French wine culture

According to the estimates presented by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) after 2015 harvest France will produce about 47.4 million hectolitres of wine. This will make France second biggest producer of wine in the world after Italy. Most French vineyards are located in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon. More than a quarter of all French areas with vineyards are there.

In France the terroir represents a key term when an expert wants to describe certain wine.

A vineyard near Vosne-Romanée Burgundy, France

Terroir is a set of factors like soil, climate, sunshine that influence quality of grapes and therefore the wine.

Let's imagine you are in France and having some wine with couple of locals. There are some things you should know. Never ever add ice cubes to the wine you are about to drink. One could express an opinion on the wine she or he is drinking but do not try to imitate expressions you for example heard on some tv show about wine tasting.

It is not polite to completely fill your or other's glass with wine. It is quite a bit outdated tradition but some French believe that woman should not pour her drink while the man is present there.

When holding a glass do it so you won't warm it up with your body temperature. Some glasses enable you to do so by holding it on its bottom. There are also glasses where you can hold the area above the wine.

When making a toast a person should say "À ta santé" and "À votre santé." meaning "to your health".

A toast

Others present in your company will say "À la tienne" and "À la vôtre." meaning "to yours" and then touch the other's glasses and drink a bit of wine. While doing so you should look people straight in their eyes. There is a belief that without doing so your sexual life will be an awful one for 7 years.

Not all wines are suitable with all kind of food. For example, red wine and red meat go well together.

In parts of France, like for example Burgundy, some people organize parties known popularly as "blind tasting". A person is blindfolded and has to try to determine if she or he is drinking French or foreign wine, how old is the wine etc.

References

French Win Fun Facts
http://www.vinetalk.com/french-wine-fun-facts/

Italy overtakes France as world's biggest wine producer
http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/italy-overtakes-france-as-worlds-biggest-wine-producer-280408/#sAuMlcdfJa5cVdXM.99

Top 5 fun facts about French wine
http://www.discoverwalks.com/blog/top-5-fun-facts-about-french-wine/

Top 5 Common Wine Mistakes
http://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/top-5-common-wine-mistakes

French Etiquette For Drinking
http://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/french-etiquette-for-drinking

Everything you Need to Know about Drinking in France
https://chloejohnston.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-drinking-in-france/

A Fun Wine Game
http://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/a-fun-wine-game


Images

A vineyard near Vosne-Romanée Burgundy, France (photo by Michal Osmenda, Wikimedia)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_vineyard_worker_manually_tills_the_soil_near_Vosne-Roman%C3%A9e_in_Burgundy_%287309839432%29.jpg

A toast (photo by Andrew Malone, Flickr)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmalone/5408283719/