French Wine: Truly World-class

French wine has been renowned worldwide for hundreds of years, and still enjoys a fantastic reputation today.

France's climate is perfect for viticulture, and wine is produced all over the country in different regions such as Rhone, Provence, Loire, Lanquedoc, Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Alsace.

The most famous of all French wine is Champagne, embraced all over the world as a celebratory tipple. Strangely enough, the fizz and pop that Champagne is famed for was originally deemed to be a bad thing, and something that French wine makers strived to eradicate, without success.

Now of course, the bubbles are Champagne's main selling point. Champagne itself is generally very expensive, although in recent times supermarkets have partaken in price wars which have seen many bottles of Champagne being sold at half price.

Even if you don't want to spend a lot of money, you can still enjoy some fizz because France produces some great sparkling wine that isn't Champagne, and therefore has a far cheaper price tag.

This sparkling wine isn't of poor quality, it's got a huge following in its own right. Only wine produced in the region of Champagne is permitted to say Champagne on its label, and the wine producers of this region fiercely defend this rule.

French wine is famed for both its red and white varieties of wine, and it would be wrong in some ways to say that French wine has its own distinct identity. It is much more true to say that each region has an identity as the wines vary greatly from region to region. The grapes grown in each region are very different and there are also differing production methods.

The one common theme that does run through wine from France, however, is the fact that the styles have mostly been developed to accompany food. Wine as a partner to food is its first and foremost purpose in France, whether that food is a quick baguette or a slap-up main course. Styles have not traditionally been developed to drink on their own in bars, for example, and you will find that the flavours of a lot of the wines 'come out' more when they are drunk with food.

Indeed some wines, on first sip, can seem a little disagreeable, but this is only because they are not meant to be drunk alone. Once you begin eating, you will often find that a wine completely changes into something much more palatable; delicious even.