Everything You Wanted to Know About French Wine (And Maybe You Were Afraid to Ask)
Like baguettes and cheese, wine is both an important part of French culture and the image France has around the world. When you picture a French person in your mind, chances are they have a glass or bottle of wine in their hand or on the coffee table in front of them.
But unlike cheese and bread, wine has a certain amount that can make it seem intimidating.
The French’s penchant for using acronyms and jargon on wine labels, not to mention the variety of French wines you’ll find in even the most basic corner store in France, can make this iconic drink seem out of reach for the average person. . . In fact, it is quite the opposite. In France, many good wines (and some not-so-good wines) are quite affordable, and there’s nothing fancy about having a glass with a meal.
Once you understand the essentials, you can enjoy (or at least understand) French wine like a local. Let’s drink information about French wine!
What kind of wine is produced in France?
There are approximately ten main wine producing regions in France: Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy (bourgogne in French), Beaujolais, Champagne, Côtes de Rhône, Jura, Languedoc, Loire Valley and Medoc. But many other regions, such as the inland southwest and Normandy, also produce wine.
As you probably guessed when reading that list, most French wines are named after the region they come from—for example, bordeaux, burgundy (bourgogne in French, médoc, and champagne). Note that when talking about the wine, not the region, the word starts with a lowercase letter.
These are the main categories of French wine. From there, you’ll have more specific names that relate to a place in a region, such as St. Emilion, a popular Bordeaux varietal.
All of this illustrates one of the most important things to understand about French wine: it’s not about the grapes it comes from (which includes chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, and is also grown and used in other parts of the world). Is). Rather, it is the type of soil and other conditions in a particular French wine region. This is a concept known as terroir.
The wines of each region have a particular reputation, some more well known than others. But there is no “best” wine producing region in France. It depends on the type of wine you like.
As you already know, the three main types are red (vin rouge), white (vin blanc) and rose (rosé). These colors are mainly derived from the color of the grapes used in their manufacture.
What is the history of French wine?
Since it is such an iconic part of our idea of French culture, you might wonder if wine was invented in France. The answer is… not exactly. The practice of fermenting grapes to produce wine probably first originated in China around 7000 BC/BC. But its origin in Europe originates from the country of Georgia, around 6000 BC (or BC if you prefer).
From Georgia, the practice of winemaking gradually spread across the continent. It took several thousand years, but by the 1st century AD (or AD if you prefer), the wine grown in what is now France’s Rhône region was well known among connoisseurs in ancient Rome.
Therefore, wine does not originate in France, but has been part of French history for a long time.
On the other hand, there is a winemaking process that originated in France. In the early 16th century, Benedictine monks near Carcassonne probably invented the process of making sparkling wine. The most famous type of this white, bubbly concoction is Champagne, which was cultivated in the 17th century by another monk, Dom Perignon.
Champagne is a sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wines can be called “champagne”. Under EU law, the name “Champagne” can only be used for sparkling wine from the Champagne region, which follows strict guidelines that cover everything from the grapes to the manufacturing process.
This means that there are other types of French wines almost similar to Champagne. I personally like clairette de die, a sparkling wine from the Rhône region that is sweeter and lighter than champagne.
Although the French enjoy many different types of sparkling white wine, Champagne is usually the most popular, especially during the winter holidays, when it is classically paired with foie gras.
Despite the fact that wine is not of French origin, for most French people, wine is an intrinsic part of French culture and French national pride. One effect of this is that most French people are a bit picky about foreign wines.
So, if you’re invited to a dinner, birthday party, or other gathering at a French person’s house and want to bring a bottle of wine (a common thing to do, although flowers are a perfectly reasonable alternative), always bring a bottle of wine to Take it with you. French wine, even if the wine you choose has a very good reputation abroad.
Why is wine important to French culture?
Do an internet search for “why wine is important to French culture” and you’ll find a number of theories and even academic articles instead of a definitive answer.
This is surprising, but somewhat understandable. I think part of the reason there is no clear answer to this question has to do with the fact that wine has a long history in France. It seems that habit, pride, and climate and soil that naturally lend themselves to making good wine all came together.
Do the French drink a lot of wine?
With its reputation and cultural status, it’s easy to think that the French drink a lot of wine. And in fact, France is the leading country in wine consumption per capita. According to the survey mentioned here, the population of France drinks about 11% of the world’s wine.
That sounds like a lot, but believe it or not, wine consumption has dropped dramatically over the past few decades. Today, winemakers are even worried about how (relatively) low-drinking French wine is!
According to this article, a French adult drinks an average of 51.2 liters (13.5 gallons) of wine in a year. In 2000, it was 71.5 liters (18.9 gallons)!
There are many reasons for this change, from health awareness campaigns and drunk driving (the latter often in the form of very disturbing and graphic advertisements on television), to cultural changes such as increased variety in drink options and different forms of entertainment.
