Le Pays des Vins

No country is more closely associated with wine than France - it is the land of Champagne, of Burgundy and Bordeaux and so much more. No other country has as many regions that can be considered an entire category of wine. And yet, France can be baffling precisely because it is so rich in wine. From dry wines to sweet, quaffing wines to fortified wines and what many consider the greatest white wines in the world (Bonjour Montrachet!), the greatest rosés (Bienvenue à Provence!) and the archetypal examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir and Syrah among others, France has it all.

Coming to Grips with French Wine

How best to come to a rapprochement with all this vinous diversity? Become a French Wine Professional. 

Fine Vintage, Ltd. has crafted an exceptional course that, over two days in the classroom and through tasting nearly 40 wines from across France, will lead you to hone your knowledge of the styles of wine that are at the heart of the French wine experience.

On the first day, we take a 20-wine journey across Northern France, starting in Champagne, working our way through Alsace and the Loire, then on to greater Burgundy including Chablis and Beaujolais. On the second day, we taste another group of iconic wines, comparing the Bordeaux communes of the Médoc and the Right Bank communes of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion before following the sun down the Rhône River. We vinously sail from Cornas, Condrieu and Hermitage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and from Provence to the Languedoc, where we also spend some time with Vins Doux Naturels.

I take great care to select exemplary wines to showcase the important elements of each of the French wine regions we study - you are in for an exceptional series of tastings (in other words, keep an eye out for the Grand Crus)!