French Wine 101
 

Bonjour! I am a California girl, primarily familiar with California wines. I am off to Paris at the end of the month, and in anticipation, am interested in learning about french wines. My hope is to learn enough before I go so that I may intelligently choose wine, rather than choosing by price. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good book that might do the trick? All suggestions welcome. Thank you.

The classic book on French wines is Frederick Wildman's "A Wine Tour of France;" I don't know whether it's still in print, but you might be able to find a used copy if not. The book is actually a series of articles, region by region, that ran in Gourmet magazine way back when, revised for publication in one volume. It's a wonderful book; Wildman has a very readable prose style.

Another good book is "The Wine Roads of Europe," by Marc and Kim Millon. Alexis Lichine also writes on French wines.

Merci beaucoup, Underhill.

When I worked at an upscale restaurant nearly 10 years ago, the manager recommended the Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, which I bought and to which I still occasionally refer.

There is a 2004 version, which is well-reviewed on Amazon.com.

NB: this is general wine course which includes good info about French wines, along with those from California, Oregon, Italy, and other parts of the world. In other words, its focus is not soley on France.

There is a "French Wine for Dummies," which I've not yet seen, but which is very well-reviewed on Amazon.com

Both Kermit Lynch and Charlie Trotter wrote blurbs for the back cover.

Thanks, Lesli. I'll have a look.

My local wine store has tastings(free) every weekend. Maybe you could find some in your area.

Kermit Lynch's "Adventures on the Wine Route" is extremely informative and a good read. Robert Joseph's "French Wines" (DK Publishing) offers a great overview.

For touring specific regions, the series edited by Hugh Johnson "Touring in the Wine Country" is good.

And "Wine and War," while certainly not a wine text, provides interesting context.

The wine bible, however, is not even French. It is Amerine & Singleton's "Introduction to Wine", published by the University of California at Davis. This may be more in-depth than you'd need and it can get a little technical, but you'd learn a lot that would be applicable to French wines.

You might want to go to one of the Saturday afternoon tastings at La Derniere Goutte, an interesting wine shop in the 6eme that sells exceptional and reasonable wines from some of the lesser-known appellations (and then you can pick up some interesting bottles to bring back!).

The best suggestion is to go to wine tastings and know what you prefer and to learn why one is for dessert and not for the main meal. Recently on one of the tv shows like 60 min. or dateline, they had a cooking school class blind test wines, from two buck chuck to a fifty dollar wine. Amazingly half the class liked the charles Shaw wine. A wine that I think is terrible, but hey, when I was young, I thought blue nun was great.

When you're young, Blue Nun IS great. At that age, it's the alcohol that counts, not the nuances or complexity.

These are great suggestions! This will be my second trip to Paris, and I have 8 full days to leisurely "drink it in." A few hours wine tasting will be an afternoon well spent!

Elle, I will definately take down the name of the wine shop you recommended. Is it well known? I am staying in the 6th eme, so do you think my hotel could direct me there? I guess I could always look it up on Pages jaunes, a new site I learned about here!

Thanks again.

Elle, I did look up the wine shop you recommended and got its address and phone number. (How cool is that?!?!) Do you think I need a reservation? Thanks in advance.

Cigalechanta - We actually saw blue nuns in Rome this summer!! They had bright blue habits and we wondered if the wine was somehow connected to them.

I hope you took a photo?
Kybourbon, are your photos posted somewhere? What was your favorite wine in Rome? I'm open to trying something new to me.

I believe the Amerine and Singleton book was actually published by the Univ. of California Press, which published most if not all of Amerine's other books. The legendary Maynard Amerine was the great wine expert at UC Davis and was one of the principal advisors to the early Napa Valley winemakers, along with Herman Jan Phaff, a world-renowned yeast expert.

Irego,

Don't forget all those wine bars in Paris. Please have several Burgundies and a good Chablis for me!

Iregeo- Hands down, the BEST wine book for beginners is Great Wine Made Simple by Andrew Immer. It is unlike all the other wine books that bog beginners down with memorizing huge amounts of technical jargon and information that they don't really need to learn about wine. She walks you through the most important and common grapes and teaches you how to tell the difference. She then takes you to each of the major wine growing regions (including 2 chapters on France where she even explains the labels) and breaks down the confusion that most Americans face with French wine. With a couple of hours and this book, you will know more than 90% of people out there. Trust me, I'm sure those other books are good to, but if you are a wine novice there is no other choice than this book - it will then allow you to understand more complex books. You can find it at Amazon or Borders, etc.

