FRANCE: Standard of Values

Ancient World wine service

Not the ancient lands of the golden crescent, Caucasus' to Egypt, nor one of the first wine regulated and defined appellation systems from the globes important early exporter(Porto), and not even the 'land of wine'  claimed by the early Greeks, which currently is the worlds' largest volume producer, would find itself as today's' world benchmark of wine. Sure, there's important cultural and political history with Italy's Chianti region being the first officially recognized wine region in 1716, as there remains with Tokaj's 1730 official demarcation, or the royal declaration of Portugal's Douro regional demarcation in 1756. But, for hundreds of years, another wine country has been internationally accepted as the quality standard for a steadily growing global industry.

Amphora trading vessels for early Mediterranean wines

With a domesticated wine grape history that goes back to around 600 years before Christianity, it's a country that in its regional/national development has survived wars, revolutions and even an inter- national blight of phylloxera among other maladies.  By virtue of its early colonization, its adaptable climates and soils enriched the vine brought here, and then in turn, the vine enriched all of those who loved it. Among the worlds' largest producers, today France bottles billions of bottles annually, and steadfastly remains the high quality standard for most, if not all of wine lovers.

Noted in a recent Decanteur posting, French wine exports(2018) to its number one customer(USA) grew more than 6 per cent over the previous year.  In spite of a wilting market for its products in China, and a worry about the pending Brexit, the French export market has sustained and grows consistently.  Serious collectors and speculators continue to pursue Bordeaux and Burgundy as wine treasures, bench-marked by a recent auction of a prized bottle of French Premier Cru for more than $500,000! To balance the scales, current standards in the French value market continue from its southern Rhone, from Alsace, the Loire and certainly the wines of the South. In the Mediterranean the splash today is with blush wines, where the regions' rose' market shines to be among the most popular in the world.

- Decomposing limestone vineyards of sunny Provence

In the domestic market, our 'off premise' wine sales continue a steady climb; 3%  higher in January than in that same 2018 month, according to Nielsen. 'The rub' surfaced on a North Bay Business Journal cover recently: Too Much Tasting?(2.25.19), as local destinations attempt to limit congestion and growth(tasting rooms). Whereas a current announcement from an industry conclave served notice that there's now a sell off of  "everything that is not a power brand", by beverage giant, Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 company.  Meanwhile, for France, distinguished Champagne house Louis Roederer recently acquired pioneering Merry Edwards winery of Sonoma County, it was reported, as its seemingly national standards look to similar high profile foreign acquisitions.

Beaujolais Premier Crus, too

France today remains the reference, as it continues to lead not only super-premiums, but also the world of values; from a blush in the south, to defining Sauvignon Blanc in the Loire, or the 'Germanic' styling's of the Alsace.  These are wines of refreshed methods and anchored in steadfast traditions, wines that are passionately cultivated that remain a mirror of her important viticultural history. For contemporary wine lovers, France not only offers great and notable wines by which others are judged, it also offers the dominant variety of a standard of values.

Cheers!

'Laissez les bon temp rouler'

WineFind: Chateau Briot, AOC Bordeaux Blanc 2017, generous notes of citrus, white peach and honey for a song, and a great example of why Sauvignon Blanc is home in France.

WineLinks:
 http://www.winesofalsace.com/
 https://www.languedoc-wines.com/en
 http://loirevalleywine.com/