Here's How Bartenders and Waiters can Unlock French Wine Secrets

French wine baffles many people. Here's how to master French appellations.

Connor Izatt, bartender at Parker's Tavern in Cambridge's the University Arms Hotel, recently graduated from studying WSET Level 2 course in Wines & Spirits with me.

When I asked Connor (pictured right) what he'd found most useful from the 3-day course, he knew straight away.

"Becoming more familiar with French wine appellations," he said. "If you know which grapes go into a wine and can recall the climate, it helps you predict the flavours and style."

In this short article I'm going to give a quick overview of how I teach the main French wine appellations for my WSET qualification courses. You'll see immediately how useful this knowledge can be.

Simply learning about 7 major grapes introduces the main styles of French wine. There is always more to study of course, but placing these 7 grapes is a great start.

The first thing to know

Each main region of France is associated with particular grapes. These grapes belong somewhere and doesn't usually appear in the other places.

Chardonnay, for example, is the white grape for Burgundy & Champagne. Therefore Bordeaux can't use it, nor the Rhone valley and you don't find much of it in the Loire or Alsace either. It's as if Chardonnay 'belongs' to Burgundy & Champagne.

This also gives you a good basis for understanding wine from other countries - you can compare the same grape used in different climates and note the differences with France (but that's another article).

Let's take an overview of 7 French (and international) grapes:

1. CHARDONNAY

Chardonnay is generally considered softer than Sauvignon Blanc because it's not as acidic. It almost always feels a little fuller and richer in the mouth. However it can be quite crisp when grown in cool climates (e.g. Chablis) where it has flavours of green apple and lemon. It develops riper, peachier flavours in warmer parts as you go south (e.g. by the time you reach Pouilly-Fuissé). In the parts where they make more expensive versions it is usually barrel matured adding flavours of wood, spice or vanilla.

Chardonnay belongs in Burgundy and also goes into Champagne as part of the blend.

The main Burgundy appellations to know are below. If it is a white wine and the label is named after one of these places, you can be confident it's usually Chardonnay.

• White Burgundy or Bourgogne Blanc (often no oak)
• Chablis (no or minimal oak)
• Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet (usually oak)
• Rully, Montagny (sometimes oak)
• Mâcon, Mâcon Villages (sometimes oak)
• Pouilly-Fuissé, Saint-Véran (usually oak)
• Bulk/inexpensive versions: Pays d’Oc

With food: crisper styles like Chablis pair well with fish and plain chicken. Richer, oakier styles are good with creamy sauces, creamy pasta and garlic dishes.

2. PINOT NOIR

Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned grape and since most of the colour and tannins in red wine comes from grape skins, Pinot Noir is renowned for making pale colour wines not too drying.

It is a picky grape that likes the growing climate to be cool or moderate. Treat Pinot Noir well and you can make refreshing wines with lovely red berry fruit flavours. It is often matured in barrel and more expensive versions that have been kept a few years develop mushroom and forest floor flavours from bottle ageing.

Pinot Noir is Burgundy's red grape variety and also goes into Champagne as part of the blend.

The main Burgundy appellations to know for red wine are below. If it is a red wine and the label is named after one of these places, you can be confident it's usually Pinot Noir.

• Red Burgundy or Bourgogne Rouge
• Gevrey-Chambertin, Vougeot, Vosne-Romanée, Nuits-Saint-Georges,
• Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay
• Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey, Givry, 

With food: being less tannic this is a red wine that can happily make the cross-over from red meats and stews to white meats and fish. Also good with mushroom and truffle-infused dishes.

3. SAUVIGNON BLANC

Sauvignon Blanc is a very acidic grape making crisp, refreshing wines that feel lighter than Chardonnay. The high acidity influences the flavour and almost always reminds me of grapefruit or gooseberry (the signature flavours of Sauvignon Blanc). It's an aromatic wine and can be quite floral (e.g. elderflower) and so it is not usually aged in barrel because those delicate floral aromas can be easily masked by oak.

Sauvignon Blanc's spiritual home is the Loire Valley, but there is also a lot planted in Bordeaux (where it is usually blended into white wines).

The main Loire and white Bordeaux appellations to know are below. If is white and from these places it is Sauvignon Blanc.

• Loire: Touraine, Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé
• Bordeaux: Bordeaux Blanc (often blended with Semillon)
• Bulk/inexpensive: Pays d’Oc, Val de Loire

With food: great with lemony fish, tomato based dishes and any dish with a citric or vinaigrette influence.

