3 French Wines You Must Try This Summer
Looking for the best wines to sip this summer? Look no further than these 3 French bottles.
Looking for 3 delicious French wines to sip this summer? Check out these ridiculously yummy bottles below, hand-selected by our wine expert, Jessamine, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu. Below you will find some important tasting notes along with French vocabulary that you can use to impress your friends while saying santé (you can also check out our separate Guide to Saying Cheers in French if you want to the full scoop on a proper santé). One of the best parts of the wines below is that they are available for delivery across the U.S.A. thanks to Scout & Cellar which offers clean, chemical-free wines produced by farmers from around world. We spoke further with one of their consultants, Anne Reilly (also known as Pure Pours), who included some helpful tasting cards so you can clearly see what each bottle is made of. She also let us know that orders over $99 get free U.S.A. shipping and the brand offers quantity discounts. Happy tasting!
Image by Zan
Rosé
One of the most trendy wines of summer has become the popular Rosé, which is made of handpicked organic red grapes.* You’ll notice its soft pink color, which is created when the juice from those grapes makes contact with the skin during production. This particular Rosé, the ‘2019 L’Original Rosé’ from Provence, France, has an overall fruity* vibe with notes of strawberry*, peach* and white flowers*. If you are sitting under the summer sun, it has just the right amount of crispness so you won’t be feeling like loads of sugar are dampening your tongue. The bottle features grapes that were handpicked at a winery situated within a French national forest in Provence, then placed in temperature-controlled tanks before being bottled. Each bottle costs $22USD and, for our 21+ readers, you can order one to be delivered by visiting Scout & Cellar.
*French terms you should know:
Grape = Raisin, Fruity = Fruité (pronounced [frɥite]), Strawberry = Fraise (pronounced [frɛz]), Peach = Pêche (pronounced [pɛʃ]), Flower = Fleur (pronounced [flœr])
Image: Scout & Cellar
Sémillon
You may not be immediately familiar with this wine type, but it surely is an underdog that will steal the scene at your next dinner party*. This ‘2018 Soleil Vent Âme’ has a golden greenish tone to its color* which reflects the youth of this grape variety. It has a delicious fruity flavor profile with aromas of fresh-cut mango, green papaya* and nectarine*, all offering a lively experience to the tongue*. The grapes themselves are grown on a 500 acre vineyard located in southwest of France in a region called Aquitaine. In this part of the country, the earth* has a clay-limestone soil which helps retain water and control temperature as the grapes grow. After being handpicked, the grapes are placed in a pneumatic press and fermented for 3 weeks. Just after this process, the wine ages for 15 days on a lees (the yeast deposits that sink to the bottom of a vat) before being bottled. Each bottle costs $25USD and, for our 21+ readers, you can order one to be delivered by visiting Scout & Cellar.
*French terms you should know:
Party = Fête, (pronounced [fɛt]), Color = Couleur (pronounced [kulœr]), Mango = Mangue, Papaya = Papaye, Nectarine = Nectarine, Tongue = Langue, Earth = Terre
Image: Scout & Cellar
Red Wine (Cabernet Sauvignon + Grenache)
For many people, a bold* red wine is the ticket to savoring the summer. If you are one of those people, this Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache blend is just what you need. A deep cabernet color, this tasty red* wine has bold, earthy notes with hints of strawberry and cherry* offering pleasant acidity,* silky tannins, and a slightly bitter* finish. The grapes themselves are handpicked on a vineyard in the Rhône Valley (in Southern France) and, through production they maintain their earth-like quality without any added chemicals* making this a vegan wine to satisfy all of your guests. Each bottle costs $26USD and, for our 21+ readers, you can order one to be delivered by visiting Scout & Cellar.
