Have
you ever looked at a French wine bottle and thought: “What
kind of rubbish is this?” There
are some strange French words and it doesn't even say what grapes it is made
of. Well, you’re right - French wine labels are very
confusing and the whole French appellation system is complicated and takes time
to understand. Lets take a look at a typical French label and what it says.
The
first thing you see on the bottle is the name of the estate that produces the
vine. Chateau in English means castle.
The
second thing you see is the vintage year. For French wines this is important
because in France the climate there is a borderline for grape growing. There
are good and bad years, so definitely do your research before purchasing any French
wine.
The
next thing stated is the place it comes from. And the name of the appellation
whose rules it follows. The French have a tradition not to state what grapes
are used to produce the wine. This is because most of the wines are a mix of
different grapes and the appellation states what grapes in what regions or
provinces are allowed. For Pomerol it's Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The wine in
the picture is 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. For Chablis it’s always
Chardonnay, for Champagne it’s Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier and
so on.
One thing for sure -
if you want to know what you are buying, you have to do the research.
