France has the largest wine production of any country in the world, producing between seven to eight billion bottles every year. There are a number of wine making regions dotted around France with some areas being dated as far back as 600 BC.

The wines produced today vary across the gambit of the pricing structure with both expensive and lower priced wines available worldwide. In recent years, France has had to adapt to match the rest of the emerging world in wine production and distribution as the world grows smaller with modern technologies.
The French have been very protective of their origins in recent years, and rightly so, with the use of specific terms such as Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy now only apply to wines from those particular areas in France.

This is all governed under the Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AOC) system, which was established to preserve the naming rights for the produce from these regions. The body in charge, sets down and enforces the rules in the AOE system which is also used to determine which winemaking practices and grape varieties are allowed to be used in the specific wine producing regions of France.

Another term that is very French is “terrior”, which indicates a number of growing factors that can vary from vineyard to vineyard, taking into account factors like, soil condition, orientation toward the sun and slope of the land.

Many of the most famous varieties of grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah all originated from the wine growing regions of France. As exploration and colonization spread across the globe, these popular varieties of grape were brought along and planted in numerous ‘new wold’ countries.

Along with the grapes, the colonists brought over the unique French wine making practices in an effort to produce the same style of wines from France.

The long and proud history of French wine has added to its mystique. It has long been a market leader in sales, grape varieties and wine production trends. In the same breath without leaving its age old traditions behind.

As a result French wine and particular houses remain in high demand around the world.

And as you would expect from 13WINE our back vintage collection of French wine is second to none.  Our ability to source the very finest of the Houses of French wine is truly amazing.

Go on put us to the test for French Wine…

Dom Perignon is a champagne at the top end of its field produced by Moet Chandon. It is the luxury model of the range, so to speak. It is, quite frankly, one of the best wines available to the consumer and has a price tag that reflects this.

It is named after a Benedictine monk who was an key pioneer for quality for the champagne industry but contrary to popular belief did not discover the actual champagne production method.

The first vintage of Dom Perignon was 1921 and was only released for sale in 1936. Dom Perignon is a vintage champagne, meaning that it is only made in the best growing years. There is no guarantee that will be produced every year and quite often there will be a number of years that pass before the grapes are of good enough quality to use for a production run. To add to this all grapes used to make the wine must have been harvested in the same year.

Many champagnes, by contrast, are non-vintage, which means that the champagne is made from grapes harvested in various years and as such mixes grapes from good and not so good years. This is one of the main reasons why Dom Perignon is such a highly regarded champagne.

Around 5 million bottles of Dom Perignon are produced in each vintage. The champagne usually consists of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Pinot Noir. As of 2009, the current release of Dom Perignon is from the 2000 vintage and the current release of Dom Perignon Rose is from the 1998 vintage.

All vintages need around 12 months of aging before they reach that trademark silky feel and only continue to improve with age.

The current (2009) winemaker is Richard Geoffroy and has held that position since being appointed in 1998.

Being a world famous Champagne, Dom Perignon is distributed worldwide through Moet Chandon , from the local regions of France all the way down to Australia.