Seeing & Tasting Red

In 2019 France was the second largest wine producer in the world (after Italy) and two-thirds of her production is red or rosé. Having previously looked at white wine regions, this time Caro Feely focuses on major producers of reds.

The largest wine appellation in the world feels like a good place to start any round-up of French red wine. In fact, around 80% of Bordeaux wine is red, primarily Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Carménère and Petit-Verdot. A key part of understanding reds from Bordeaux is the idea of ‘left bank’ (Medoc and Graves grown to the left of the Gironde estuary and the Garonne river) versus ‘right bank’ (from appellations on the opposite sides) and north of the Dordogne river. The left bank has a layer of gravel (over limestone and clay) which was carried from the Pyrénées on a glacial melt millions of years ago, while the right bank has limestone and clay, hence cooler than the gravel. Cabernet Sauvignon prefers warm conditions, therefore it tends to be the primary red grape on the left bank, and Merlot prefers the slightly cooler limestone, so tends to be the primary red grape on the right bank. Going to the vineyards and seeing the terroir up close helps us to appreciate these differences.

Burgundy represents around 7% of the total French AOC vineyard area and produces around 0.5% of global wine wine production (based on averages of 2010 - 2014) but significantly more in value at 3%. It has 84 AOCs – ‘protected designation of origins’ or PDOs. Only 30% of this production is red but many people associate Burgundy more with reds. In the 15th century the Dukes of Burgundy stopped other regions using the Rhone river to get their wines up to Paris and in doing so made a great monopoly for Burgundy in the Parisian market – a smart move. They also declared that only Pinot- Noir and Chardonnay should be used, helping to create the styles of Burgundy we know today.

North of Beaune lies the ‘Côte de Nuits’ and the ‘Route des Grands Crus’, with famous villages of Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée, Chambolle-Musigny and Gevrey-Chambertin, where some of the best Pinot-Noirs in the world are produced. Vosne-Romanée is home to the world’s most famous Grand Cru vineyards, including the hallowed Romanée-Conti, La Tâche and Richebourg.

The northern Rhône is a narrow valley which produces less than 5% of the total Rhône Valley’s wine, but what it produces usually carries a high price tag. The area stretches from the hallowed appellation of Côte-Rôtie in the north to Hermitage and its larger, relatively less prestigious (although still prestigious), neighbour Crozes-Hermitage in the South. Northern Rhône reds are made from Syrah (Shiraz).

The southern Rhône produces large quantities of Côtes-du-Rhône and Côtes-du-Rhône Villages and the Provence wine appellations. Reds are made from Grenache, Syrah (Shiraz), Cinsault, Mourvèdre and rosés from all the red grapes, but primarily Grenache. The best known commune appellation is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, between Orange and Avignon, producing rich, spicy, herby reds made from up to 18 different varieties, including several white grapes (traditionally it was 13 but the 2009 ‘cahier des charges’ for the appellation lists 18). Other famous appellations include Gigondas and Vacqueras both similar to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Languedoc is a massive wine region with 228,000 hectares, of which 89,000 are AOC. The red wines are made of Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah (Shiraz) and Mourvèdre. Appellations like Montpeyroux, Faugères and Minervois produce herbaceous reds which pair beautifully with lamb.

South west France includes many diverse appellation areas. Bergerac and Duras are similar to Bordeaux while others are quite different, like Madiran with its powerfully tannic Tannat grape, and Cahors with its deeply coloured Malbec. For many of us it looks like being a relatively quiet summer, so why not take some time to discover wines from your home? Buy a good quality organic wine from each of these regions and enjoy comparing them. Santé! here’s to good health and fine wine this summer!

Château Feely (www.chateaufeely. com) is a biodynamic and organic wine estate with accommodation, wine tours, vineyard walks and an accredited Wine Spirit Education Trust (WSET) wine school. Find information on their new range of virtual wine experiences on the website or follow on Facebook and Instagram. Read the Feelys’ adventures in Caro’s book series; ‘Grape Expectations’, ‘Saving our Skins’ and the latest ‘Glass Half Full’.