France

The diversity of French wine is due, in part, to the country’s wide range of climates. Champagne, its most northerly region, has one of the coolest climates anywhere in the wine-growing world. This is in stark contrast to the warm, dry Rhone Valley 350 miles  away in the southeast. Bordeaux, in the southwest, has a maritime climate heavily influenced by the Atlantic ocean to its west and the various rivers that wind their way between its vineyards. Far from any oceanic influence, eastern regions such as Burgundy and Alsace have a continental climate, with warm, dry summers and cold winters. In France’s deep south, Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon enjoy a definitively Mediterranean climate, characterised by hot summers and relatively mild winters.

Geology and topography play equally important roles in the diversity of French wine. The country’s large number of independently recognised wine regions and sub-regions reflects its wide range of soil types – and the landscapes that created them. Each sub-region can be defined by its particular geographical features, which in turn create specific characteristics in the wines produced there. From the granite hills of Beaujolais to the famous chalky slopes of Chablis and the gravels of the Médoc, the sites on which France’s vineyards have been developed are considered of vital importance and are at the heart of the concept of terroir.