Ah, France, land of food and wine. For those of you that will be travelling to France there are basically seven regions that produce fine champagne, wines and spirits. In France about 70 per cent are red wines and 30 per cent white.
Champagne. These are the ‘authentic’ producers of champagne, named after the region that specializes in sparkling wine, about 160 kilometres northeast of Paris where Dom Perignon had his abbey. The champagne house of Taittinger was established in 1734, Moet & Chandon in 1743 and Veuve Clicquot in 1772. The grapes grown in the region are chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier.
Chablis. Chablis lies about 160 kilometres north of Beaune. This is where the chardonnay grape is used for Chablis. This dry, white, unoaked wine is renowned for its aroma and taste. The wines often have a ‘flinty’ note sometimes described as tasting of gunflint. These wines on average have less influence of oak and more acidity.
Chateauneuf du Pape. (New Castle of the Pope): This region is in southern France in the Rhone wine area. This area permits 13 varieties of grapes — cinsault, counoise, mourvedre, muscardin, syrah, terret noir and vaccarese. White grapes include grenache blanc, bourboulenc, clairette, picardin, roussanne and picpoul.
Burgundy. The Burgundy area lies between the Chablis and Chateauneuf du Pape regions in eastern France. The most famous wines produced here are red wines, which can be expensive, from pinot noir and gamay grapes or white wines made from chardonnay and sauvignon blanc grapes. Small amounts of rose and sparkling wines are also produced in this region.
Bordeaux. The region is located in the relatively humid Atlantic coast of France. About 90 per cent of wine produced is red with sweet/dry whites, roses and sparkling making up the rest. Grapes include cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot, malbec, semillion, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle.
Cognac. Originated in a misty seaboard region on the Bay of Biscay 300 years ago. Cognac must be 90 per cent ugni blanc, folle blanche or columbard grapes. The chalk of the soil has a real effect on charente wines which produce miraculous essence, along with the barrels of limousin oak in which brandy is aged for at least two years.
Alsace. This region is located in eastern France with the Vosges Mountains in the west and Rhine River in the east. It produces the most floral white wines — riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot gris, muscat and pinot blanc. Because of history there is a great Germanic influence in this region.
Bill MacDonald is a St. Albert-based travel consultant. He can be reached at [email protected].
