France

The Republic of France with its capital Paris covers 632,734 km². It is an intercontinental state in Western Europe with overseas territories. The national territory is located on all continents with the exception of Asia. The European part (France métropolitaine) covers 543,940 km² (85%) and borders Spain and Andorra to the south-west, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Italy to the north and east, and Monaco to the south-east. The island of Corsica (8,760 km²) is a French territorial entity with special status. It is much closer to Italy than France.

The overseas territories outside the heartland are known as "Départements et régions d'outre-mer" (DOM) and cover 88,794 km² (approximately Austria). They are former French colonies. These are Guadeloupe and Martinique (island groups in the Caribbean), French Guiana (in the north of South America between Brazil and Suriname), Réunion (island in the Indian Ocean) and Mayotte (island north-west of Madagascar).

The country is administratively divided into 23 regions with a total of 101 departments (96 of which are in Europe). Understandably, there is only significant viticulture in the European area. The wine-growing areas are distributed fairly evenly over three quarters of the surface area, especially along the many bodies of water (see below).

History

Compared to Greece and Italy, France is a relatively young wine-growing country. The first vines were introduced in the 6th century BC by the Greeks, who founded Massalia (lat. Massillia = Marseille) in the south-west on the Mediterranean coast. At this time, the land later called Gaul by the Romans was inhabited by Celtic tribes (Allobroges, Ambians, Arvernes, Biturians, Cenomanians and others in France, Norics in Bavaria and Austria).

When the Greeks immigrated to the Po Valley in the 5th century, they learnt about Italian wine and began to import it. The French therefore consumed wine long before they began to cultivate it themselves on a large scale. The conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) led to the systematic spread of wine in the Rhône valley in the 1st century, in Burgundy and Bordeaux in the 2nd century and in the Loire in the 3rd century. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus (232-282) lifted the ban imposed by Emperor Domitian (51-96) and ordered the planting of vines throughout Gaul in the middle of the 3rd century.

In the picture on the left, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus teaches the Noricans (Noricum was a Roman province with parts of Austria, Bavaria and Slovenia) how to grow vines. The picture on the right shows Emperor Charlemagne.

Charlemagne

Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) gave decisive impetus to viticulture in France through his decrees. The Catholic order of Cistercians was founded in the monastery of Cîteaux in Burgundy in 1098 and quickly spread throughout Europe. The monks perfected viticulture in terms of soil type selection, grape variety selection and winemaking, which had an impact throughout Europe. However, the Benedictine order, whose most famous member was probably Dom Pierre Pérignon (1638-1715), the "inventor" of assemblage (skilful blending of wines) and champagne, made an equally significant contribution to viticulture. Wine was also included in the French revolutionary calendar; September was given the name Vendèmiaire (wine month).

Bordeaux classification

The famous Bordeaux classification took place in 1855. This had a major influence on the quality class systems, which vary greatly from region to region. Shortly afterwards, the country was the starting point of the biggest and most extensive disaster in the history of viticulture, when phylloxera and powdery and downy mildew began their campaign of destruction across Europe from the 1860s onwards. France was particularly hard hit, with over three-fifths (700,000 hectares) of its vineyards destroyed. At the same time, however, the "Golden Years of Bordeaux" signalled a new beginning when vineyards were planted on a large scale in the Médoc.

The concept of terroir

In France, it was recognised early on that a wine with unmistakable characteristics is produced on a specific soil, under the influence of the microclimate and selected grape varieties. The Cistercians laid the foundations as early as the Middle Ages. The term terroir was coined in the first third of the 20th century. In the 1920s, vineyard owner Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié (1890-1967) described the ideal grape varieties for Châteauneuf-du-Pape based on the typical soil and climate in an area he defined. Joseph Capus (1868-1947), who with Boiseaumarié is regarded as the initiator of the appellation system, provided further impetus.

Wine-growing regions

France was the first country to geographically map its wine-growing regions. This was done by defining legally valid areas and boundaries from which the specific quality of a wine can be clearly derived. This is clearly and unmistakably defined by the appellation in question. The better the wine, the more precise the regulations and, as a rule, the smaller the area. The special system of "controlled origin" is described under Appellation d'Origine Protégée; it is controlled by the INAO authority.

