Wines of France can be a complex subject to study, and it can take a while to learn and understand, yet it’s really fascinating. Once you immerse yourself in the subject and also learn the wines of various other countries, you will realize why learning about the history and the wines of France is important as a foundation for learning about wine in general.
Up until late February 2009, the subject and tasting of French wines was new to me and seemed very daunting. As I immersed myself in my studies at the Professional Culinary Institute’s wine program, I learned how to appreciate French wines (and other old world wines from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany). It took a lot of reading and tasting, tasting, tasting many wines from different parts of France and there’s still more to learn and taste! In class, we spent 2 weeks learning about the geography, history and theory of French wines along with sampling 8-10 French wines a day. The time we spent learning about the wines of France was longer than the time spent on other major wine producing countries. Why? Because so much of what wine is today is a result of the long history of grape growing and winemaking practices in France. Learning and understanding wines of France made it easier to learn and understand wines from the other major wine producing countries in the world. What else did I gain from the 2 weeks of immersion into the wines of France? I learned how to taste “terroir” and understand what it is. In class, “terroir” was defined as “anything with a sense of place” including climate, soil, environment, winemaking practices.
Here are a few more links I found and information from others who have dissected the meaning of “terroir”:
- Steven Tanzer, International Wine Cellar and Winophilia.com: What is Terroir?
- Jamie Goode, UK-based wine journalist, book author, wine blogger: Terroir revisited: towards a working definition
- “Terroir France” defines it as this: ”A “terroir” is a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine. Terroir = Region + Appellation + Grapes + Wine making”
The different regions of France truly produce distinctive wines because of the “terroir” or their sense of place, e.g. where the grapes grew, what they grew on, what the climate was like, the winemaking practices, and whether the climate where the grapes grew caused the grapes to be less ripe or more ripe at harvest. In regards to ripeness of grapes, less ripe grapes means less sugar in the juice which results in lower alcohol of the wine (sugar converts to alcohol during fermentation of the grape juice). Riper grapes means more sugar which then results in higher alcohol. This sense of place can be applied elsewhere in the grape growing world. This helps to understand, for example, why Cabernet Sauvignon can taste different when grown in different parts of the world or different regions within a country, a province, state and even as small as part of a city or town.
After learning how to appreciate French wines through tasting and smelling, I realized that you really can taste and smell the sense of place through a wine’s minerality and earthiness. All wines have fruit related aromas and flavors, but not all wines show distinct mineral and earth tones. These mineral and earthy smells and tastes really do exist when a wine has it. Sometimes, it’s not easy detecting them but they can and do exist. Some of the words used to describe minerals and earth in wine are: chalk, gravel, rock, slate, dirt, soil, pebbles, river rock, mushroom, truffles, compost, wet or dry rock, wet or dry dirt, we or dry soil, damp or dry earth, graphite, pencil lead. These words don’t sound very appetizing and you may not want to drink a wine with heavy earthiness or minerality as a cocktail wine. However, wines like these happen to be the wines that pair very well with foods.
So, next time you’re sipping a glass of wine, think of where the wine came from and what the aromas and flavors remind you of. And, of course, enjoy it for what it is – a fascinating beverage and compliment to your meal!
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