French Wine
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French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year (7–8 billion bottles).
France has the world's largest wine production ahead of Italy and the second-largest total vineyard area behind Spain.
French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced today range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally, to more modest wines usually only seen within France.
Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of “terroir”, which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system.
Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are allowed in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards.
France is the source of many grape varieties (such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Syrah) that are now planted throughout the world, as well as several wine-making practices and styles of wine that are copied and imitated in other producing countries.
A lot of people think that Luvians are expensive shops. To this I would say, no we aren’t, but what is absolutely certain is that we carry some wines – and spirits too! – which cost a lot of money.
Most of the wines which have a big price tag are French – we do have some exceptions, for example Hill of Grace from Henschke in Australia, and also from Australia a few vintages of Grange. I am often asked why a bottle of Petrus for example costs so much; a bottle of the 1998 costs over £2,000!!! There are several reasons and I will try to give a few.
Without being facetious, one is that there are people prepared, and indeed, eager to pay this price for a bottle, so the market is created. And strangely enough the wine is really really good! I will just mention one other reason here: because of wine writers such as the American Robert Parker (hugely influential) and Jancis Robinson (an amazing English lady, also hugely influential, who writes about wine in the Financial Times.)
Wines such as Petrus, Le Pin, Lafite, Margaux etc have become very attractive vehicles of investment! It is not just the case that some wines are traded because they can yield good returns, but also and importantly, they are of a very high quality indeed. And yes, they are also drunk!
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