Drinking French Wine From Aussie Menus
Check out any wine shops and there is a fair chance you’ll notice that things have changed a bit on the wine menu over the last five years. Firstly there’s much growth in the Australian wine industry with new wineries and emerging grape varieties coming out across the country, giving consumers a larger range of wines to select from.
The second is that alongside these new local wines is an expanding range of imports from countries such as New Zealand, France, Italy and Spain. This trend began when the first lip-smackingly good Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand hit our shores 20 years ago and has been growing ever since. With more Australians willing to explore new wine from overseas, wine imports have essentially doubled since last year.
Chief among the nations now sending wines to our shores is the great wine making country of France.Since Roman times, the French has been making some of the best wines in the world and they still do.
While there have previously been issues with many overpriced and inferior wines coming from France, the last decade has seen great development in quality across the board.
So when you’re ready to start exploring French wine, here are some tips to get you started. French wines names normally come from the region where they are produced as opposed to their grape variety, but don’t be hindered by this as French local laws determine which grapes are used in which wine types. For example red Bordeaux can be made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and or Petit Verdot.
Also the style of French wines is generally quite different from our own with most French wines slightly drier and often made to be food friendly, so with less overt flavour, alcohol and oak treatment.
Below is a starting point for exploring some good French wine which are easily found at your local independent bottle shop or larger stores such as Dan Murphy’s and Vintage Cellars.
• Côtes du Rhone (Grenache-based red wine)
• Alsatian Riesling
• Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc) of Chablis (Chardonnay).