France is the habitat of much great wine. It has red wines that are some of the most tremendous and expensive in the world, along with varieties that are affordable, good wines. France has around 2 million acres of vineyards and it produces 7-8 billion bottles of wine every year.
Here are few of them:
Pinot Noir: it is a fine quality wine produced from the grapes of same name. It is a dry wine with robust in flavor. This wine comes from Burgundy region of France. It basically goes well with meat, fish and pasta dishes.
Cabernet Sauvignon: it is produced in Bordeaux’s left bank region of France. It is bold and robust in flavor. It goes well with red meats, lamb dishes and pastas with red sauce. It is also one that goes well with chocolate-laden desserts.
Merlot: it is also a wine produced in Bordeaux region of France but from different sub region i.e. right bank. They have medium body with touch of plum, berry and currant. This type of wine goes well with dark meats, pasta and fish.
Syrah: this wine is produced in Rhone region of France. Its basic characteristics are strong fruit tastes such as currants and blackberry, dark purple tones, black pepper essence and a wonderful shelf life.
Now what is very important is to know if a particular wine a good one or not. Also it does not need to be very expensive one. Here are few tips to know.
• The label: it tells a lot about the quality of the wine. They are all classified into Terroir or Appellation Controlee (AOC).
• Taste /flavor: there are varieties of taste. One can choose a soft aromatic wine from Bordeaux to a lighthearted dry one. It is always a matter of preference, occasion, food type and mood. But before buying one should take a sip of the wine you want and twirl it around your tongue to experiment the taste.
• Price: we all know that a cheap wine is scarcely priced highly and also that fine wine producer will not like to sell his product very cheap. So analyze and then buy.
• The bottle: some say a good French wine is like high-quality perfume. They come in classy bottles that do not have showy labels.
• The cork: mostly the cork of the wine bottle reveals whether the wine is classy, superior or cheap. A good one is always corked with a cork made from oak bark.
• Always avoid buying a French wine from a store near to a radiator or a heating vent, as it will spoil the wine quality.
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