I have experienced this first hand. For example, unless I’m specifically invited to a party or meal, the most common thing I’m offered when I’m invited somewhere in Paris is tea, coffee, or juice. This may be at least in part due to the fact that most people I know are in their twenties and forties, as some studies attribute the decline in wine consumption in France to a generational shift. When my 60-year-old mother-in-law receives her French friends, even if they just drop by to say hello, she immediately offers them an apéro (pre-dinner drink). However, I also know some older French people who prefer to serve guests an exotic, high-quality tea rather than a bottle of wine, so there are definitely other factors involved.
Although wine and alcohol consumption in France may be lower than in previous decades, you may be wondering if France has an alcohol problem. Interestingly, according to this recent survey, France ranks 43rd in the list of 53 European countries with alcohol-related health problems. This means that, while alcoholism is certainly a phenomenon in France, it is not a scourge. I think this is mainly due to the French way of consuming food and drink in general: everything in moderation.
Do all French people drink wine?
Although France has the highest per capita consumption of wine, not all French people drink wine. For every French who likes to prendre un verre (have a glass of wine), there are those who can’t for legal, religious, dietary or health reasons (the drinking age in France is 18) or simply because they don’t like wine. .
I know many French people, especially those from the north of France, who prefer beer to wine. And then there are those (like me) who prefer water, soda, juice, coffee or tea. In fact, the most common drink consumed in France is actually water!
Even if you find yourself at a table or bar with some old native French, I can’t imagine you’ll feel pressured to drink. I say this from experience because… I hate wine. I had plenty of time to try and learn about wine – my Italian mother even let my siblings and I drink it at dinner when we were teenagers. I never liked it, and my many years in France haven’t changed things.
Regardless of my dislike of wine, no one has ever been more surprised that I don’t want wine. I have never seen a Frenchman pressure anyone to drink or even taste wine. I think part of the reason for this may be the French respect for private life.
So if you can’t or don’t want to drink wine, don’t worry – you’ll probably never be pressed in France. And there will always be alternatives in cafes, restaurants, hotels and even people’s homes.
What do the French eat with wine?
Another important rule of French wine drinking is that wine is rarely something you drink alone. Instead, it’s meant to go with food, whether it’s a cheese plate or a full meal.
Many French etiquette guides say that in France, someone who drinks a glass of wine without anything else is probably a foreigner or an alcoholic, but I find that a bit extreme. I have seen French people enjoying a glass of wine on a cafe terrace from time to time without judgment. My French husband confirms this. He says it’s not the most common thing to see, but if the person drinking the wine doesn’t appear to be drunk or clothed, he thinks nothing of it.
However, wine generally accompanies a meal. So, what do you eat with French wines? In general, French red wine goes well with most types of meat, while white wine goes well with chicken or fish. Of course, there are exceptions to these rules. For example, since coq au vin is made with red wine—usually burgundy—it’s strange to drink white wine with it.
Do the French cook with wine?
Some famous traditional French dishes contain wine. These include French onion soup, bœuf bourguignon, coq au vin and moules marinières.
In addition, both amateur and professional French chefs may choose to add a splash of wine to other dishes. I sometimes make a leek and potato soup with some white wine. But it really depends on the taste and choice of recipe.
Normally, the alcohol in wine burns off in the cooking process, so overindulging in these dishes will only make you “food drunk.” That said, if you can’t consume wine for health or religious reasons, you can search online for versions of these recipes that don’t include it. At some restaurants, you may be able to order some without wine, or just choose another option. For example, there are many ways to cook and season oysters, so à la marinière will likely be just one of several choices on the menu.
How to read a French wine label
Another thing that can help you choose a good quality wine, especially if you are giving it as a gift, is knowing how to read the special signs, abbreviations and even the colors written on French wine bottles.
The most famous of them is the abbreviation AOC. It stands for Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée. It basically means that a wine has been produced under strict controls on everything from the region it comes from to the winemaking process. It has also undergone an official tasting. The site notes that because the harvest is different each year, a wine may receive an AOC one year and not the next. If you are curious about the AOC, that link has a lot of additional details and information.
AOP is another abbreviation you may find, albeit only on recent wine bottles, as it hasn’t been used for a long time. Acronym for Appellation d’Origine Protégée, it is supposed to be the new highest level when it comes to wine quality control.
So basically, if a wine has “AOC” or “AOP” on the label, that’s a sign of quality. Here you can find explanations of some other abbreviations that refer to things like the location of the wine bottle and therefore also contribute to the quality of the wine.
As the site I just linked to points out, even the metal wrapping around the bottle and the seal you sometimes see on the cork or screw top of the bottle has its own significance. Green means the wine is AOC or AOP. Blue means it’s a house wine (house wine – a simple, plain, usually cheap wine), and red is just a neutral color that any wine can use.
While knowing all of this information can help you determine if a wine is quality, it doesn’t mean that you or the person you’re buying it from will like it. Again, remember that wine is more about opinion than anything else, so you may like a base table vin deux without an AOC or AOP certification better than award-winning varieties. good news? This is an excuse to try a variety of wines!