4 & 5. CABERNET SAUVIGNON AND MERLOT

These are thicker skinned grapes than Pinot Noir so they make darker and more tannic wines. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most tannic and most acidic, giving it excellent structure for ageing. It is often blended with softer Merlot (less acidic and less tannic). Wines with a higher proportion of Merlot are easier to drink young.

These two grapes are the basis for red wines from Bordeaux. Red Bordeaux either has more Cabernet in (left bank) or more Merlot (right bank).

The main red Bordeaux appellations to know are below. If is red and from these places it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

• Bordeaux: Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Côtes de Bordeaux, Entre-Deux-Mers - these have more Merlot in, so are easier to drink young
• Saint Émilion, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, Pomerol - these are better quality right bank appellations, hence they have more Merlot in the blend
• Médoc, Haut Médoc, Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux, Pessac Leognan, Graves - these are better quality left bank appellations, hence they have more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend and need longer ageing
• Bulk/inexpensive: Pays d’Oc

With food: the more tannic the wine the more opportunity there is to pair it with red meats. We use lots of salt in red meat dishes (especially in gravy) and salt tames tannin bringing out the fruit. Right bank wines are softer and so suitable for less salty dishes.

6 & 7. SYRAH/SHIRAZ AND GRENACHE

Syrah (or Shiraz) is thick skinned like Cabernet Sauvignon, but not so acidic. So it is sort of half way between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

But there is an utterly distinctive character to Syrah - it is a spicy grape. So flavours of pepper with the black fruits or in some cases warmer spices like cinnamon or nutmeg.

Grenache is a thin-skinned grape making wine that is low in tannins and acidity (and quite full bodied). It is also fairly spicy. It's wines are pale in colour with red fruit flavours and white pepper and usually high in alcohol.

These two grapes are the basis for red wines from the Rhone. Southern Rhone wines are built on Grenache with Syrah and other grapes added for colour, flavour and tannin. Northern Rhone wines are made predominantly from Syrah and therefore are darker and more tannic.

• Northern Rhône: Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie Saint-Joseph, Cornas. These are made predominantly from Syrah, with black fruit flavours usually more savoury and peppery than Shiraz in a warmer climate like Australia.
• Southern Rhône: Côtes du Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages (+name), Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. These are all blends based on Grenache with small quantities of Syrah and Mourvedre and other grapes blended to add flavour. More red fruit flavour is likely to be in the wine (but depends how much Syrah was added) and usually high in alcohol and body.
• Languedoc-Roussillon: Minervois. There are lesser known appellations in Southern France that use Syrah and Grenache. Minervois is just one example.
• Bulk: Pays d’Oc, inexpensive Côtes du Rhône

With food: great with lamb or any red meat, duck and barbecued food.

Want to learn more?

WSET are the gold standard wine qualifications recognised all around the world. There are always courses scheduled on my website for Cambridge.

The one-day Level 1 in Wines doesn't cover many of the appellations in this article, but is a good introduction to different types and styles of wine, serving and storing and pairing wine with food. It finishes with a 30-question multiple choice exam. Click Here (or click the graphic) for dates and prices.

Or you can skip straight to Level 2 in Wines & Spirits. This 3-day course runs on alternate Sundays and takes you from beginner to intermediate level. It teaches the main French appellations, but also covers Italian and Spanish wines and wines of the New World. There is some home study required and it aims to teach you how to predict flavour and style in a wine purely based on what you read on the label. It finishes with a 50-question multiple choice exam. Click Here (or click the graphic) for dates and prices.

Or you can go further and develop your skills to an advanced level with the Level 3 in Wines. This is a weekly evening class lasting 16 sessions with plenty of home study required. It gives you a more detailed understanding of the wine production areas of the world, wine making techniques and viticulture. It finishes with a two-hour theory exam (multiple choice and short written answer) plus a half hour blind tasting exam. You need to already have Level 2. Click Here (or click the graphic) for dates and prices.

About the author

Mark Anstead helps bartenders, waiters and anyone working in the Food & Drinks industry to improve their knowledge of wine and make better customer recommendations generating higher value beverage sales for their business.

He teaches WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) courses leading to wine qualifications recognised all around the world. His courses run in Cambridge, UK, serving the surrounding area and he is available to travel and host courses at your place of work.

For more information see www.cambridgeshirewineschool.com or call Mark on 01223 655391 or email: info@cambridgeshirewineschool.com.

© Mark Anstead 2018