French Wines French Wines E YEWITNESS C O M PA N I O N S grapes • regions • tasting best buys • vintages Bringing each wine and region to life Detailed maps and photographs help you to discover the best wines and where they are produced Food recommendations and expert advice At-a-glance information to help you choose classic and regional dishes to match the wines. Santé! The denitive visual companion How to enjoy and appreciate the wines of more than 200 major appellations Special tours From Champagne to Languedoc, explore the heartlands of French wine Discover more at www.dk.com ROBERT JOSEPH French Wines E YE WITNESS C O M PA N I O N S ROBERT JOSEPH £12.99 grapes • regions • tasting best buys • vintages [...]... encouraged wine- drinkers to try wines from other regions Most French wine- drinkers now drink less, but better, wine than they did in the past However, many young French people do not drink wine at all, which helps to explain why many French winemakers now have to be much more focused on selling their wines overseas Supermarket Revolution Today, we buy wine with an ease that was undreamed of by the Romans or... classification of the Médoc Vintage Wine- maker’s crest Appellation contrôlée Commune in which wine was made Name and address of bottler 34 REA D I N G T H E L A B E L WINES FOR EVERYDAY DRINKING The majority of French vineyards produce wines that fall outside the prestigious appellation contrôlée classification system, but which can still offer enormous enjoyment and interest All French wines are classified according... World, they took both wines and vines with them, so that by the late 19th century it was clear that nothing could stand in the way of the production and gradual spread of wine around the world Persians Wine has always been a symbol of civilized, courtly life, as in this painting of a Persian prince drinking wine in his harem 14 THE H I S TO RY O F W I N E THE HISTORY OF FRENCH WINE Monks, emperors,... France’s wine industry However, more recently, it has been ravaged by disease and jolted by competition from younger countries and the demands of supermarkets We have no way of knowing exactly synonymous with wine The men when anyone enjoyed the first who made these wines were often mouthful of wine produced from members of tribes that took to French grapes that were grown the ways of the Romans and on French. .. vine-growing and wine- making As the evolution of French wine accelerated, previously neglected vineyards in the south of the country were given a new lease of life If the way in which wine is made has changed as a result of increased competition, so has the way in which it is bought and drunk The recent rapid growth in the number of supermarkets in France has encouraged wine- drinkers to try wines from other... qualities of almost any French wine that you may encounter I hope you enjoy reading this book half as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing it 9 Introducing FRENCH WINES 12 THE H I S TO RY O F W I N E The History of Wine The Old Testament acknowledges the pleasure and the power of the drink derived from fermented grapes, but it was the Greeks, the Romans, and, most particularly, the French who perfected... How Wine is Made Wine- making is both one of the simplest and one of the most complex activities known to man It brings together the skills of the farmer, the horticulturist, the cook, the chemist, and, occasionally, the artist The French language has no commonly DIFFERENCE OF OPINION These differences reveal the French used translation for wine- maker” or producers’ sense of tradition and their “winery,”... collided when, unhappy wine As far as the word with the wine they “winery” is concerned, Château Carbonnieux Bottling at the château is a relatively new were getting from some even a state-of-the-art, idea Before World War II, it was common French regions, British fully computerized for wine to be shipped in bulk for bottling retailers sent “flying establishment is still by merchants wine- makers,” who usually... the notion of turning wine on two successive grapes into wine In fact, Noah’s Art nights so that they could According to the Old Testament, Noah while it was the French “lay with him” and was the first person ever to make wine who most successfully “preserve [his] lineage.” This 14th-century relief by Andrea developed the art of Wine evidently had other Pisano records the aftermath wine- making and created... vin de pays or “country wine appellations, which were introduced in 1973 in order to promote regional wines Unlike the vin de table category, this classification allows producers to specify an area of origin for each VIN DE TABLE wine, and also to state Covering 22 percent of Growing in Stature which production methods French wines, this is the At the time when this excellent wine was produced, the . GUIDE 6 FOREWORD 8 INTRODUCING FRENCH WINES 10 THE HISTORY OF WINE 12 HOW WINE IS MADE 16 READING THE LABEL 32 WINE TASTING 38 THE LANGUAGE OF WINE 42 SERVING WINE 44 FOOD AND WINE 46 FOOD AND WINE GLOSSARY 48 STARTING. encouraged wine- drinkers to try wines from other regions. Most French wine- drinkers now drink less, but better, wine than they did in the past. However, many young French people do not drink wine at. French Wines French Wines E YEWITNESS C O M PA N I O N S grapes • regions • tasting best buys • vintages Bringing each wine and region to life Detailed maps