How to order wine in a French restaurant
French wine is complex in many ways, but the basics of ordering it are not. You order wine like any other drink. You can see expressions for it here, as well as an example of a typical exchange between a customer and a waiter.
That sample exchange is also helpful because it mentions ice. In France you never add ice to wine. Always. Unless you might be in the privacy of your own home or hotel room, and even then, if you’ve been in France long enough, you might feel judged by the walls.
Aside from the basics, there are a few differences between ordering most drinks and ordering wine in France. For one thing, most restaurants, cafés, restaurants, and other eateries in France allow you to order wine un verre (a glass), un pichet (a small pitcher), or une bouteille (a bottle) of wine.
For another, when the server brings you the wine, they pour a little into the glass and wait for you to smell and taste it to get your approval (more on this in the French wine etiquette section). Fear not – just make the move, and unless the wine smells or tastes really weird or horrible (unlikely), just nod your head in agreement and the server will fill your glass and serve everyone else.
Etiquette of drinking wine
Another aspect of French wine etiquette is the toast. You may have read that there are many complex protocols tied to this, such as not facing the other person’s glasses and looking into each other’s eyes when drinking and starting the test. This is generally true in official ceremonies.
It is said that the result of a test initiation (drinking) weak wine, seven years of bad luck or bad sex!
However, in general, whether you’re sharing a casual meal at a deli or a friend’s house, or a simple family lunch or dinner, the most common French wine drinking etiquette I’ve seen in person is to say a Snate word or traditional phrase. It is toast. And be sure that everyone clinks their glasses with everyone else.
What do the French say when drinking wine?
A rough French equivalent of Cheers is: À votre santé (to someone you don’t know well or to whom you address formally or to a group) or À ta santé (to someone you are intimate with). It both means “to your health”.
In informal situations, you’ll likely hear it shortened to À la vôtre or À la tienne (literally, “to you – meaning “to your health”), or even simply Santé.
Another informal French Toast is “Tchin” or “Tchin tchin”. Interestingly, most sources I’ve read always show this as “Chin Chin”, but with my French family and friends, we always say a “Chin”. There doesn’t seem to be a difference between using one or two hooks – it just seems to depend on what people around you say. But in any case, you will be understood.
These are the most common ways to make French toast. Obviously, if you’re toasting someone for a special occasion, you might as well give a long speech. But these short words or phrases are what you hear most often.
French wine vocabulary
In France there are many words associated with wine, from ordering it, to drinking it, and describing it in very detailed ways. You may have noticed that Paul Taylor makes fun of him in his video.
Here are some general words you should know:
le vin – This is the French word for wine
Le Vin Rouge/Blanc/Rosé – Red/White/Rosé wine
du vin mousseux – sparkling wine (Remember that any sparkling white wine made outside of the Champagne region cannot officially be called Champagne.)
le terroir – the idea of where and how a wine is grown, which is the most important thing about wine for the French. Each region and vineyard has its own land.
un milésime – vintage (the year a wine’s grapes were harvested)
une bouteille – a bottle
un pichet – a pitcher (a common way to order wine in a restaurant in France, roughly equivalent to 2-3 glasses)
un verre – a glass
une coupe – flute (long and thin glass for drinking champagne and other sparkling wines)
le bouchon – the cork
le tire-bouchon – the cork
le nez – the smell/perfume of a wine
un grand cru – very good wine
du pinard – cheap (probably not very tasty) wine.
un + region – the type of wine from a particular region (note that this doesn’t always apply – for example, you wouldn’t say un alsace. The ones that follow this rule are probably wine types you’ve heard of before, such as bordeaux, bourgogne, or médoc.) For example, un bordeaux, un beaujolais. Also note that you can generally use a certain letter when talking about a specific type of wine whose quantity is not known. For example, J’aime bien les bordeaux mais je préfère les vins d’Alsace. (I like Bordeaux, but I prefer Alsace wines.)
une dégustation de vin – wine tasting
l’accord mets et vins – wine and food pairing
trinquer – to stir a glass, to toast, in a larger sense, to drink.
And if you’re a wine fan and want to describe wines in a lively, poetic way, here’s a great vocabulary resource for that (with some basic wine vocabulary nicely included).
A few French wine phrases and expressions
Here are some common wine expressions you’ll hear in France:
avoir le vin gai/mauvais/triste: to be happy/unhappy/sad after drinking a few glasses of wine./happy/spirited/sad to be drunk. Example: Si tu sors avec Barbara, fais bala – elle a le vin mauvais. (Be careful if you’re going out with Barbara—she gets cranky when she’s had a few glasses of wine.)
un pot-de-vin – a bribe
le vin bouchonné – a wine with bits of cork floating in it, making it taste bad.
un vin d’honneur – a reception. Example: Il y aura un vin d’honneur après le baptême de ma nièce. (There will be a reception after my niece’s baptism.)
Source : https://frenchtogether.com/french-wine/