Choosing French Wine - An Introduction
France produces, sans aucun doute, the best range of wines in the world. It also makes a lot of barely-drinkable plonk.
So how do we, as consumers, sort the wheat from the chaff?
We have 3 basic choices:
1 - Label
2- Taste
3- Price
The French label tells us various things. Firstly and most importantly it tells us the region the wine comes from. This is most important because it tells us most about the style of the wine.
There is a more thorough discussion about differences between Appellation Controlee (AOC), Vin de Pays (VDP) and Vin de Table (VDT) categories HERE but in general, AOC are wines of a guaranteed style from a tightly defined region, VDP are wines from a particular region and VDT have very few rules to obey.
Note that I did not mention anything about guranteed quality.
Taste is very subjective and the big problem is that one cannot taste a wine in a sealed bottle. I thoroughly recommend tasting a wide variety of wines and exploring the fascinating world of French wine by going to as many fairs, tastings and domaines as you can.
You can also look at reviews and medals but be aware that some of these are very regional and can be associated with advertising money.
Price is determined by desirablity, not quality. Famous appelations can command high prices for their worst wines and unknown appelations struggle to even get a fair price.
So what is the key to choosing French wine well? Exploration, that’s what.
The supermarkets may be convenient and have some attractive offers but they don’t offer the best choice at the best price. Especially with more expensive wines. A good caviste will be able to recommend wines to suit your pocket and taste. Best of all is to visit the domaine. Not only will you be able to taste the wines but you’ll get a real insight into the vineyard and people behind the wine.
Wine is one of those things that gaining a little bit of knowledge will give you lots of rewards in terms of enjoyment.
