La Belle France

There is no doubt, despite the past decade's trend towards New World wine consumption, France is untouchable in terms of perception of its wines. French wine is renowned around the world as the benchmark for fine wines.

France has the ideal terroir to produce fine wines - with climate-moderating benefits of two large bodies of water [Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans], varied soil types to accommodate and bring out the best in grape varietals, and centuries of expertise.

Ironically, in the war between Italy and France for wine-world supremecy, it is interesting to note that the Romans actually brought winemaking to France in the early ages.

In fact, if it weren't for the ingenuity of Roman aquaducts, Bordeaux may not exist today.

Regardless, the French ran with it, perfecting the art of winemaking to the point that today France is so synonymous with wine that it'd be hard to picture the two not coexisting. However, that was almost the case in the late 1800's when phylloxera nearly wiped the whole industry out!

French labelling system:

All over the world, people are both captivated and bamboozled by the complex control systems in place for the past two centuries- "appellations" - which render French wine labels incapable of enunciation or comprehension. I won't bore you with all the details of every appellation but let's look at the basics:

The labelling system consists of two classifications - Quality Wine and Table Wine, which are further split into two categories:

Quality Wines:

Vins de Délimités de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS)

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC or AC)

Small category - covers only around 1% France's production; Regulations similar to AOC but less stringent - eg yields and varietals can differ.

Criteria varies between regions, however this is the most stringent of the controls; Delineation of production areas - based on soil composition; Short list of grape varietals based on suitability for region, history and reputation; Maximum yields set per hectare in each region; Viticultural practices defined: planting density, pruning techniques, etc; Winemaking practices also defined; Minimum natural alcohol potential imposed;