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The Principal Wine Regions of France
Bordeaux. The city of Bordeaux is on the River Garonne just before it widens into the Gironde estaury where it is joined by the waters of the River Dordogne. The wine region places Médoc on the left bank of the Garonne (southern side of the estuary) with Côtes de Bourg to the north. Moving inland south west of the city brings us to the region to find Graves and Sauternes; the right bank of the Dordogne (towards the north) finds the smaller but very important areas of Pomerol and St Emilion. It is characteristic of Bordeaux that the majority of its wines are marketed under the name of the chateau (could be a cottage to a mansion) in which they were grown and produced; there are numerous names to look out for. Cabernet Sauvignon is the main grape varity in Medoc wines from communes such as Margaux and St-Estephes and it brings crispness to the wines of Graves. These wines are deep cloured purple, silky smooth, well balanced, have the aroma of blackcurrants and very often are oaky. Other grape varieties are the Cabernet Franc and Merlot, used in differing amounts. The Loire At 635 miles the Loire is the longest river in France, it rises in the Ardéche as a clear mountain stream and joins the Atlantic as a broad grey-brown mass of water. It travels through 12 départements and through or close to the towns of Pouilly-sur-Loire, Orléans, Tours, Angers and Nantes before joining the Atlantic by St Nazaire. The Loire valley produces a huge number of different wines from a plentiful variety of grapes. Beginning with white, the most important grapes are Chenin Blanc or Pineau de la Loire giving very diverse wines from chalk-dry to heavenly sweet. The Sauvignon grape was probably imported from the south west and produces fresh tasting wines often with a marked bouquet of asparagus, fennel, fruit and flowers. Cabernet Franc or Breton which produces a milder more congenial grape than Cabernet Sauvignon. The Pineau d'Aunis: Aunis is a village in the area of Saumur and this grape makes mostly fresh, dry roses with an occasional red wine. Other grape varieties to look out for are
Burgundy
Cote d'Or is the Burgundy heartland; Cote de Beaune in the south where all the great white burgundy and some fine red is made and the smaller Cote de Nuits in the north which produces the most concentrated reds. There are four levels of appellation amongst the Cote d'Or's total of more than 60
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Geographically France covers a land area of around 547,000 sq kilometres with a correspondingly large difference in topography, weather and temperatures. Sharing borders with Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Andorra. With such influences it should be no wonder that French food and wine has such a wide variation. The south, wonderfully Mediterranean, evoking the sun, herbs, and fresh tomatoes. The classic food and wine to be experienced travelling up the Rhone valley to the cream, butter, apples and calvados of Normandy.
Bourgogne is the French for Burgundy; greater Burgundy includes the Cote Chalonnaise and Maconnaise to the south and even further south, almost into the suburbs of Lyon, Beaujolais; Chablis is to the north of Beaune, Burgundy's wine capital. The architecture, gothic gables and steep scalloped roofs make Beaune a major tourist attraction but many of the wine villages in the area look unchanged since the Middle Ages when the Dukes of Burgundy ran the region as a self governing state. Today it is still a land of peasant farmers, many running around in Mercedes but retaining the mentality of a smallholder.
