You cannot go to France without encountering (and hopefully enjoying) the amazing food and wine. Wine is such an important part of the national pride and identity that many French simply do not like the idea of a meal without a bottle on the table. This includes my French grandmother, who believes a meal is simply not a meal without wine to go with it. As a French woman living in the United States, where wine is not an expected part of all meals, this means her sneaking in “grape juice” with her bag lunch at public pools and wine in plastic bottles on picnics. While her behavior is not always representative of the larger French population, wine pairings with meals are often seen as an equally important part of the menu as the dishes being served.
History
France has a long history with wine production, dating back to the Roman times and continuing to today. In fact, the names of many styles of wines are synonymous with various regions of France. With a growing competing world market, however, France has made huge efforts to keep these names for truly French wines (i.e. sparkling white wine is only Champagne when it comes from Champagne, France).
Competing with Italy for the world’s largest wine production, France has over 2 million acres of vineyards and produces 7 to 8 billion bottles of wine per year. This means you’ll come across a lot of French wines both on your trip to France and back at home. While there are many varieties of wine coming from the famous wine producing regions of France, there are four major categories of French wines that are important to understand before you go looking for that bottle of red from Bordeaux or the Rhone.
The AOC
The French take their wines very seriously. Since 1935, France has had the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system which is governed by a powerful oversight board called the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine). This system is one of the oldest and strictest systems for designation of wines and quality control in the world. Under this system, France established 4 different quality levels in order to categorize their many wines. This means that no matter what region the wine is from (Bordeaux, Loire, Rhone) or what kind of wine it is (red, white, sparkling), all wines will fall under one of four categories of quality levels.
French Wine Classifications
Vin de Table: These are entry-level French wines that carry with them only the distinction that they were produced in France. You will often find these types of wines served in carafes in restaurants as the house wine—usually only as “house red” and “house white.” While of the lowest distinction in France, these wines are typically quite good for their low prices and you can usually pick up a bottle of vin de table for only a few euros.
Vin de Pays: These wines carry with them the distinction of what region they were produced in (for example Cotes du Rhone from the Rhone Valley or Vin de Pays d’Oc from the Languedoc-Roussillon region). This distinction allows producers to distinguish what grape varieties were used in production. These wines also must be submitted for wine analysis and tasting to ensure quality. You’ll usually get the biggest bang for your buck with these wines as some of them are exceptionally good without the high proce tag of AOC wines.
VDQS (Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure): This category is often considered the “waiting room” for wines trying to get an AOC rating. While they only account for 2% of total French wines, it is important to understand this category as you can score a very high quality bottle for a lower price when the wine is awaiting a higher distinction.
AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée): This is highest quality level of French wine, with strict restrictions based n grape varities and winemaking methods. These wines are also subject to tasting and evaluation from the INAO. In years with favorable vintage conditions, there are usually more AOC rated wines than in years with less favorable conditions. This is an increasingly large group of French wines, as vineyards in France are attempting to find their niche in the high quality (and expensive) wine market. 2005 was a particularly favorable year in France, leading to a higher number of vintage AOC bottle ratings. These wines are the most coveted and most expensive wines in France.
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