Le Cordon Bleu - Wine Essentials #3

French wine law. Categorizing French wine. Wine production regions of France.

After walking away from this class, I think I need a whole degree on this topic. The French wine system – which has recently been encumbered by European law – is the most complicated in the world.

Call it picky. Stubborn. Or just plain, French. Labeling wine in this country is a chore. To understand the French label, it helps to understand the broad structure.

First there is the category of wine. Presently there are four. Vins de table (table wine, a.k.a. crap). Vins de pays (table wine with country origin specified). Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure, VDQS (great wine, but not the best). Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, AOC, (wine within a controlled region – top notch stuff).

Once the category of wine has been decided three other classifications can be given. Department (like a town). County (many departments grouped together). Or a broad region (area). For example, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (department) in the Côtes du Rhône region. Vins de pays wines are exclusively labeled with this classification.

The category and location identify the name of the wine. Let’s take this label as an example.

The category is usually the biggest writing. Chassagne Montrachet – an AOC. We know that it is an AOC because the bottle tells us so, Appellation Contrôlée. We also know because we have memorized the 450 AOC regions.

Next. We find Côte d’Or. The county. It is more complicated than that though. Chassagne Montrachet is in the Côte de Beaune area of Côte d’Or. Furthermore, Côte d’Or is in the Bourgogne wine region. So, this wine could be called Chassagne Montrachet, Côte d’Or, Côte de Beaune, or Burgundy. None of which directly label the type of wine.

The wine maker, Olivier Leflaive, information is found on the back of this bottle. Barely mentioned compared to American wine labels. Olivier Leflaive would be the equivalent to Robert Mondovi.

Alors. What type of wine is it? Some times the cépage, varietal, is not even listed on the bottle. But, because this particular wine is in an AOC, we know that the grape is strictly regulated. Pinot noir is the only grape allowed in the Chassage Montrachet AOC for red wine production.

To make matters more confusing, this is not to say that you will only find pinot noir being produced in Chassage Montrachet. What this does mean is that all wine labeled as AOC produced Chassage Montrachet will be pinot noir. The others are categorized as VDQS, vins de pays, or vins de table.

In addition to regulating varietals, the governing body of the AOCs also caps production. Five hundred liters per hectare

European Union law – which supersedes French law – does not differentiate wine into VDQS and AOCs. By the fall of this year, all VDQS wines will need to make the decision if they are going to step up to AOCs or down to vins de pays. This is a huge shift in the French wine industry. Needless to say, this is still unsettling to the French.

Overall, I concluded that when picking French wines you need great knowledge of the producing regions, a lot of research under your belt, or luck.

Session #3 - Tastes

• Vins de table
• Vins de pays
• Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure, VDQS
• Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, AOC