Wine Production in France

There are numerous different wine growing areas in France and lets face it, you cannot contemplate going on holiday to France without experiencing some of the local French wines from the area you are in. Champagne's vineyard area has around 14,000 growers and 300 villages spread across three main growing areas and although around 5,000 growers do bottle some of their grape production under their own label the majority of the annual grape production is purchased by the Champagne houses or co-operatives and blended into the famous brands or the supermarket labels that we have all come to know (Stern 45-89).

The Loire Valley is a massive wine producing region that stretches from the coast near Nantes where you can get Muscadet wine, right through to Saumur, Anjou and Vouvray where you will experience wines of Cabernet Franc and Gamay reds or travel to the Touraine where can get reasonably priced Sauvignon Blancs.

And the beautiful chateaux and the tranquil winding river make the Loire region one of France's most visited areas for experiencing wines and fine French food to accompany them with the stunning backdrops so synonymous with this region.

For hundreds of years Bordeaux has had a long and internationally famous history of quality winemaking, but unfortunately the demand often outstrips what the wine growers can produce and therefore the top chateaux can charge very high prices for their wines, although you can still pick up a good value Bordeaux wine whilst you are on holiday in France, if you travel to the outskirts of the region, like Graves or Cote de Castillon, and visit the smaller grape growers (Hume 236-487).

The Burgundy region in France is famous throughout the world for its Chardonnay whites and Pinot Noir reds and this region produces numerous different tasting wines, even though they ...