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Enchanté!
Welcome to France, the spiritual home of wine. With a temperate yet diverse climate, wide range of soils and varying geography, the country creates vin of nearly every style and character—including many of the wine world’s most celebrated bottlings.
Now that you’ve gotten a taste of what the country has to offer with your second World Tour collection, take a closer look at French wine culture with the help of our local wine expert, Jehan Sacaze.
Keep scrolling to explore a few of the most prolific French grape varieties, learn about what makes the country’s wines so special, toast the personalities behind some of our best-selling selections and more.
Dig into terroir
Winemakers the world over will tell you wine is more than just grape juice they’ve fermented, aged and bottled—each selection’s character comes from its specific terroir. But what does that mean, exactly?
Developed in France, the concept doesn’t have a perfect English translation. It refers to the way environmental conditions combine with winemaking practices to forge a wine’s unique identity.
Check out the video for Jehan’s overview, then glance at the graphic below for the details.
SOIL
The dirt below vineyards (and all its microbes, rocks and minerals) plays a vital role in each vine’s water retention and nutrient absorption, and the resulting condition of its grapes.
CLIMATE
Factors like temperature, weather patterns and sunlight influence how grapes grow and ripen, affecting their acidity and sugar content, and ultimately, the flavor and style of the resulting wine.
TOPOGRAPHY
A vineyard’s physical location and elevation impact temperature and soil drainage, as well as its exposure to elements like sun, wind and fog.
HUMAN INFLUENCE
The techniques a winemaker uses to turn grapes into wine play a role in terroir, too. This includes every step from how the grapes were raised and picked to the way the wine is aged.
MEET OUR MAKERS
We source and share great wines from all over the world, but there are some producers with whom
we’ve established especially deep, long-lasting partnerships. Here are three to know from France.
Hervé Sabardeil
Once on track to be a carpenter, Hervé fell in love with wine after being gifted tasting lessons in his 20s. Earning his chops in cellars and vineyards all across France, he ultimately settled in Roussillon’s Agly Valley, where—for decades now—he’s crafted some of our most popular bottlings.
Nicole McPheeters
Born and raised in Arizona, Nicole has studied and worked in wine all over the world. She’s even been known to cover two vintages a year, one in each hemisphere! Finally deciding to plant roots in France’s Comté Tolosan, she now makes some of our go-to French bottles.
Jean-Marc Sauboua
Saying we have a good relationship with the French-born Jean-Marc Sauboua is a bit of an understatement: The head winemaker at Bordeaux’s Château La Clarière and the founder of Spain’s Altos de Rioja—two of our Vineyard Partner estates—he has helped broaden our range since the ‘90s.
Master Wine & Cheese
Wine and cheese are both integral to France’s cultural identity, with each produced across the country and famous for their flavor complexity and delicious diversity.
While the two are undeniably tasty any which way you choose to serve them, matching the right cheese with just the right wine can enhance your dining experience infinitely.
Designed by our curd-loving in-house wine experts, this downloadable cheat sheet offers a bite-sized guide to basic wine and cheese pairings, plus some essential cheese board design tips.
Get Sauvignon Blanc Savvy
Born in Bordeaux and thought to be named for the French word for wild (sauvage), Sauvignon Blanc is a fairly recent addition to New Zealand. It was planted there in the late 1960s, and wasn’t made and sold commercially until the 1970s. Yet today, these wines are an international sensation, commanding attention of the global wine community and becoming a fridge-door staple for many.
So how do French-made expressions differ from those crafted in New Zealand? Watch the video for Jehan’s explanation.