*French terms you should know:
Bold (flavor) = Saveur Prononcée, Red = Rouge, Cherry = Cerise, Bitter = Amer, Acidity = Acidité, Chemical = Chimique
Image: Scout & Cellar
Santé
If you enjoyed this article, don’t forget to tap the little heart icon at the top and share it with your friends. If you are looking for more French tips, be sure to check out our Online French Classes at JP Linguistics or follow us on Instagram for unique LIVE streams and posts that help boost your language and culture skills. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter below to get tips delivered directly to your inbox. À bientôt!
Harvesting French Wine
Breaking down French wine into its most famous regions.
While many people roll their eyes at the idea of summer coming to an end, French people become liberated as they wait for hundreds of tractors to flee across the country in aims of filling their crates with this year's grape varieties. As a particular fan of vintage Chardonnays, we are taking you on a trip around France to offer an insight into Harvesting French Wine. Grab your glasses and enjoy. Santé!
The wine harvesting season for French wines is traditionally in September. However, depending on how ripe the grapes are (which changes from year to year and from region to region), this process often starts in early August and runs as late as October or November. During the harvest season, the vigneron (the person who monitors the vineyard), will help determine the 'vintage' of the grape. For example, if the grapes were picked in fall 2015, then the 'vintage' of the wine (to be shown on the bottle) is 2015. Traditionally, all of the harvesting is done by human hands and is very labor intensive. In more recent years, technology has been introduced to allow for more mechanical options, but these machines have been unable to produce the same quality as traditional methods. Because of this, some regions prohibit the use of harvesting machinery (in regions such as Beaujolais and Champagne, for example). Thus, hundreds of humans make their way into the vineyards each year to hand-pick grapes, taking several days or even weeks depending on the plot.
Each grape has a different characteristic. In the region of Jurançon, the grapes dry on the vine which concentrate the sugar and produce strong, sweet wines. This process of drying the grapes is known as 'passeriller' and makes delicious aperitifs.
Vineyards in Jurançon - image: AMC Photography
Jurançon Aerial View - image: www.vins-jurancon.fr
Dry Grapes Make Great Apèritif (the Beverage Served Before a Meal to Stimulate the Appetite) - image: accidentalepicurean.com
In the regions of Sauternes (Bordeaux), Alsace, and Le Loire Valley, the process of growing the grapes must be done using a special fungus, call the botrytis cinerea or the 'noble rot,' which creates a concentration of flavors and sugar in the grapes. The sweet, strong wines obtained using this method are some of the best dessert wines available in the world.
Sauternes Region - image: naturalsweetwines.blogspot.com
The Fungus (Botrytis Cinerea) Used In Grapes From Sauternes - image www.chateaucoutet.com
Sauternes Wine - image: tourisme-en-france.com
Alsace Region - image: anotherheader.worpress.com
La Vallée de la Loire - image: winery88.com
If you are a fan of Champagne wine, then you should know that the recipe typically combines three types of grapes (black Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and white Chardonnay). The carbonation within the bottles happens during a secondary fermentation of the wine. While many people generalize the term Champagne for 'white sparkling wine,' it is illegal to categorize a wine as Champagne unless it follows the strict Appellation - the lawful term used to identify where grapes for a wine are grown. Legal Champagnes must come from the region of Champagne in France and must follow the specific harvesting and creation process.
The French Champagne Region - image: bloomberg.com
Moët et Chandon, One of the Leading Champagne Producers in the World - image: zastavki.com
Harvesting French Wine
The harvesting season in France is among one of the most exciting times of the year for many natives. If you are looking to get away for a trip to France this fall, wine tourism across the country is an incredible experience. To get started, take a peak at the map below and see the variety of wine regions in France! Have you ever been to a French vineyard? Tell us all about it by sending your pics and telling us about your experience to info@jplinguistics.com. We'd love to hear from you! Also, don't forget to brush up on your French before you go, by enrolling in our Private Lessons or Group Classes! Simply visit www.jplinguistics.com to get started! Happy Trails!
A Simple Map of Wine Regions in France - image: wine-tours-france.com