceal wines to the table. At the same time, the largest organically certified vineyards in the world have been established here. The "Natural Wine" and "Orange Wine" trends have also long since arrived in France. And one of the hypes of recent years, the newly discovered love of rosé wine, has its provenances in France - in Provence. Of course, French cuisine also has a lot to offer. Kitchen trends such as "Nouvelle Cuisine" have their provenances in France, for example. Dishes such as "Coqu au Vin" have long been international classics, oysters from the Atlantic or the Mediterranean cuisine of southern France enjoy the highest esteem. Some scientists as well as critics do not even see Paris as the center of haut cuisine but rather Lyon in BURGUNDY. This city has always had a good connection with Italy, that it is even suspected that Italy had a great influence on the provenances of French cuisine.
Wine Regions in France
Burgundy
Besides Bordeaux, France can boast the second most famous wine-growing region in the world, Burgundy. However, while Bordeaux is dominated by the cuvée in the most diverse forms, Burgundy has exactly one white wine variety and one red wine variety, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which, according to...
Languedoc-Roussillon
Today, Languedoc-Roussillon is by far the largest wine growing region in France, with a good 280,000 hectares. As far as the Languedoc is concerned, it is not only a beautiful cultural landscape, but also one of the most important historical regions of the country. Until the Middle Ages, the area...
Rhône
The Côtes du Rhône, unlike other areas in France, is not a uniformly defined region. Actually, it is two different areas. The most spectacular part in terms of landscape is certainly the northern Rhône. The best Syrah and Viognier wines come from here, but only in a very limited production. In...
Champagne
Champagne is probably the most famous wine region in the world. It produces exclusively sparkling wines, and they are so sought after around the world that the name and some producers are known even by those who do not drink Champagne at all. Champagne is the model for the many sparkling wines of...
Loire Valley
There is no river in the world that crosses so many and at the same time diverse wine growing regions in its course as the Loire. The origins of viticulture on the banks of the river are somewhat obscure, but vines were probably planted here as early as 100 AD. It is considered certain that...
Provence
Comparable to Tuscany, Provence is one of the most longing landscapes in Europe and without question one of the most beautiful and important wine-growing regions in the world. The history, the romantic towns and villages, the cuisine and, of course, the wine seem to merge here into a unique...
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The small, just about 3,100 hectare region on the left bank of the Rhone north of Avignon, today enjoys an almost legendary reputation; critics and lovers of the "wines of the popes" put them on an equal footing with the very great wines from Bordeaux or Burgundy. And yet the region has a long...
Alsace
Just under 100 kilometres down the Rhine, Alsace winds its way from Colmar almost to Strasbourg and is merely four kilometres wide at its widest point. The vineyards in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains cover approximately 15,000 hectares, with the almost 1,000-metre-high mountains also...
South West France
Southwest France encompasses a large number of regions, some of which are very up-and-coming today, but which differ greatly in terms of grape variety and wine style and have little in common. This concerns those regions which lie to the east, southeast or south of Bordeaux. Directly bordering...