French wine

The history of French Wines

The first vines came to France some 2,500 years ago, probably because of the Phoenicians who brought them ashore in Marseille. The Romans eventually brought the vines further north. A good example of this can be seen at Domaine Drouhin in Burgundy: in their cellars about 20 meters below the ground you can see a completely intact Roman tower.

After a relatively stable growth in wine production over the centuries, population and prosperity growth accelerated in the 19th century after the French revolution. Around 1870, however, came the phylloxera crisis, which caused a period of decline that lasted until the mid-20th century. From the 1960s onwards, new plantings were added and quality was given a big boost. Whereas in 1870 there was 25,000 hectares of vineyard in the Medoc, in 1960 it was only 5,000 hectares. In 1990 it was 13,000 hectares. These new hectares were mainly planted with the aim of producing quality wines instead of simple wines.

In the 20th century, state intervention established rules on the cultivation of wine, the grape varieties to be used and the demarcation of wine regions. These rules were laid down in, among other things, the appelations

Bordeaux wine

What may be called Bordeaux wine?

Wine may be called a Bordeaux wine if it comes from an area that has the Bordeaux appellation. And that is quite a large area. An appellation can range from a general (appellation Bordeaux Controlee) to a very specific one (St Emillion Premier Cru Classe A). An appellation directly indicates the potential quality of the wine.

How long can you store Bordeaux wine?

Bordeaux wines are among the longest-lived wines in the world. Most wines are best in the first 5-10 years after bottling; some wines are only ready to drink after 10 years. That differs per wine. At Best of Wines, we regularly drink Bordeaux wines that are 30-100 years old. Most are still beautiful. In fact, the Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1870 was one of the most impressive bottles we have ever drunk.

Which grape is the most common in Bordeaux?

Most red wines in Bordeaux are made from the grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. And Malbec and Petit Verdot are used in small quantities. For the white wines, these are the grape varieties Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. Muscat is also used to a limited extent.

And it will come as no surprise that some of the most expensive wines come from Bordeaux. A bottle of Petrus costs thousands of euros. For a Mouton Rothschild 1945, tens of thousands of euros are paid, and a very old rare Bordeaux, especially in a larger size, passes the hundred thousand euro mark.

The best French wineries

At Best of Wines we sell wines from the best French wineries. It is extremely hard to make a top ten of the best French wineries, this is largely dependent on your taste.

Besides that, it is also very dependable on the type of wine: red wine, white wine, rosé wine, sparkling wine, dessert wine. And on the grape variety(s) and the terroir: is it a light or heavier wine, is it a white wine, a red wine and so on. But in general, the following wineries can be counted among the absolute top of France (this list is certainly not exhaustive):

Bordeaux: Chateau Margaux, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Haut Brion, Château Angelus, Château Ausone, Château Cheval Blanc, Chateau Lafleur, Château Pavie, Petrus, Chateau Lafleur, Chateau Le Pin, Chateau D'Yquem.

Burgundy::Domaine Leflaive, Domaine Leroy, Ramonet, Roumier, Liger Belair, D'Auvenay, Raveneau, Dauvissat, Coche Dury, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Mugnier, Dujac, Meo Camuzet, Ponsot.

Champagne: Krug, Bollinger, Selosse, Salon, Louis Roederer, Veuve Clicquot, Moet et Chandon

Rhone: Guigal, Henri Bonneau, Chapoutier, Jaboulet Aine, ,Clos de Caillou, Rayas

The French Appelations

Each country can enact its own legislation on wine. These include requirements for:

The origin of the wine, the region. If a particular area has very good climatic conditions and/or specific soil (terroir), then it may be a quality characteristic that a wine comes from a particular region.
The grape varieties used. For each area, requirements can be made on which grapes can be cultivated in order to obtain an appellation. Not all grape varieties produce the best results in a given area.
The yield per hectare. The maximum number of hectolitres per hectare shall be fixed.
The minimum alcohol content.
The techniques used in the vineyard and on the chateau. In France, for example, it is not allowed to be irrigated in the face of (extreme) drought. If they do, the grapes may not be used in the wine that the appellation carries.
The inspection of the wines. All wines that receive an appellation must be approved analytically (in a laboratory) and experimental (i.e. by tasting).

In France, wine is divided into three categories:

Appellation Origine Contrôlée (AOC). The wine comes from a certain area. Specific requirements are placed on the making of wine.
Vin de Pays. The wine comes from a certain region, but it is much less demanding than with the AOC wines. For all types of Vin de Pays, the area of origin must be indicated on the label.
Vin de Table. The wine does not come from a specifi ek area (so it can be a mixture of wines/grapes from various areas) and the legal requirements are less stringent than with the Vin de Pays. This is usually a very simple wine.

The distribution in the three main categories mentioned above applies to the whole of France. The main category Appellation Origine Contrôlée is again divided into a number of subcategories. These may vary by wine region.