Vineyards and Wine Regions in France

For centuries, the vineyards of France have been home to fine wines, producing some of the world's best wines. The wine regions of France specialize in producing different, unique types of wines. These regions include:

Soil and climate of a region, known as the terroir to wine experts, have a huge impact on grapes and, therefore, the quality of wines. For instance, have you ever wondered why the Champagne style of wines are so much better when they are from the Champagne region, rather than anywhere else? The reason is that each region has the ideal conditions to cultivate the type of grape used for that particular wine.

For example, the Champagne region, located in the Northeast of France, has the perfect mean temperature and chalky soil for the production of champagne grapes. With an average rainfall of 25 inches per year, this region's cool temperatures encourage the acidity in grapes that makes sparkling wines so tasty.

The Bourgogne Region, also referred to as the Burgundy Region, actually consists of several sub-regions that each produces several types of wines. Grapes in this region are grown on both flat land and slopes. With large variations in temperatures and unpredictable weather, Burgundy's wines can vary in quality from year to year.

The Taittinger vineyard has been producing fine champagne for over two hundred years in the Champagne region of France. In fact, Taittinger grapes are actually grown in thirty-four different vineyards. The grapes grown here consist of:

One of the most famous, exclusive wines produced by this vineyard is the Taittinger Brut Reserve that consists of 40 percent chardonnay and 60 percent pinot.

The oldest cellars of Taittinger, used to age and store champagne, date back to the fourth century. If you plan a vacation to French vineyards, take a tour of these historical cellars to learn about the rich traditions behind French winemaking.

The vineyards of this region have been producing fine burgundy wines in the Beaune area of Burgundy since 1859. While many of these vineyards have been around for centuries, new crops are also arising. One example of a new vineyard to this region is la Sabliere.

Louis Jadot vineyards specialize in perfecting soil conditions to produce the most quality grapes and wines. To do this, most of these vineyards have a policy that grapes must be hand picked and hand sorted to ensure that only the finest of the crop are used in the winemaking process. These wines use grapes from both Bourgogne (Burgundy) and the Beaujolais region.

Some of the Louis Jadot wines include: