France, home of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne, is arguably the world's largest wine-producing country. For centuries, it has produced more wine - and apparently better quality - than any other country. Wine is embedded in French culture at almost every level of society; it is the drink of the elite and the common people, and a key symbol of Roman Catholicism, the majority religion in France.
However, the lasting appeal of French wine is not necessarily its Volume or prestige, but rather the variety of styles available.
Consumer preferences have Evolved over the centuries, encouraging the development of New wine styles based on the Terroir and Grape varieties available to French winemakers. Red, white, rosé, Sweet, Dry, sparkling, opulent, austere, mineral, fruity - French vineyards have produced wines that fit each of these descriptors.
The diversity of French wines is due, in part, to the country's wide variety of climates. Champagne, its northernmost region, has one of the coolest climates in the wine world, in stark contrast to the hot, dry Rhone Valley, 560 km to the Southeast.
Bordeaux, in the southwest, has a maritime climate strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and by the various rivers that weave their way through its vineyards. Far from any oceanic influence, eastern regions such as Burgundy and Alsace have a continental climate, with hot, dry summers and cold winters. In the deep south of France, Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon have a definite Mediterranean climate, characterized by hot summers and relatively mild winters.
Geology and topography play an equally important role in the diversity of French wines.
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
natural sweet wines from the region of France go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or spicy food such as recipes of roast beef with pepper, rice with paprika and merguez or genuine chicken tagine olive and lemon confit tagine with argan oil.
On the nose in the region of France often reveals types of flavors of cream, butterscotch or citrus and sometimes also flavors of black currant, burnt sugar or walnut.
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