Salut/Hi Midlife,

le/on Mon, 20 Sep 2004 09:46:53 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

>I'm sure it's just in my head, but after years of enjoying wine I still find
>myself intimidated by French wine...... particularly getting comfortable
>with identifying what's in the bottle from the label (and then remembering
>for next time).

I kept quiet on this up to now, wanting to read what everyone else said
before butting in.

I do agree that for someone brought up on buying wine purely by varietal
names, the idea of buying wine by region/area/village/estate can be
confusing. But honestly, it's not really much more complicated than learning
what grape varietal you like. When approaching wines sold under their
variety name, you look for the name, "Merlot", "Cabernet Sauvignon" and try
it out to see if you like it, right? So you don't have too much trouble
remembering that you like Riesling, and don't like Chardonnay or whatever.

Well in France, different grape varieties are grown in different areas. So
if you know you like Pinot Noir from New Zealand and Oregon, you should
perhaps look for a red wine from Burgundy. Then, (just as in assembler
mnemonics, where instead of using the number "201" (which the processor
understands) you remember "return", which YOU understand) you just need to
make the one-to-one relationship between Red Burgundy - which France
understands - and "Pinot Noir", which you understand and remember it.

The list isn't THAT enormous, you know.

The grape varieties most commonly found are (in no kind of order and leaving
out the more complex area round the Mediterranean)

red
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Pinot Noir
Malbec
Syrah/Shiraz
Gamay

White

Sauvignon Blanc
Sémillon
Riesling
Chardonnay
Viognier
Pinot Gris
Chenin blanc

The first three reds are all grown in the Bordeaux region, (with other areas
like it - Bergerac, Duras etc). Pomerol (part of Bordeaux) is more or less
100% Merlot, but doesn't taste _anything_ like Californian Merlot,
apparently.

Pinot Noir, as I said before is THE grape of Burgundy, also grown a bit on
the Loire, along with Cabernet Franc (Anjou).

Malbec is the grape used in Cahors (also in tiny quantities blended in
Bordeaux)

Syrah is the French name for the Oz Shiraz, Northern Rhone - (crozes)-
Hermitage, Cote Rotie etc.

Gamay Mainly Beaujolais

Sauvignon Blanc White Bordeaux (sometimes mixed with Semillon, especially
for sweet whites) (and other similar areas)
Most typical in the Eastern Loire - Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé

Riesling, Pinot Gris (also Gewurztraminer) Alsace above all.
Chardonnay White Burgundy including Chablis (also grown increasingly
outside)
Viognier Rhone (esp. Condrieu)
chenin Blanc. dry and sweet Loire wines.

You simply need to learn these equivalents.

If you then want to deepen your knowledge, as you would, for example learn
that one part of California tends to make better wines than another and one
estate specialises in wonderful Zinfandels, so you can learn the difference
between

"Bordeaux" - region (=Oregon)
"Medoc/Saint-Emilion/Pomerol/Bourg & Blay etc" area = Willamette/Umpqua/
Rogue/Columbia river

"Pauillac/Margaux/St Julien" - village = Newburg/Dundee/Dayton

"Chateau Latour/Chateau Margaux/Chateau le ***" - estates = "Domaine
Drouhin/Bergström/Chehalem"

There are plenty of good reference books that you can use, others have
mentioned some names.

Hope that helps a bit.

The only thing I'd say, is that you DO need to make an effort of memory at
first if only just to learn what the major areas are, and which grape
varieties they tend to use.

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
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