France

**France** is the reference point against which most of the wine world measures itself, home to the grapes, styles, and place-based thinking that the rest of the industry has borrowed for centuries. It rivals Italy as the largest producer by volume, but its lasting influence comes from how tightly it links a wine to the exact patch of ground it grew on. **Signature wines** — the classics: age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends from Bordeaux, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Burgundy, the sparkling benchmark of Champagne, Syrah and Grenache in the Rhône, and crisp Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc in the Loire. **Key regions** — Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhône Valley, the Loire Valley, Alsace, Beaujolais, and Provence. **Good to know** — France pioneered the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system in the 1930s, a legal framework that ties allowed grapes, yields, and methods to defined geographic zones. The Burgundian idea of terroir — that soil, slope, and climate shape a wine's identity — originates here and now underpins fine wine everywhere.

Wines

• & Fils Bordeaux Blanc — Cuvelier
• & Guestier Côtes de Provence Rosé — Barton
• 'Madame Noly' — Catherine et Pascal Rollet - Domaine de la Chapelle
• (Michel Gendrier) Cheverny Envol — Domaine des Huards
• / Cave de Rasteau Rasteau Tradition — Ortas
• 1850 — Domaine Eric Gelly
• 1892 — Château Valcombe
• 1er Cru "Les Baudines" — Pascal Clément
• 1er Cru 'Clos Rousseau' — Jean Dubuisson
• 1er Cru 'Clos Saint-Jean' — Domaine Parigot
• 1er Cru 'Clos de La Chanière' — Domaine Parigot
• 1er Cru 'Côte de Léchet' — La Chablisienne
• 1er Cru 'La Grande Berge' — Gaec de la Corvee - Bourne Père et Fils
• 1er Cru 'Les Macherelles' — François Carillon
• 1er Cru 'Les Teurons' — Domaine Debray
• 1er Cru 'Les Valozières' — Domaine Debray
• 1er Cru 'Mont de Milieu' — La Chablisienne
• 1er Cru 'Morgeot' — Domaine Armand Heitz
• 1er Cru 'Morgeot' Blanc — Domaine Armand Heitz
• 1er Cru Beauroy — Domaine de l'Enclos