Having a good wine shop can help, but especially in Paris, they will ask you what you are looking for and having some of the basics down can help. I'm currently obtaining an Intermediate Certificate in Wine from the Wine And Spirits Education Trust and I frequently travel to Paris. If you want a few starter tips on understanding French wine, I'd be happy to give them to you on this board... let me know.

correction: i meant Andrea Immer, not Andrew

Underhill, it will be my pleasure!

Medeterraneo, I would love any information you can provide. I am primarily a red wine drinker. I particularly enjoy bold reds: cabernets, merlots, syrahs, sangiovese.

Looking forward to your tips!

FRENCH WINE: THE BASICS
ok, i'll do this in a couple of posts to make it easier to follow and then if there is an area you want more info on, let me know (i'm leaving for Brazil tomorrow so it might be a while before I can respond again).

I will focus a bit more on reds since that is your preference (i think a cultural bias against white wine has developed, at least in my generation) but France has some amazing white wines as well that you should at least try.

REGION NOT VARIETAL
The most important thing to know (which you probably do already) is that, unlike in CA where it's easy to buy wine because it is listed by grape, in France wine is labeled (and ordered) by Appellation (geographic region) and the vinyard/producer. This means that, even if you know your grapes (like you know you want a Merlot) with French wine you must know in which Appellations Merlot is grown. This sounds like a nightmare, but it's made easier by the fact that with each Appellation come a set of rules which dictate everything from what types of grapes can be used there to alcohol content. So what this means is that once you know a few of the important wine regions and appellations, you can pretty much know what type of wine you are getting from the label or wine list. Of course, quality is another issue which really requires knowledge of the individual producers in that Appellation, but that's no worse than knowing who makes a good Merlot in Napa (and price can be reasonable guide).

A couple of other points about this. In France, people don't think about ordering a glass of Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc. Instead they just think about ordering a St. Emilion or a Sancerre respectively. Also, in France, winemakers tend to blend several grape varieties together whereas it is more common in CA to have single varieties (in the US they like to keep things simple for us). As a result, you find some really amazing combinations of aromas and tastes in French wine. OK, see next post...

IMPORTANT FRENCH WINE REGIONS:

BORDEAUX
Since you like bold reds, this famous region will be important. The main red wine grapes used in Bordeaux are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and these two are almost always blended in some proportion. As you might know, Cabernet Sauvignon has more tannin than Merlot (which in turn has more than Pinot Noir, etc), so the key to understanding Bordeaux is to 1) decide whether you prefer a Cabernet-dominant or Merlot-dominant wine and 2) look for the right appellation accordingly (you will find the Appellation listed on the label or wine lists). Bordeaux vinyards are usually designated by Chateaus so the next level of understanding would be to know which Chateaus within each appellation you like, but that's what tasting wine is for.

Figuring out #2 (the grape) is pretty easy... in Bordeaux, most of the red wine you see is about 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot and other. If you see the regions/towns of Medoc, Pauillac, St. Estephe on the label, it will be Cabernet-dominated. But the easy way to remember is just to know the 2 major towns that are Merlot-dominated: St. Emilion and Pomerol. Simple... if you want Merlot, just order one of those. If you want Cabernet Sauvignon, order a red from one of the other Bordeaux towns. There is another district, Graves, that tends to be more evenly split between Merlot and Cab Sauv. Try different Chateaux and find your favorite (some famous ones like LaTour or Lafitte cost hundreds).

Finally, there is one white dessert wine from Bordeaux that you must try. It is called Sauternes (you will see this on the label) and it is amazing. It is actually made through a process that translates into "noble rot" because they actually let the grapes ripen on the vine so long that they are penetrated by a bacteria... this increases the sugar content greatly and produces a succulant white dessert wine that usually comes in a slender half bottle.

There are a few white Sauvignon Blancs from Bordeaux too, but Sancerre wines from the Loire Valley are the famous Sauvignon Blancs.

next post...

please don't forget the wines of my favorite area, Provence, The roses of Domaine Templier, the Chateaneuf du pape, the Gigandas, and so on.

