The Five French Wine Regions You Should Know

Everyone knows Bordeaux and Burgundy. Champagne sells itself. But France has eight major wine regions and dozens of smaller appellations, many of which produce extraordinary wine in near-total obscurity outside France.

Here are five that deserve your attention.

1. Languedoc-Roussillon

The largest wine region in France by volume, stretching from the Rhône delta to the Spanish border, Languedoc spent decades producing bulk wine with little ambition. That changed dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s when a new generation of producers — many of them outsiders — began taking the region seriously.

The result is some of the most exciting, characterful red wine in France at prices that would be laughable in Bordeaux. Old-vine Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah on ancient schist soils produce wines with real depth and personality.

Try: Domaine de Cambis Caudomato — old-vine Carignan from certified-organic Saint-Chinian. A wine that makes you question every assumption about southern French reds.

2. Jura

Small, eccentric, and utterly unlike anywhere else. Jura sits between Burgundy and Switzerland, and its most distinctive wine — Vin Jaune — is made from Savagnin grapes aged for over six years under a veil of yeast, producing something closer to a dry Sherry than anything else in France.

But Jura also makes wonderful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, often with an oxidative character that makes them fascinatingly different from their Burgundian cousins.

Try: Vin Jaune 2016 from Domaine Jérôme Arnoux. An acquired taste that, once acquired, becomes an obsession.

3. Alsace

Technically French, culturally complicated, viticulturally unique. Alsace sits in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains and produces some of the driest, most aromatic white wines in the world from grapes — Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris — that most of France does not grow.

The wines are almost always single-variety, deeply expressive of their terroir, and criminally undervalued compared to white Burgundy.

Try: anything from Domaine Muré — one of Alsace's most respected houses, farming organically since well before it was fashionable.

4. Loire Valley

Over a thousand kilometres of river, dozens of appellations, and a staggering variety of styles. The Loire produces some of France's best Sauvignon Blanc (Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé), its most age-worthy Chenin Blanc (Vouvray, Savennières), and elegant Cabernet Franc reds (Chinon, Bourgueil) that are unlike any other red in France.

It is also home to excellent sparkling wine — Crémant de Loire and Saumur Brut — that offers real Champagne quality at a fraction of the price.

Try: Cadre Noir Brut from Saumur — traditional method, Chenin Blanc, extraordinary value.

5. Provence

Yes, everyone knows Provence rosé. But Provence also produces serious red wine — particularly from the appellations of Bandol and Les Baux-de-Provence — and some genuinely interesting white wines that rarely make it outside the region.

The rosés themselves deserve more credit than their Instagram reputation suggests. The best — pale, dry, mineral, and complex — are among the most food-friendly wines in France.

The common thread across all five regions? Direct sourcing, lower prices than Bordeaux and Burgundy, and producers who are genuinely excited about what they make.

These are exactly the kinds of wines we built 51 Wines to share.

Olivier