Wine Art in France

Wine drinking in France is almost without exception a culinary delight. You eschew its many pleasures along with the best of food in accompaniment. Some of the French wines are the best on offer in the world, although Italy is the largest wine producer in the world. Burgundy wines and those grown in the Bordeaux region of France are known the world over for their taste and quality.

Allow me to enthrall you with details of the top three wine varieties produced in France.

Cabernet Sauvignon - It is widely accepted as one of the world's best wine varieties. It is usually savored with red meat prepared simply. The name comes from the variety of the red wine grape, which is grown in not only France, but also in California, Chile, and Australia. It belongs to the Medoc family of French red wines.

Cabernet Sauvignon red wine has a full-body taste expected of a varietal wine. When the wine is new, it has a gripping and firm taste and rich currant quality. An aged Cabernet Sauvignon red wine is more akin to that of a pencil box, although the Bell pepper notes still are evident. Oak treatment of Cabernet Sauvignon red wine is primarily responsible for the Vanilla notes that increase its wine taster rating. However, the Vanilla notes, which do not come from the grape fruit, go a long way in overwhelming the varietal taste.

Pinot Noir - It is one of the noblest red wines and has exquisite taste. Neither is it rough in taste, nor is it blended with other varieties, except rarely. It is however, a difficult to grow grape variety. You will savor its taste best with grilled salmon, lamb, and chicken.

Pinot Noir is the red wine variety that has made Burgundy famous as a name in France and also the world over. It is also grown in Oregon, New Zealand, California, and Austria.

Pinot Noir differs very much in taste from Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a varietal wine that has a decidedly delicate and fresh taste. It contains low levels of polyphenols and this is why the tannins are soft. It has a fruity quality distinctly cherry-like, strawberry-like, and plum-like. Frequently, you may find notes of damp earth, tea-leaf, or used leather streaking in. Inspite of all these structural qualities, Pinot Noir is very transparent to the location in which it is grown.

Chardonnay - It is a white wine variety that originates from the Burgundy region in France and it has been quite popular right through the 1990s. It goes well with chicken and fish dishes. You can order it sparkling or still, both are available abundantly.

Taste wise it has a wider body than other dry white types and has a rich citrus flavor. A buttery tone is induced to Chardonnay by fermenting the wine in new oak barrels. The buttery tone provides a largely, toffee, coconut, toast, or vanilla note to the wine.