RHONE VALLEY:
Keeping with your taste for bold reds, the Rhone Valley is the next place to know. It is located in Southeast France and roughly divided into Northern Rhone and Southern Rhone.

Northern Rhone:
Northern Rhone wine is almost exclusively made with Syrah which as you know is full of flavors like pepper, blackberries, etc. Occassionally a little Viognier (a white grape) is added which is very flavorful, but don't worry about this. To identify Northern Rhone wines, look for the following appellations on the label: Hermitage (expensive), Crozes-Hermitage or Cote-Rotie.

Southern Rhone:
Southern Rhone wines also commonly use Syrah, but they are also allowed to use Grenache and to blend many other grapes. With a warmer climate and these blends, Southern Rhone wines tend to be a bit more rustic/spicy and perhaps less refined than the Northerns. To identify Southern Rhone wines, look for the appellations of: Cotes du Rhones, Cote du Rhone Villages and Chateau-neuf-du-Pape (the "new house of the Pope" named from a time when the papacy was in France).

I'm guessing you already know, since you like reds, but just in case, Shiraz is just the Australian name for Syrah.

next post...

i agree cigalechanta... just mentioned Chateauneuf du Pape in last post. Trying to help Iregeo with the majors and wrap this up... :)

Burgundy (or Bourgogne in French):
Probably the last major red area you need to know. This is the home of Pinot Noir for reds and Chardonnays for whites. Burgundy is the most complex region to understand because it's easy to know that your red wine will be Pinot Noir, but here the wines vary greatly by producer and their are hundreds of them. Some people devote their whole lives to becoming experts just on Burgundy.

Without getting into producers, the basic way to get around Burgundy wines is to know the price/quality scale for this region. From lowest to highest it is:

Regional/Generic: These are just labeled Bourgogne and it means the grapes could come from anywhere in the entire region.

District: These wines are from several good sub-regions. If you see Cote de Beaune Village or Cote de Nuits on the label, you will be looking at a district wine but there are many others.

Village: The next level up are wines that come from several desirable villages. Important ones are Gevrey-Chambertin and Montrachet.

Premier Cru: If you see "1er Cru" on the bottle it is even better and you know it is considered even higher quality.

Grand Cru: Grand Cru are the best and most expensive. These top vinyards are located in the Cote d'Or region.

In the Burgundy are you also find the small region of Chablis which is famous for white Chardonnay wines. These Burgundy and Chablis wines have nothing to do with the $5 jug bottles sold under those names in US supermarkets - they just stole the names as a marketing tactic.

last post coming up...

FRENCH WHITE WINES:

Now that I've given you the major red regions, I hope you take some time to try some French whites as well, as they are the gold-standard for white wines around the world. Here's a quick look:

LOIRE VALLEY - look on the label for the appellations of Sancerre and Pouilly Fume which are the gold-standards for Sauvignon Blanc (although those from Marlborough in New Zealand are strong rivals).

ALSACE - home to great Reislings and Gewurtztraminers. This is easy because they say the varietal on the label. These are cool, refreshing, northern/mountain region wines (similar to their German counterparts) with great aromas and flavors.

Champagne - don't overlook the bubbly from Champagne when you are there!

OK, sorry if i rambled but hopefully this will help you... this was actually a good way for me to refresh some things i need to learn for my course. But it made me thirsty and i think i'll open a bottle of wine. Let me know if you have questions but after tomorrow it will take me a while to reply.

Hi iregeo,

You can also go to http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Home
and click on "Wine Basics".

At the risk of violating some Fodor's rule, I recommend you check out this page of my husband's web site, which describes a visit to La Derniere Goutte http://www.vineyardstars.com/lilshops.htm.

(although he is a wine professional, he makes no money off the site--which is why it's a little out of date. It's a labor of love, but worth poking around for good info on French wine)

Iregeo, the tastings at LDG are very informal. You can just drop in on a Saturday afternoon. You may run into us, since we'll be there at the end of the month, too! Then my husband can tell you more than you'd ever want to know about French wines. He has recently discovered some "small" reds from the South and South West that have him swooning (and I think they're pretty terrific, too).

Cigalechanta - Yes I took a picture of the blue nuns but I don't have them on the web (not even sure where they are right now). I will try to locate them.

