French wines

Hills that are exposed along the rivers of Europe usually create dignified conditions for viticulture. This was known already at the Roman era and that is the case also for the Rhine Valley. From <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_de_Constance">lake Constance</a> on the border between Germany , Switzerland and Austria, vineyards spread out on both sides of the river without significant interruption before arriving to Bonn. This is the heart of Europe, where people from different countries and from different cultures have been striving for the same thing ; to cultivate their land and produce wine . <a href="https://www.ivinio.com/en/en-alsace/">Alsace</a> is not an exception.

Burgundy wines often competes with Bordeaux for the title of being the most prestigious wine region in France. Geographically it is a large region which covers the Chablis wines in the north. In the south of the town of Dijon we then find the exclusive and world famous wines from Côtes-de-Nuits where Domaine Romanée-Conti has become famous for being the world's most exclusive and above all expensive wine. We continue further south to the Côtes de Beaune and then Côtes Chalonnaise. Far to the south, on the border of Beaujolais, we find Macon, which primarily has made its reputation from its gorgeous white Chardonnay wines. Very generally, we can say that in the northern part of the district, from the city of Dijon the production has been specialized on red wine. Then, the further south you go, the more the part of white wines becomes important, especially when you have passed the Côtes de Beaune and reached down to the Côtes Chalonnaise and Mâcon. One could also say that the more fullbodied red wines in the north become lighter and fruitier the more south you go. <strong>In total, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgundy">Burgundy</a> wine region covers 38,000 ha of vineyards.</strong> It is thus a major wine region to the surface, but what is especially characteristic of Burgundy is that the vineyards are divided into very small parcels. This division can sometimes seem like pure mosaic when land, which has passed down to new heirs over the years, has led to that a seemingly complete viticulture has become divided into several different winegrowers. The taste variation is considerable between the Burgundy wines and this despite the fact that most of the production only uses four different grape varieties. Pinot Noir and Gamay for the reds and then Chardonnay and Aligoté to the whites. Actually you can limit these 4 varieties to only 2 since Gamay is used primarily in the light and fruity wines of Beaujolais. Aligoté is also back on the march since the grape itself, has a high acidity and is not nearly as aromatic as Chardonnay. The Aligoté wines are primarily used to make Kir. Kir was mayor of Dijon and the aperitif mixing black currant liqueur with white Aligoté wine has been named after him. If you want to make a real Kir, you should therefore use Aligoté wine. <a href="https://www.ivinio.com/en/product/domaine-colbois-bourgogne-chitry-red/">Pinot Noir</a> and Chardonnay, both grape varieties which have had great success around the world have both their origins in Burgundy where these varietals have been cultivated since more than 2000 years.

Wines from Languedoc, often defined together with the Roussillon area, are the two together, the world's greatest wine region. It covers not less than 300,000 hectars and represent between 35-40 % of the total French wine production. As often in the south of France, it’s the Greeks who began producing wine in Languedoc. Languedoc spans 3 different French departments, namely L’Aude, le Gard and l’Hérault. In more “wine terms”, this means that the region stretches from Sommières (Languedoc-Sommières) in the east, located near the city of Nîmes, to the Fitou and Corbières appellations in the southwest, near the town of Fitou, where the Roussillon region takes over. <strong>Wine grew here as early as 600 BC.</strong> The conditions for winemaking are very favorable in Languedoc with the Mediterranean climate that covers larger parts of the region. But wines from Languedoc also proposes very different types of landscape and terroir, so therefore there’s also very different types of wine. As usual, it was the Greeks who created the vineyard during antiquity and the Romans who developed it and the monks who improved it during the Middle Ages. <strong>The expansion of le Canal du Midi in the 17th century</strong>, linked the Mediterranean with the Atlantic and gave the wine trade from the Languedoc new opportunities and new markets. In 1863, the Languedoc was hit hard by the Phylloxera crisis. The vines had to be replaced with hybrid varieties and mass production of low quality wines was privileged. This was the situation until the 1980s, when quality thinking took over, despite the fact that the region still today produces <strong>1/3 of French AOP and IGP wine.</strong>

<a href="https://www.vins-rhone.com/">Côtes-du-Rhône</a> and the Rhône Valley is the wine district that goes along the river named Rhône . This is the second largest French wine region after Bordeaux. From Lyon in the north, down in the direction of the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the sunbeam’s effect on the grapes is evident when tasting these wines. Spice , power and alcohol strength tends to be the hallmarks of the <a href="https://www.ivinio.com/sv/sv-rhone-dalen/">Côtes-du-Rhône</a> wines .