The wine-growing areas are mainly located along the many rivers such as the Dordogne, Garonne, Gironde, Loire and Rhône, as well as their numerous tributaries. Under the protection and supervision of the INAO, there are around 400 AOP areas(quality wines) and around 100 IGP areas(regional wines). In contrast to Italy (where this is 100% identical), there is hardly any correspondence between the wine-growing regions and the political borders:

Grape varieties and vineyards

In terms of grape varieties, different styles predominate. In the south and south-west, especially in Bordeaux, the red wines are blended from several varieties, the classic cuvées, for which the term Bordeaux blend is used. In the more northerly regions, however, such as Chablis, Alsace, Loire, Savoy and above all Burgundy, the wines are usually made from a single variety. The vineyard and classification system is particularly pronounced in Burgundy. Between 1988 and 2010, around 180,000 hectares of vineyards were cleared as part of EU grubbing-up programmes. This mainly affected Languedoc-Roussillon.

There are 70,000 winegrowing businesses with an average of nine hectares of vineyards. Château is a popular prefix to the name; in Bordeaux alone, there are 3,000 wineries that use the term Château in their company name, and 15,000 throughout France. Around 45% process the grapes themselves and produce 55% of their output, with the remainder supplying winegrowers' cooperatives. They produce 45% red wines, 43% white wines (the majority in brandy) and 12% rosé wines. Around 62% are AOP wines, 18% IGP wines and 20% Vin de France.

In 2022, the vineyards covered 795,286 hectares of vines and the wine production volume was 45.6 million hectolitres. This puts France among the world leaders. The grape variety index with the top 50 (Kym Anderson):

Wine categories / quality levels

In August 2009, the EU wine market regulation came into force with fundamental changes to wine designations and quality levels. The designation AOC may continue to be used as an alternative. The three quality levels are (see also in detail under quality system):

• Vin de France (formerly Vin de table or table wine) = wine
• IGP (formerly Vin de pays) = country wine
• AOP (formerly AOC or AC) = quality wine

Vin de France (Vins sans Indication Géographique)

Wines without a geographical indication. It replaced the former designation Vin de table. Grape varieties from all over France are permitted. There are wines without and with an indication of grape variety and/or vintage. The INAO is not responsible, as is the case for quality wines and country wines, but the Anivin de France association.

IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée)

Wines with a protected geographical indication. Replaces the former designation Vin de pays. The wines are subject to less strict production guidelines. Although recommended grape varieties and maximum yields are defined, there is more room for manoeuvre than with AOP. Grape varieties other than those recommended can also be used. A distinction is made according to size between IGP régionales, IGP départementales and IGP de petites zones. The six largest regional IGP areas are Atlantique, Comté Tolosan, Comtés Rhodaniens, Méditerranée, Pays d'Oc and Val de Loire.

VDQS (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure)

This level was created in 1949 as a preliminary stage for the AOC rank. The production guidelines were prepared according to AOP standards and the link to the terroir was proven. These wines were thus upgraded to AOP and this level was abandoned.

AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée) or
AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée)

The new top of the quality pyramid. Compared to the old AOC, controls by independent bodies have been strengthened. There are three levels: AOP Cru (wines from a vineyard, site or parcel), AOP communal (wines from a commune) and AOP regional (wines from a region). See Appellation d'Origine Protégée for more details.

Special classification systems

In addition to the EU-compliant quality levels, there are sometimes confusing classification systems in France that vary from region to region. These are the Bordeaux classification for Médoc and Sauternes from 1855, the Burgundy classification, as well as the Graves and Saint-Émilion classifications, which are carried out at regular intervals. See a complete list under Grand Cru.

Institutions and committees

Influential French wine authors and wine critics are or were Michel Bettane, Guy Bonnefoit, Pierre Brejoux, Thierry Desseauve, Patrick Dussert-Gerber, Odette Kahn, Alexis Lichine, Émile Peynaud, Olivier Poussier, André Simon and Christian Vanneque. The most important wine magazines and guides include the four publications Guide des Vins, Hachette, Le Guide des Meilleurs Vins de France and Le Grand Guide des Vins.

In addition to national organisations, there are also several important international winegrowing institutions based in France for research and development, standards and norms, as well as professional associations. These are CPVO (Community Plant Variety Office), FIJEV (Federation Internationale des Journalistes et Ecrivains des Vins et Spiritueux), IFV (Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin), INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), INRAE (Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement), ISVV (Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin), OIV (Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin) and UPOV (Union internationale pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales).

France Map: from TUBS - adapted, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Probus: History of Vienna WIKI
Charlemagne: From Albrecht Dürer - Public domain, Link
France: by French vineyards, France blank CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
Bordeaux: by Domenico-de-ga, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link