I googled blue nun and it appears to have been bought by the french and they have upgraded the grapes etc. and are trying to get past the name and get people to give it another chance.

I am afraid we drank lots of house wines in Italy and when we ordered a bottle my cousin usually selected the wine. He is in several wine of the month clubs so he gets to sample lots of wines.

I am just starting to get interested in wine in my old age as bourbon,invented by(arguably) my ancestor Elijah Craig,is not as kind to me as in my younger days.

If you get the chance this week head down to my daughter's dorm at MIT. They have Buddhist monks constructing the Chenrezig Mandala-an intricate three-dimensional image 4 feet in diameter made of colored sand to promote compassion,acceptance and peace in the world. They will work daily starting today til finished possibly March 7 and then will dump it in the Charles River. Public viewing hours Friday, March 5 from 2-6p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon and 2-7p.m. Her dorm is "the sponge" Simmons Hall on Vassar Street.

mediterraneo - wow! above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you so much. I have read through your posts once and will print them to study. You have broken things down in manageable, understandable format.

Thank you for your generosity. Have a wonderful trip!

Merci, mediterrano and elle
Ky Bourbon, thanks, I will go to your daughter's dorm this week.

elle, thank you for the website information. I would look forward to meeting you and your husband at the winetasting, should our paths cross!

Since there appear to be several fodorites who will be in Paris at the same time, I thought of wearing an "Iregeo" pin, so that they could approach me (or, avoid me, as the case may be!)

Au Revoir!

Getting off the topic of wine for just a moment - anyone having a chance to watch the Buddhist monks constructing a Mandala should make it a point to see it. They did one at the art center in my town last year - the monks were delightful and the Mandala was exquisite. When finished, they poured it in the river with a large group of school kids as an audience. I got some really nice photos of them working on the Mandala and of the finished product.

I loved your posts Mediterraneo, what good basic information.

I feel that if you don't know a lot about the labels or types, etc., I think for red you can't go too wrong with a Cotes du Rhone or Saumur Champigny, and both can be found at modest prices in restaurants/cafes. I think they will go with most things that you might drink a red with. If you like rose, the Provencal roses are usually very good. For white, I like dry wines, and usually just get a Macon, although I like Sauvignon Blanc, also.

Here is another web site that is fairly useful on some French wine basics regarding grapes and regions:

http://www.lagrappe.fr/index_e.html

TravelerGina - I only mentioned the Mandala on this thread because Cigalechanta asked about the blue nuns I saw in Rome and I knew she was 1 T-stop from MIT. My daughter attended the Boston GTG in January with some of her MIT cronies. I didn't mean to sidetrack the wine discussion.

Not to worry Ky, Gina was not worrying about that.

Sancerre is another excellent white.

If someone offers you a taste of a white Corton-Charlemagne, be very grateful; it's one of the best going.

For a good red Burgundy at a non-extortionate price, look for a Savigny-lès-Beaune and/or an Irançy.

Thanks, Chigale. Of course it didn't worry me. In fact, I was pleased to see it mentioned, as I enjoyed it so much and was just reinforcing Kybourbon's suggestion because it is really something to see.

topping for MissZiegfeld

I did take Kybourbon's information to heart to visit the monks and their work with the mandala, and had an interesting chat with them.
But back to wine. For Father's day, out to lunch, we tasted a very good Austrian red wine, something we had never tried before. I wish I had written the name down. This was the bartender's suggestion.

Bonsoir Iregeo,
I would agree that the Red Rhones, the wines of SW France, and the stunning whites of Alsace are the best bang for the buck, but nothing is inexpensive anymore in Europa. More than a few old established restaurants in smaller towns/vills have older vintages in their cellars for not much more than the original retail prices, but the weak USD blunts those bargains a bit.
My French family was originally from Alsace so some bias there. Lovely area still.
I have been buying and drinking wines from all over the world for more than 40 years, mostly playing the USD's strengths for large purchases. Spain, Chile, Argentina and Australia continue to produce some great bargains for the US.
The Wine Advocate and the Wine Spectator may help with updates if you have friends who get those.
I typically order less expensive, mostly unknown wines in restaurants these days - an '01 Mont Gras Cab/Syrah Res from Chile for about $25. last week in MX was among the best reds I've had this Spring.