Ever wondered about the beauty behind Southern French Wine? Here to help us with her Top Ten Tips is Joelle Thompson...
1. The most famous wine regions in the south of France are Provence, the southern Rhone Valley, and the Languedoc-Roussillon.
2. The climate of these regions is Meditteranean - hot dry summers and mild winters.
3. Grenache and Syrah are the two most popular grapes grown in these regions but they are not alone.
4. Mourvedre, Carignan, and Cinsault are also widely grown, among others.
5. The most famous appellation (legally defined wine production area) of these regions is the Cotes du Rhone, which makes smooth, soft, highly popular and reliably good quality reds.
6. Cotes du Rhone is among the best quality red on Earth at a relatively modest price.
7. The region’s reliably warm climate means that quality can remain consistently high from one year to the next.
8. Three-quarters of the wine consumed in France is red* so rosé is more likely to be consumed than white in the hot south.
9. The warm climate in these regions means cool fresh wines are in high demand so rosé forms a big part of wine production as a dry, light ‘red’ to drink chilled.
10. The rosés made in this part of the world are produced from the same grape varieties as the reds.
Joelle Thomson is a wine writer, journalist and author. She’s an avid lover of wine and currently writes for Capital magazine, Good magazine, NZ Winegrower, Drinksbiz, and her own site, www.joellethomson.com.