French wine, we already know that, don't we? Nothing could be further from the truth. There is still plenty of exciting stuff to discover. French wines from unknown grapes such as Duras, Jacquère, Ondec, Braucol or Mauzac, for example. They grow in the hidden vineyards of the Sud-Ouest and in the mountains in the East: the Savoie and the Jura.
In the Sud-Ouest you will find the vineyards of Gaillac, Fronton, Cahors and Gascogne. For centuries, the French wines from this region were popular throughout Europe. They competed with the wines from Bordeaux. After the phylloxera destroyed the European vineyards at the end of the 19th century, the winegrowers were unable to restore their vineyards quickly enough. Bordeaux won the battle and became the wine centre of the world. Famous regions such as Cahors and Gaillac fell into oblivion.
In recent years, the Sud-Ouest has been catching up. Advanced wine drinkers are rediscovering the old vineyards with their local grapes. Adventurous wine drinkers will enjoy traditional French wines from forgotten grapes such as Mauzac, Loin de l'oeil, Duras and Braucol.
In the mountainous East of France, you still have two of those forgotten French wine regions: Savoia and Jura. Small French wine regions where much of the wine is mainly consumed locally. Here too, the winegrowers make characteristic wines on steep vineyards from local grapes such as Jacquère, Poulsard and Roussette. Difficult to obtain in the Netherlands, but these 'forgotten French wines' are recommended for adventurous wine lovers.
For the better-known French wines at a fair price, you can now go to the Languedoc in our opinion. In the past, the region was a producer of mediocre bulk wine, but that has changed considerably. The Languedoc is now one of the most modern wine regions in France. Innovative winemakers make excellent wines that suit the taste of the modern connoisseur. They have planted a range of grape varieties from other French regions and dare to experiment with modern vinification techniques.
More than two hundred grape varieties grow in France. Several of them, such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, have become world-famous 'brand names' and are now planted all over the world, but their birthplace is really in France. For those who are prepared to look further, there are dozens of typical French grape varieties that almost nobody knows.
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