Perhaps no country evokes such strong associations with fine wine as does France. Its reputation has led to worldwide imitation. Many varieties that are now considered international, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, are French, and winemaking pioneers in New World regions such as California and Chile look to the great wines of France as their benchmark.
France has been making wine since approximately 600 BC, and was its largest producer until it was passed by Italy in 2008. With over 800,000 hectacres under vine, it has the largest vineyard area in the world after Spain. It is, however, the world’s largest producer of fine wines. AC wines constitute over 45 percent of its production, compared with 12 to 15 percent of Italy’s, for example.
One advantage France has over other wine-producing countries is the great variety of growing climates it encompasses. Its south has a Mediterranean climate, with a warm sun that can be relied on to fully ripen grapes. Western France, which includes the Loire Valley, enjoys the mellowing influence of the Gulf Stream. In eastern France, the climate is more continental, giving us the great wine-producing regions of Burgundy, Champagne, and Alsace.
Begun in 1935, France’s system of wine laws, the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, or AC, codifies the most important concept in French wine, that of terroir. Terroir refers to the unique combination of geology, climate, and vintage that gives a wine its character. In other words, wine expresses place.
The Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée system is overseen by the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, or INAO. It regulates the boundaries of each region, as well as yield, winemaking and viticultural methods, ripeness and alcoholic strength, and grape varieties. The goal is typicité -- the achievement of typical expression for a particular appellation.
Most wines imported into the United States from France are at the highest quality level -- the AC. These are wines labeled with the name of their appellation, such as Bordeaux or Champagne. Below this are Vin de Table and Vin de Pays. They are subject to less stringent restrictions than AC wines, but are allowed to make much less specific claims regarding the origin of the wine. Vin de Table may only be labeled with the name of the producer and the name of the country of origin; Vin de Pays can carry the name of the broader region, as well as the vintage and grape variety. Since wine expresses place, the more specific the claim of origin, the greater the prestige the wine has.
France’s viticultural history has not been without its trials. In the early 1860s, the root-feeding aphid known as phylloxera was inadvertently imported from the United States. In just a few years, it wiped out the majority of France’s vineyards. When they were replanted, the French vines were grafted onto American rootstock, which is resistant to the pest.
Today, France is again in crisis. With sharply falling consumption at home and greater competition abroad, France’s vignerons, especially those who make high-production, low-quality wine, have found themselves with a significant surplus -- a “wine lake.” Some solutions have included mandatory distillation and the reduction of vineyard area. Producers from the fertile Languedoc, a traditional source of inexpensive wines, have been hit hardest, leading some to stage protests and sabotage the importation of foreign wines.
France’s great classic wines continue to find an audience, however. The most prestigious Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne continues to command eye-poppingly high prices. And some producers from lesser-known regions have found cult success by increasing the quality of their production. France exports more than 15 million hl of wine yearly, and consumers worldwide continue to discover the vast diversity of wine styles it can offer.
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