Introduction to France

Question 1

Brief overview from Greek colonization to the end of the 20th Century

Answer 1

• Vines have been planted here since Greek times (Marseille)
• Major expanse came under Charlemagne (Holy Roman Emp)
• Expansion continued under monasteries
• Key development: the draining of marshes in the Medoc by Dutch engineers in 17th century
• Huge expansion of exported wines in 17th & 19th centuries, leading to the 1855 classification of Bordeaux.
• 19th century: second half was fraught with challenges: powdery & downy mildew, black rot and phyloxera.
• 20th century: industry recovered as solutions for the challenges above found / implemented; in line with EU countries, France reduced the size of land under vines (vine pull-up scheme).

Question 2

General aspects of climate, vineyard management and grape varieties

Answer 2

• Climate: varies immensily, depending on the region: from atlantic influenced Muscadet to continental Burgundy or Mediterrenean Provence.
• Vineyard management: with the exception of bush vines in parts of southern France, most of the vineyards are planted to high density, trained on trellises, often Guyot (VSP); number of organic vineyards grew nearly fourfold to 2017.
• Grape varieties: strongly associated with each region; the dominance of Merlot reflects the importance of Bordeaux whereas the Ugni Blanc reflects its cultivation for Cognac and Armagnac in south west France.

Question 3

Overall aspects related to chaptalization, maturation and supporting industries.

Answer 3

• Hard to generalize due to the vast number of wine regions
• Chaptalization was invented in France and it’s still used in the coolest regions (less so in recent years)
• Maturation in barrels is a standard part of French winemaking
• Large cooperage industry with high reputation, both internally and internationally.
• Scientific centres in Bordeaux and Montpellier suppor the industry.

Question 4

The influence of INAO / INAQ and NW wines in shaping French wine laws.

Answer 4

• Industry shaped in the 20th Century by the creation of the INAO / INOQ, overseeing the creation of the AOC and oversight of the IGP system (from 2009).
• AOC’s embed a commitment to geographically limited areas, including detailed rules on vinegrowing and winemaking.
• in 2009, due to the success of varietally labelled wines from NW, France allowed the name of the grape to appear alongside the appellation.

Question 5

Business overview: vineyard holding, independet x cooperative, national consumption, import and export (value and volume)

Answer 5

• Average size of vineyard holding much larger than Spain or Italy (10ha)
• Cooperatives still very important (small producers): 40% of wine production still being processed by them.
• Wine consumption per capita has been in decine (50% less than a century ago).
• Sector is very fragmented: 3/4 of volume sales by small to medium sized producers and private labels.
• Exports less volume than Italy or Spain
• World leader in export by value: 50% more than Italy and 3x more than Spain.
• Large importer of wine, mainly at inexpensive level (from Spain)