Three Loire Cabernet Franc by Xavier Amirault
What can make French wine confusing to newcomers is that often the name of the grape inside the bottle is nowhere to be found on the outside of the bottle.
That means to know what grapes are inside the bottle you have to know what is grown in the region named on the bottle.
While wine grapes may be grown throughout the world, it is France that many consider the most important country for wine. Ever since the Greeks cultivated grapes in Gaul (France) in the 6th century, for over 2,000 years, growing grapes and making wine has been an important aspect of life in France. Wine grapes are grown throughout the country with 7-8 million bottles produced every year making France the number one producer of wine by volume in the world.
Did you know that most of the well-known grapes grown globally are actually French in origin? Continue reading
2020 is barely a week old, but as I’m calendaring the year’s prompts for #ItalianFWT, #WinePW, #Winophiles, winemaker lunches and trade tastings in LA as well as other activities like the Wine Media Conference in Oregon and wine travel to Europe and South America, I’m reflecting on what we accomplished here on Wine Predator in 2019– and trying to decide what to submit for the Born Digital Awards (see what articles I submitted to the Millesima contest here).
I’m not really sure how we found the time, but Sue and I participated in EVERY SINGLE monthly prompt for Italian Food Wine Travel aka #ItalianFWT, Wine Pairing Weekend aka #WinePW, and the French Winophiles #Winophiles.
We joined wine bloggers and influencers from around the world but mostly from the US as we tasted and wrote about wines together following prompts that the group developed and organized sometimes with samples, and sometimes not.
Here on Wine Predator, that means 36 posts altogether at 15-20k words each! That’s the word count of a good sized book!
For almost every single article, I researched the region, the wine, the winery, and Sue and I both researched the cuisine to come up with menus and pairing ideas. Continue reading
Rasteau is a small AOC in the Rhône region of southern France known for making sweet fortified wines, and since 2010, red wines. This means that in 2020, Rasteau will celebrate 10 years of Cru status for their dry reds.
I bet I’m not the only one who comes running if someone so much as whispers “French Wine and Cheese”!
You could simply say brie, but you’d have me doing a 400 yard dash for
Major AOC cheeses: the size of the symbol equates to the size of production (from Wikipedia)
You can’t tell from THIS photo but this wine has a super power which you’ll find if you turn it around and check out the back label: Continue reading
Ever heard of Lirac wine before?
If you’re a typical American, probably not. If you’re a regular Rhône wine drinker, maybe.
Regardless it’s time to add the palette of Lirac to your palate!
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 