Top 150 French Famous Wine Brands and Vineyards
"Only the first bottle is expensive." - French proverb.
FRENCH WINE is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producer in the world. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally to more modest wines usually only seen within France.
Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of "terroir", which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards.
France is the source of many grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Sauvignon blanc, Syrah) that are now planted throughout the world, as well as wine-making practices and styles of wine that have been adopted in other producing countries. Although some producers have benefited in recent years from rising prices and increased demand for some of the prestige wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux, the French wine industry as a whole has been influenced by a slight decline in domestic consumption.
Red Wines
 Bordeaux
- 5 Sommeliers Share Trusted Tips On How To Better Appreciate Your Wine - "If you’re drinking wine consistently, shouldn’t you appreciate it a little more? That’s the question that Caroline Conner, wine coach and sommelier, poses on the topic of how lesser-versed wine drinkers can better connect with what’s in their glass."
- 9 Best Pinot Noirs to Buy Right Now - "We picked our favorites from each of the world's top regions."
- 33 wine questions you were embaressed to ask - answered - "How can you tell if wine is corked? Why is rosé pink? How much is a decent bottle these days? And if I bring a nice bottle to a party, how do I make sure I get some of it? Our expert, Will Lyons, knows."
- AI Can Tell a Wine's Vineyard With 100% Accuracy - "AI may have just replaced another profession: wine tasters. By applying machine learning tools to chemical data, researchers say they have succeeded in identifying, 'with 100% accuracy', the molecular signature of red wines from seven major estates in the Bordeaux region."
- BORDEAUX WINE - Wikipedia.
- BORDEAUX WINE GUIDE - Terroir-France.
- BORDEAUX WINE REGIONS - Wikipedia.
- Bordeaux Wine Snobs Have a Point, According to This Computer Model - "With machine learning, scientists are trying to chemically define the murky concept of terroir. The models might be useful for detecting wine fraud."
 - Buckingham Palace Pauillac - "This spectacular wine is produced from the young vines at Chateau Lafite and the Rothschild-owned neighbouring Chateau Duhart Milon. Made by the legendary wine-making team headed by Charles Chevalier at Chateau Lafite Rothschild, it shows all the classic characteristics of a good Pauillac. A medium bodied red with autumnal hedgerow fruit flavours, particularly blackcurrant, raspberry and some redcurrant coming through on the palate. It also has undertones of pencil shavings, vanilla and cassis. This mixed vintage wine is well balanced and structured with fine tannins. The perfect gift for any special occasion. Available in large quantities for corporate gifting needs."
- CLASSIFICATION OF SAINT-ÉMILION WINE 1955 & 2006 - Wikipedia.
- CRU BOURGEOIS - Wikipedia.
- France to spend €200m destroying wine as demand falls - "The French government is allocating €200m to destroy surplus wine and support producers. It comes amid a cocktail of problems for the industry, including a falling demand for wine as more people drink craft beer. Overproduction and the cost of living crisis are also hitting the industry."
- French court rejects plea from luxury wine label to stop cheap blends being sold under 'Petrus' name - The Telegraph.
- French winemakers count cost of ‘worst frost in decades’ - "Government prepares rescue package as rare freezing temperatures damage crops and vines."
- French winemakers face devastation after worst weather in 30 years - "One of France's biggest export industries is facing a devastating blow after an unusually severe frost earlier this month damaged vineyards across the country, heaping pain on winemakers already reeling from the pandemic and US tariffs."
- French winemakers fan flames to save 2022 crop - "Climate extremes in France this spring have again made it a race against time for vineyard owners to protect their crops. March warmth and April frosts in 2021 resulted in one of the country’s lowest wine production in years. This year is proving every bit as tough."
- Frosts, heatwaves & wildfires: the climate crisis is hitting the wine industry hard - "As the climate crisis intensifies, the wine industry is increasingly vulnerable and growers across the world are scrambling to find solutions."
- IWSC | IWSC International Wine & Spirit Competition - "Having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, the IWSC remains as relevant today as it did when wine chemist Anton Massel founded the original format back in 1969." When Massel created the International Wine & Spirit Competition, his aim - as it remains to this day - was to reward excellence in drinks worldwide, ensuring recognition for the very best wines and spirits. The IWSC is proud to set the international benchmark for quality, standing out in the crowded world of drinks awards with hundreds of global experts - including buyers, producers, distillers, sommeliers, distributors and influencers - judging wines and spirits throughout the year.
- Here's What 'Reserve' on a Wine Label Really Means - "Does it have anything to do with quality? In all cases, reserve or riserva wines will age longer than non-reserve wines. Here’s what you need to know about the countries where this label actually means something."
- Judgment of Paris (wine) - "The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and his colleague, Patricia Gallagher, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines (Bordeaux wines from France and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Napa, California)."
- London Wine Competition (LWC) Announces The Top Wines Of 2022 - "The wines are rated across three main criteria: quality, value and packaging. To win a medal, wines must score a top rating in each of the three categories, although the score for quality is given disproportionate weight."
- Luxury Investments Around the World Compared - infographic - "Do you enjoy the finer things in life? For many of the world’s wealthy individuals, acquiring luxury goods such as art, fine wine, and watches is a passion. Unlike traditional investments in financial assets, luxury goods can be difficult to value if one does not have an appreciation for their form. A rare painting, for example, does not generate cash flows, meaning its value is truly in the eye of the beholder. To gain some insight into the market for luxury goods, this infographic takes data from Knight Frank’s 2021 Wealth Report to compare the preferences of nine global regions."
- Merlot Vs Pinot Noir: 8 Key Differences & Similarities - "Merlot wine is soft, medium-bodied, with low tannin and acidity. It has charming plum and pomegranate with red fruit and earthy flavors. Pinot Noir is the smoothest red wine with a velvety texture and raspberry and plum flavors. It also seduces you with strawberry and red cherry aromas."
