Fine French Wine: History and Overview of the Major Wine Regions

Learn about the history of the fine French wine regions including Loire Valley wines, Alsace wine, Bordeaux fine wine and more. This section highlights the major French wine regions including the types of red wine that grow in each region.

Grapes, vineyards and chateaux are everywhere in France, all supporting the country's large wine business. France has some of the strictest rules and regulations to ensure the producers continue to sell the highest quality of wines. Because of the high quality of wines France produces, many wine regions from around the world keep their eye on France's wine business.

History of Fine French Wine

The history of French wine making started around 600 BC in what is now the Provence wine region. At that time, the Greeks began planting vines near present day Marseille along the Mediterranean in the southeast of France.

Throughout the years, the quality and quantity of the wines improved and word spread about all of the fine French wine. The French wine industry and most of Europe then took a major blow in the 1860s.

This was when the US unknowingly introduced Phylloxera to Europe. Phylloxera is a small, but very damaging bug that feeds on and destroys grape vines. Many of the US plants were resistant to the bug, but the European ones were not.

The bug came over to France in some US based vines. They wanted to conduct an experiment, so they shipped vines from the US to France. No one had any idea that the Phylloxera bug came along for the ride and it did major damage. It spread in France, then Europe, then many other wine regions throughout the world. At that time, many thought that the wine business would never recover, but it did.

France firmly believes that terrior is the main driver in the quality of wine produced. Terrior is a combination of the soil, location, weather and other natural elements that make up where the wine is grown.

Their focus on the link between quality and terrior led to the creation of the Appellation d'Origine Controlee or AOC system. It was set up in 1935 by the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine or INAO.

It is a complicated system, but designed to regulate the quality of the wines. There is a set list of regulations each producer follows in order receive the AOC designation. They then add the fine French wine designation to their wine labels. Learn more about the classifications and get some tips on how to read the French wine labels.

French Wine Regions Today

Today, France grows more grape varieties than any other country in the world. This creates the diversity of the fine French wine selection. Two-thirds of the wine produced in France is red wine.

You will find some common types of red wine including Cabernet Sauvignon wine, Merlot wine, Pinot Noir wine and Syrah wine. You will also find other classical French varieties such as Cabernet Franc wine, Malbec wine, Gamay and Mourvedre. These are just some of the red wine types grown in France.

There are several famous wine regions in France including Bordeaux, Champagne, Burgundy, The Rhone, The Loire Valley, Alsace, Languedoc Roussillon and Provence. You will also find a cluster of smaller wine regions in the southwest.

Bordeaux Fine Wines

When you think of fine French wine, many people think of Bordeaux. This wine region is responsible for the production of the largest amount of fine wine in the world. It is also one of the most recognized wine regions in France.

Bordeaux is located in the southwest part of the country. Its ability to grow amazing wine is due in part to the bodies water located in or near the region. They help keep the temperature in the region mild and help with the high quality of the soil.

Bordeaux's focus is on red wine. Almost 90% of the wine produced in this region is red. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the two most important red wine types grown in this region. Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot are the three other reds from this region. These five red wines make up the famous Bordeaux blend.

Bordeaux has a number of sub-regions. It also has its own quality classification system. Learn more about all of the Bordeaux Fine Wine: Region and AOC Overview including more details on some of its most popular and well known AOCs and regions:

• Margaux wine
• Pauillac wine
• Graves wine
• Pomerol wine information
• St Emilion wine
• Medoc wine

There are a number of great Bordeaux wine tasting options, if you are ever lucky enough to travel to this beautiful region with some of the highest quality fine French wine. Find recommendations on where to visit if you want to plan your own itinerary or ideas for some great small, tour group options.

Burgundy (Bourgogne) Wine Region

Located in the central eastern part of France is the Burgundy wine region. This is the only region in France with both an English and French name. The French call this region Bourgogne and this is usually what you see on the labels when buying this wine.

In most of this region, you will find two prominent grapes. The dominant white grape is Chardonnay and the primary red is Pinot Noir. If you travel down to Beaujolais, you find mostly of Gamay wine.

Although this is a very small wine region, it is broken out into five smaller sub-regions. They include Chabils to the north and Beaujolais on the south. In the middle are Cote d'Or, Cote Chalonnaise and the Maconnais wine regions. You can find Fine French wine in many of these sub-regions.

This is one of the most complicated regions to understand. Learn more about Bourgogne wine & the Burgundy wine region. In addition, learn more about what sets Beaujolais wine apart from the others wines in this region.

Champagne Region

The Champagne region in France is another producer of fine French wine. Both the region and the wine produced in the region carry the Champagne name.

This region is one of the northern most French wine regions, which also makes it one of the coolest wine producing regions in the world. It is located about 90 miles northeast of Paris.

Only wines that follow the proper AOC guidelines in this region can use the Champagne name on their labels. Many people confuse sparkling wine with champagne, but the two are different and the use of the Champagne name is strictly enforced.

Three main wines go into the production of champagne in this region. They include the white wine Chardonnay and the red wines Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir.

Rhone Wine Region

The next wine region is the Rhone wine region. It is another region that focuses primarily on red wine.

The fine French wine from the northern and southern areas of this region is very different. That is why many people discuss the wines from the north and south as if it is two different wine regions.

The northern area of the Rhone wine region is not very big and only produces a small fraction of the wine in this region. However, most of the fine French wine from the Rhone wine region is from the northern end.

Due to the size of the southern end, it produces a larger variety of wines. The dominant red in the south is Grenache wine followed by Syrah and Mourvedre.

Find more information on the northern and southern Rhone wine regions including tips for finding for buying their red wines:

• French Wine Region: Reds from the Southern Rhone Valley
• Rhone Wine: Red Wines from the Northern Rhone Valley in France

Alsace Wine Region

The French wine region of Alsace is located on the far eastern side of the country. Germany is located just a few miles to the east and this region mainly produces white wines.

The only red wine grown in this region is Pinot Noir wine. Even though it is the only red in the region, very little of it is grown here and it is a minor wine in the region.

Languedoc Roussillon Wine Region

The Languedoc Roussillon wine region in France is one of the most interesting. It is not as well-known as many of the other wine regions, but produces over a third of the wine in the country.

Located in the southeastern part of France, this region sits just to the west of Provence. Part of it borders the Mediterranean Sea and you will find some of the oldest wine producers in France here.

There is a large variety of red wines grown in this region. Some of the top reds include Grenache, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Learn more about this region in the article: Languedoc Wine: The Largest Wine Region in France & The World.

Provence Wine Region

More people think about the amazing food from Provence than the wine. However, this is an up and coming wine region in France.

It is located to the east of the Languedoc Roussillon wine region in the southeast part of France. This wine region also borders the Mediterranean Sea.

This region produces reds, white and rose wines. A large amount of the wine produced in this area is rose wine. For years, locals have enjoyed the dry rose wines from this region and they are now starting to share them with the world.

Loire Valley Wine Region

Heading back over to the western side of France is the Loire wine region. It is located just to the north of Bordeaux and southwest of Paris.

The Loire is one of the largest wine regions and splits into five distinct sub regions. Each region has its own identity and quality of the fine French wine from its sub region.

Due to the size and diversity, the Loire does not consider itself as having a predominant wine variety. Here you will find white wines such as Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. You will also find red wines including Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Malbec. Some wine varieties only grow in this region.