French wines
French wine information
Often the French work out the grape variety used to make a wine by just look at the bottle shape and knowing the area the wine has been produced. This explain why the French label does not always indicated the wine grape variety.
The French trough the years have developed a complexe setting of rules, regulations and boundaries in the wine industry.In France the wine area are divided by regions (county- region) , and each regions is subivided (departement) and each departements is divided by appellation (AOC) which is named after the wine area or commune, (village) and/or after the producer name (domaine .., chateaux .. , clos.. or producer name). Also Bordeaux wine region and Burgundy region following a strict wines making criteria limited to specific vines and wine area call classification (cru classe, grand cu, premier cru, superieur, cru bourgeois) .Those regulated classification have been set in 1855 by Napoleon the third for Bordeaux and set gradualy over the years for Burgundy .
