French winemakers have developed their wine production for thousands of years. Modern French wines are a role model and a global standard of quality. What are the factors that make them such a well-known and repeatedly titled product?
History of French winemaking
For the first time winemaking appeared on the territory of France in 312 AD, when the French nation was not yet born. For many years, Burgundy winemakers have made wine from a wide variety of grape varieties, constantly experimenting with finding the best recipes that could help them sell the drink. The authorities practically did not interfere in their activities, only sometimes making their own adjustments - for example, at the end of the 14th century, by order of the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Bold, winemakers were prohibited from growing the gamay grape variety, after which there was a significant increase in the area of Pinot Noir vineyards.
Famous French wines always bear the same name as the region of their origin.
For the first time, an attempt was made to classify the quality of French wines in the middle of the 10th century by establishing five grades of it. However, this classification did not take into account either the boundaries of the area where the wines were made, nor the grape varieties used in their production. Since the industrial revolution began at that time, a huge number of counterfeits appeared on the markets, which were bought by people unfamiliar with wine brought from far away. Today, all quality wines are designated by the abbreviation AOC, which indicates that the drink was made by a farmer taking into account the climatic and other characteristics of the region.
Categories of French wines
There are four categories of wines made in France - still, regional, top quality wines from specific regions and wines with appellations that are controlled by origin. The cheapest and roughest wines are considered to be the table category, on the labels of which it is forbidden to indicate the grape variety, year of circulation and region. The quality of the remaining categories is usually beyond question.
To obtain the AOC reference quality status, a wine must meet a variety of standards - from grape varieties to growing technology.
The finest quality regional French wines are produced in four wine regions, which are Languedoc, Laura Valley, Conte Tolosan and Conte Rodagnan. Quality departmental wines are made from grape varieties grown in the French departments. The most individual quality is possessed by French zonal wines grown in the south of the country and as close as possible to terroir wines.
