Wine

French Wine

Without considering bread and water, the most common accompaniment to any French dish is cheese and wine. In France, which is different to other countries, wine is considered a basic part of the every day meal.

The wine in France has been divided to 4 levels of quality and every bottle of wine has level 1, 2, 3 or 4 on their label.

Vin de Table - table wine - a wine to drink at the table with a simple dish
Vin de Pays - better than Vin de Table and officially superior from of Vin de Table
VDQS - Vin Delimite de Qualite Superieure - wine from a specific area and officially better than Vin de Table and Vin de Pays but not as good as AOC
AOC - Appellation d'Origine Controlee - a high quality wine

Main wine regions of France:

Alsace
Bordeaux - full-bodied red wines & Sauternes - one of the sweetest wines in the world.
Burgundy - Chablis - elegant white wine
Champagne
Corsica
Jura and Savoie
Languedoc - Rousillion
Loire Valley
Provence
Rhone Valley
South West France

Wines of Provence

In Provence there are 3 wine appellations - Cotes de Provence, Bandol and Bellet.

Cotes De Provence

Cotes de Provence is the vast area between Marseille and Nice. The soil, grapes and techniques vary, but one thing is common - the sun. The red wines of Cotes de Provence are usually very strong although in some areas they can be light and delicate. The white wines of Provence are very good with local fish and shellfish.

Half of the rose wine that is made in France comes from Provence, and 80% of the wine made in Provence is rose. Rose de Provence are dry wines full of fruit and ideal for the summer and the aroma of pink grapefruit and red fruits are obvious. It complements cheeses like Picodon, Pelardon and Feta.

Bandol

Located on the hills between La Ciotat and Toulon and facing the Mediterranean Sea, Bandol is one of the oldest vineyards in France with the first vine being planted here 2,500 years ago by the Romans.

Bandol is the best red wine from Provence, full of spice, cinnamon, black fruits and vanilla. It complements game, red meats and Brocciu, Pelardon and Feta cheeses.

Bellet

The smallest appellation in France along Chateaux Grillet and it is located to the west of Nice.

The red wines are powerful the whites are aromatic and the rose are fresh. The wines of Bellet are very hard to find outside Nice.

Aroma in the white - honey and banana
Aroma in the red - vanilla a black fruit

Food to compliment the white - seafood
Food to compliment the red - game
Cheeses - Banon a Pelardon

A guide to food and wine in France

Strong food flavours calls for a strong wine and lighter dishes call for a light and delicate wine.
Red wine - meat. White wine - fish and white meat. This is the most common rule
Wine from the same area as the food
If cooking with wine that's not too bad there is nothing wrong with serving it with the meal, if using a poor wine it is better not to serve it with the dish and if using expensive wine it should not be in the dish in the first place!!
It is traditional that the heavy, spicy wines from around the Mediterranean Sea complement olive oil and herbs from that area.
Strong red Burgundy goes well with meats that are common to that area.
Alsace unique German food style goes well with German style wines
You should drink wines that are light before strong ones - by drinking the strong one first it leaves a taste in the mouth and spoils the flavour of the lighter wine.

The rules:

White before red
Dry before sweet
Light red before heavy red
Young wine before old

Cheese

Cheese is served as a course on its own, after the main meal and before the dessert, it is usually 3-4 pieces of different cheeses with a piece of baguette. There are over 365 different types of cheese in France

White wine complements soft cheeses with strong flavour
Red wine is better with hard cheese and softer flavours
Wines, which are full of fruit, sweet white wines and dessert wines go well with a variety of cheeses.
The stronger the cheese the sweeter the wine should be.