Tag: wine culture
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The French Wine Rebellion That’s Changing How the World Drinks
Discover the Loire Valley, Beaujolais, and Jura producers driving France’s natural wine revolution — plus get weekly France stories free in our newsletter.
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The Ancient Harvest Signal That Bordeaux Has Followed for 800 Years
Discover how Bordeaux’s 800-year-old harvest law still shapes every vintage — and the medieval ceremony in Saint-Émilion that proclaims the new season each September — plus get weekly France stories free in our newsletter.
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The Caves Beneath Épernay That Hold Millions of Champagne Bottles
Beneath Épernay’s grand Avenue de Champagne, chalk tunnels hold millions of ageing bottles — and the secrets of how true Champagne is made — plus get weekly France stories free in our newsletter.
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Why France’s Most Exciting Wine Isn’t Made in Bordeaux or Burgundy
France’s most talked-about wines don’t come from grand châteaux. Discover the natural wine movement reshaping how France drinks — plus get weekly France stories free in our newsletter.
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What Happens in a Bordeaux Wine Village When the Harvest Begins
Every September, the villages around Bordeaux transform as the grape harvest begins. Discover the vendange culture — from the long communal lunch to the village fête — and how to experience it yourself.
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The Forgotten Deal That Gave Every Burgundy Village a Second Name
In the 1800s, Burgundy’s village councils filed court petitions to attach their greatest vineyard names to their own. A practical deal that turned small villages into globally famous wine addresses.
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The Night the Whole World Toasts France With the Same Young Wine
Every third Thursday of November, at exactly midnight, something happens in wine shops across dozens of countries. A young bottle of French red wine arrives. This is the story of Beaujolais Nouveau — and why France turned a harvest toast into a global tradition.
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Paris Has a Working Vineyard and Almost Nobody Knows It Exists
Hidden in the backstreets of Montmartre, the Clos Montmartre is a real working vineyard in the heart of Paris — planted in 1933 to stop developers, and still producing wine today.
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The Wine Scandal That Changed How Every Bottle in the World Is Labelled
How a wave of wine fraud across early 20th-century France sparked riots, forced a law, and created the appellation system now copied by every wine-producing country on earth.
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The French Town Where Every Building Is Stained Black — and Nobody Minds
In the Charente valley of south-west France, the town of Cognac wears centuries of black fungus on its walls — and nobody minds. It’s the mark of the angel’s share.