Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a ‘rite of passage’ and an easy entry into the international wine market.
Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in South West France, though the grape is grown worldwide. It is increasingly celebrated as an Argentine varietal.
Roussanne is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellations of Crozes-Hermitage AOC, Hermitage AOC and Saint-Joseph AOC. In the southern Rhône appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC it is one of six white grapes allowed, where it may be blended into red wines. Roussanne is also planted in various wine-growing regions of the New World, such as California, Washington, Texas, South Africa and Australia as well as European regions such as Crete, Tuscany and Spain.
Folle blanche, also known as Picpoule, Gros Plant, and Enrageat blanc, is a wine grape variety from southwest France. It was the traditional grape variety in Cognac and Armagnac production until the 20th century. Folle blanche is an offspring of Gouais blanc, with the other parent so far unidentified.
Colombard is a white French wine grape variety that is the offspring of Chenin blanc and Gouais blanc. This makes the grape the sibling of the Armagnac Meslier-Saint-François and the nearly extinct Cognac grape Balzac blanc.
Mauzac or Mauzac blanc a white variety of grape used for wine, of the species Vitis vinifera. It is mainly grown in the Gaillac and Limoux regions in the southwest of France. Total French plantations of Mauzac stood at 3,200 hectares in the year 2000.
Baco blanc or Baco 22A is a French-American hybrid grape variety. It is a cross of Folle blanche and the Noah grape, created in 1898 by the grape breeder François Baco. Folle blanche is its Vitis vinifera parent. Noah, its other parent, is itself a cross of Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia.
Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines, especially in the Burgundy region of France where it was first recorded in the 18th century. Since it is tolerant to cold, this variety is also cultivated in Eastern European countries. In 2004, it was the 22nd most planted vine variety in the world at 45,000 hectares.
Mourvèdre is a red wine grape variety grown in many regions around the world including the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla denominaciones de origen of Spain, as well as the Balearic Islands, California and Washington and the Australian regions of South Australia and New South Wales, as well as South Africa. In addition to making red varietal wines, Mourvèdre is a prominent component in "GSM" blends. The variety is also used to make rosé and port-style fortified wines.
Poulsard is a red French wine grape variety from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized synonyms. While technically a dark-skinned noir grape, the skins of Poulsard are very thin with low amounts of color -phenols and produces very pale colored red wines, even with extended maceration and can be used to produce white wines. Because of this, Poulsard is often blended with other red-skin varieties or used to produce lightly colored rosé wines. Additionally the grape is used to make blanc de noir white wines and sparkling cremants.
Clairette blanche is a white wine grape variety most widely grown in the wine regions of Provence, Rhône and Languedoc in France. At the end of the 1990s, there were 3,000 hectares of Clairette blanche grown in France, although volumes are decreasing.
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 producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and American wine-producing regions. 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 wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within France such as the Margnat wines were during the post war period.
Limoux wine is produced around the city of Limoux in Languedoc in southwestern France. Limoux wine is produced under four Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) designations: Blanquette de Limoux, Blanquette méthode ancestrale, Crémant de Limoux and Limoux, the first three of which are sparkling wines and dominate the production around Limoux. The main grape of the region is the Mauzac, locally known as Blanquette, followed by Chardonnay and Chenin blanc. In 2005, the Limoux AOC was created to include red wine production consisting of mostly Merlot. Wine historians believe that the world's first sparkling wine was produced in this region in 1531, by the monks at the abbey in Saint-Hilaire.
The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the Gironde department of Aquitaine.
Gaillac AOC is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in South West France in the département of Tarn, just north of Toulouse.
The Loire Valley wine region includes the French wine regions situated along the Loire River from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of Orléans in north central France. In between are the regions of Anjou wine, Saumur, Bourgueil, Chinon, and Vouvray. The Loire Valley itself follows the river through the Loire province to the river's origins in the Cévennes but the majority of the wine production takes place in the regions noted above. The area includes 87 appellations under the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure (VDQS) and Vin de pays systems. While the majority of production is white wine from the Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc and Melon de Bourgogne grapes, there are red wines made from Cabernet franc. In addition to still wines, rosé, sparkling and dessert wines are also produced. With Crémant production throughout the Loire, it is the second largest sparkling wine producer in France after Champagne. Among these different wine styles, Loire wines tend to exhibit characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavors-especially in their youth. The Loire Valley has a long history of winemaking dating back to the 1st century. In the High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux.
Len de l'El is a white French wine grape variety native to South West France. Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regulation dictate that the white wines from Gaillac must include at least 15% Len de l'El blended with Mauzac, though there has been movements to allow substitution of Sauvignon blanc.
Merlot blanc is a white French wine grape variety that came from a natural crossing of the Bordeaux wine grape Merlot and the Cognac grape Folle blanche. The grape is distinct from Merlot gris which is a pink-skinned color mutation of the red wine grape Merlot and is sometimes used in vin gris and rosé wines. Plantings of Merlot blanc were first discovered in 1891 but cuttings of the vine have not been widely propagated and the variety is very rare. It is not used to make the sweet White Zinfandel-style wine White Merlot that is made by some California wine producers. Those wines are made from a saignee of red Merlot wine.
Canari noir is a red French wine grape variety that has been historically grown in the Ariège department in the foothills of the French Pyrénées. However DNA profiling in 2001 showed that plantings of a grape called Gamay Luverdon growing in the Italian wine region of Piedmont were in fact plantings of Canari noir. Across the Pyrénées in Spain, the grape variety known as Batista was also found to be identical to Canari noir. Like Pinot noir and Grenache, Canari noir has color mutations known as Canari blanc and Canari gris.
Mauzac noir is a red French wine grape variety that is grown in Southwest France. Despite the similarities in name, Mauzac noir is not a color mutation of the white Limoux wine grape Mauzac that is an important component in the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) sparkling wine Blanquette de Limoux. Today Mauzac noir is nearly extinct but at least one grower in the Gaillac AOC is attempting to revive the variety and make varietal examples of the grape.
