The French Vinology

France produces more fine wines than any other country in the world. This fact alone has elevated some French wines to almost mythic status. Indeed, French wine making techniques, viticultural practices, even French grape varieties have been adopted by wine regions around the world. The country has molded the way we see the fine wines. The fundamental concept of terroir was flourished in France only.

France's obsession with the geographical aspects of wine resulted in the 1930s, in the form of introduction of detailed systems on regulations called Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC). This system designated those places where, today, most of the best wines in France are made, and then went on to define how those wines must be made. This system emphasized on the place of origin and the name of the wines were given by their geographic places like Chablis, Sancerre, Côte-Rôtie, Sauterenes and so on.

The most disastrous incident that took place in French Wine's history was somewhere between 1860 to 1866 when the deadly, root eating insect called Phylloxera came from America. The subsequent devastation started from Rhone Valley that spread throughout the country, followed by the entire Europe and eventually most parts of the whole world. The country's wine areas were never the same even after the vineyards recovered by planting the Phylloxera tolerant root stock.

Climatically and geographically, France can be thought of as being divided into three parts. In the north, such regions as Champagne and Burgundy have a continental climate (hot summers and cold winters), with often rainy autumns, meaning that grapes may not fully ripen, and thus produce wines that can be delicate and refined. By comparison, southern France has a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot, dry summers). Lastly, on the Atlantic coast, the wine regions of Bordeaux and the western Loire have a maritime or oceanic climate (cool summers and mild winters). Here, the Gulf Stream tempers what might otherwise be too harsh an environment, but again, rain and humidity can present problems. There are some silver linings. Bordeaux’s muggy summers, for example, make the great sweet wine Sauternes possible.

BORDEAUX

The term Bordeaux has been derived from the au bord de leau' which means "along the waters" which clearly denotes the geographical location of this wine region. Primarily known for its red blended wines, this region also produces long-lived white table wines and sweet dessert wines like Sauternes. Located along the path of three mighty rivers, Gironde Estuary, Dorogne and Garonne which divides it into two parts: Left Bank Bordeaux and Right Bank Bordeax, the region produces one of the best red blended wines using the native grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Carmenere and Malbec which together are known as Bordeaux Red Blend.



Less than 10% of the region's production is dedicated to White Bordeaux which is a zippy blend of Semillon, Sauvignon, Muscadelle being the major grapes along with small percentage of Ugni Blanc, Colambard, Sauvignon Gris and Merlot Blanc.

Three of the most important words in Bordeaux wines are château, cuv-erie, and chai. Château as a palatial estate, anything can be a château in Bordeaux- from a farmhouse to a garage. The word simply refers to a building attached to vineyards, with winemaking and storage facilities on the property. Within the château is the cuverie (pronounced coo-ver-ee), the building where the wine will be made, and the chai (pronounced shay), the cellar where it will be stored and aged.

CHAMPAGNE

The wine Champagne comes from the region of Champagne, 90 miles northeast of Paris. Here, the vineyard land—considered among the most expensive in the world—is owned, primarily, by fifteen thousand small growers. A majority of the grapes they raise will be made into Champagne by nearly 350 wine firms, known as houses (Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, and Taittinger are famous examples).

Climate plays one of the key role as it is one of the coolest wine making regions in the world. Unlike Bordeaux, which has more than 50 AOCs, all of Champagne falls into one appellation- Champagne.
The region comprises 320 villages, boasting some 275,000 separate vineyard plots. These villages are ranked as either Grand Cru (17 villages), Premier Cru (42 villages), or Cru (258 villages).

BURGUNDY

The great Burgundies are undisputably sensual.This sensuality extends beyond the wines’ provocatively primal aromas and flavors. The top Burgundies, white and red, have beguiling textures that melt over or dance upon the palate in ways that make them unforgettable. There are no fewer than 629 Premier Cru vineyards and 33 Grand Cru vineyards amongst which CHABLIS, CÔTE D’OR, CÔTE CHALONNAISE, MÂCONNAIS being the major wine producing Appellations.

BEAUJOLAIS

Beaujolais is both the name of the place and the wine made there. It has been called the only white wine that happens to be red. Indeed, despite its vivid magenta color, Beaujolais can seem like white wine in its expressiveness, freshness, and thirst-quenching qualities. The wine’s personality begins with the gamay noir grape (usually known simply as gamay), virtually the only one used in Beaujolais’s production. Gamay’s flavors are unmistakable: a rush of black cherry and black raspberry, then a hint of peaches, violets, and roses, often followed by peppery spiciness at the end. And because gamay is naturally low in tannin, its already profuse fruitiness seems even more dramatic.

Most Beaujolais is made from Carbonic Maceration Method which enhances the fruit aromas and flavors in the wine.  During this process, entire clusters of grapes (usually hand-harvested so that the clusters are rot-free and perfectly intact) are put whole into the fermenting tank. The grapes on the bottom, crushed by the weight of the grapes on top, release their juice, which immediately starts fermenting naturally due to wild yeasts on the grape skins, bathing the grapes on top in carbon dioxide gas (a byproduct of fermentation). Those top-layer grapes eventually explode from the pressure of the Carbon Dioxide , exposing them to yeasts in the tank and thus causing them to ferment as well. Carbonic maceration could theoretically be used with any grape, but it is particularly successful with ultrafruity grapes, such as gamay.

THE RHÔNE

The Rhône Valley takes its name from the Rhône River, which begins high in the Swiss Alps and flows into France through the canyons of the Jura Mountains. South of Lyon and just north of Ampuis, where the vineyards begin, the river makes a sharp turn and washes into the Mediterranean Sea.

The valley is divided into two parts: the northern Rhône, smaller and a bit more prestigious, and the southern Rhône, larger and better known. In both the north and the south there are multiple wine districts, or appellations. The most renowned northern reds are Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage; the most famous southern red is Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The popular, well-priced wines known as Côtes-du-Rhône, can come from either part of the valley, although it mostly comes from the Southern part.

The grapes of the northern Rhône are the easiest to remember. All red wines come from only one red grape—syrah. All white wines in the north are made from either viognier or a blend of marsanne and roussanne. In southern Rhône appellations such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, and Vacqueyras, a small chorus of red and white grapes come out to sing, including grenache and syrah, as well as mourvèdre.

There are many other wine regions in this beautiful country like Loire Valley, Alsace, Provence, Languedoc-Rousillon and so on. All these wine regions will be discussed in the upcoming blog posts along with interesting facts.