- moderate drinking isn't good for your health - "Despite a long-held belief that moderate amounts of alcohol are good for you, a sweeping new analysis finds that the more you drink, the higher your risk of early death."
- OFFICIAL BORDEAUX CLASSIFICATIONS - Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB).
- OFFICIAL BORDEAUX WINE WEBSITE - Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB).
- OFFICIAL CLASSIFICATION OF 1855 - Wikipedia.
- POMEROL - Wikipedia.
- Red-wine headache explained & it is not about volume - "US researchers say they may have discovered why some people get a headache after just one small glass of red wine, even though they are fine drinking other types of alcohol."
- Red Wine Lost Its Health Halo - "For a glorious decade or two, the drink was lauded as good for the heart. What happened?"
- Report Suggests That Bordeaux & Burgundy Losing Their Cachet As The World’s Finest Wines - "Back in 1855 a group of Bordeaux merchants at an Exhibition in Paris decided to make some sense of the myriad estate vineyards by classifying them according to which wines consistently sold for the highest prices within the industry. That classification, which ranked wines from premier crus (first growths) to Cinquième crus (fifth growths). Sixty-two among 2,000 vineyards were listed, and, with only a few shufflings over rankings and the addition of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild to the premier crus later on, the top wines have remained the same, still bringing top dollar in the market, along with several great Burdgundies like those from the Romanée-Conti estates. "
- Resveratrol for the Management of Human Health - "How Far Have We Come? A Systematic Review of Resveratrol Clinical Trials to Highlight Gaps and Opportunities."
- RosÉ on ice? The wine world's new cold war - "Ice cubes are a definite no no, say the experts, but how low should we go before we risk ruining the delicate aromas."
- SAINT-ÉMILION - Wikipedia.
- Sorry, red wine drinkers: alcohol is only ever bad for your health - "We needn’t be puritanical about having a drink, but we can no longer deny that it harms us, even in small quantities."
- The Science Behind the Dreaded Red Wine Headache - "A compound in grape skins called quercetin might disrupt alcohol metabolism, causing some people to get headaches after drinking red wine, a lab study suggests. That pain may stem from a compound called quercetin, which disrupts the body's ability to break down alcohol, scientists have discovered. Quercetin is an antioxidant found in fruit and vegetables, including grape skins, and some people take it as a supplement for its purported health benefits."
- The Unwritten Rules of Bringing Wine to a Restaurant - "Collectors are bringing their wines to restaurants more and more. Here's the etiquette when you do decide to make use of corkage."
- Vintage technology: Researchers create AI tool with a nose for fraudulent wine - "Machine learning used to analyse compounds in a bottle of wine and trace them back to estate."
- ‘Waiter! A bottle of 1975 Warhol please’ - why every great artist has to do a wine label - "Picasso chose a Mouton Rothschild, Yoko Ono a vintage chianti. But why do artists love doing wine labels - and can they enhance the quaff? Our writer enters a world where labels are so prized, drinkers get them as tattoos."
- Why the humble wine cork is being reinvented - "Prized for the lightweight, elastic bark, cork oaks can also store large amounts of carbon during their long lifetimes. Now there are moves to find new uses for this material."
- Why wines taste increasingly similar - "How climate change is tweaking the taste of wine. Warming, wildfires and unpredictable weather threaten to disrupt the delicate processes that underlie treasured wines, putting the fine distinctions between grapes at risk."
- World's Best Bordeaux - "The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, drink Bordeaux, drink Bordeaux, drink Bordeaux... The heady blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot - the perfect marriage of black forest fruits, cassis and tannin - are surefire wines for all those festive feasts from glazed ham and spiced cranberry to Christmas pudding."
- World's Most Wanted Wines 2024 - "Step aside Burgundy, there's only one region people are seriously searching."
Premier Grand Cru Classé (A)
- CHÂTEAU AUSONE - official site.
- CHÂTEAU CHEVAL BLANC - official site.
Saint-Émilion
- JURISDICTION OF SAINT-EMILION - UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
- CHÂTEAU ANGÉLUS - Premier Grand Cru Classé Saint-Émilion '82.
- CHÂTEAU ROL VALENTIN - Appellation Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.
 - LE PIN - Bordeaux wine from the appellation Pomerol. The unusually small estate is located on the Right Bank of France’s Gironde estuary in the commune of Pomerol in the hamlet of Catusseau, and its wine is frequently one of the world's most expensive red wines.
 - Pétrus Pomerol - Bordeaux wine estate located in the Pomerol appellation near its eastern border to Saint-Émilion. A small estate of just 11.4 hectares (28 acres), it produces a limited production red wine entirely from Merlot grapes since the end of 2010 and produces no second wine. Although the wines of Pomerol have never been classified, Petrus is widely regarded as the outstanding wine of the appellation, and leads a duo of Pomerol estates of extreme prices, along with Le Pin, that in the modern era are consistently among the world's most expensive wines.
The Médoc Classification of 1855 (Les Grands Crus Classés en 1855):
Côtes de Provence
 - Provence wine - Wikipedia.
- CHÂTEAU Minuty - famous for their CÔtes de Provence 'Minuty' Prestige RosÉ wine.
 - MIRAVAL - "Mis en bouteille par Jolie-Pitt & Perrin." Wine château in the village of Correns, just north of Brignoles, a village in the Var départment in the south of France. Partowners: Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt. Château Miraval is best known for its outstanding rose called "Pink Floyd." Internationally applauded for its light, flinty and quite unique flavors, Pink Floyd is much sought after. In 2013, Château Miraval Côtes de Provence Rosé '12 received a 90 from Wine Spectator magazine.
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