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I like to update these older posts from my wines news of France series, My other hobby other than travel which actually are complimentary. The wines are in me since 8 yrs old !! and that is a long time folks , believe me. I am certified wine expert by France (Sopexa) and Spain (ICEX) and have visited many vineyards all over the world. Of course, after all this experience I too came to believe the best were, are and will be for the forseeable future from France ! Therefore, here is my new take on the wines news of France of 2021 !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I do.

Starting with a bang! This was post VIIII ,but forgot the date ! Champagne is a wine for gourmets that knows how to accompany the best meals, from appetizers to dessert, it is a juice created by a Benedictine monk who never tastes better than in the cloister of the Abbey of Hautvillers, where he was born!  The production of Dom Pérignon, both great wine and supermarket, obeys principles that the successive cellar masters of the abbey have refined and applied. One of the first pillars of the house is blending, that is to say the choice of grapes from different plots that will go into the composition of the wine.  Dom Pérignon is releasing the 2010 vintage this year, a very open wine, with notes of pineapple, intense jasmine, a glorious champagne and broad shoulder, almost massive, which stands out from its predecessors. A wine with horses under the hood, sharper than the 2006, which turned out to be fat and nicely viscous. Much less toasted than the 2004, voluminous, airy. 2010 does not have the depth either, the gravitas of 2003. Each vintage finds its audience, and reveals a little of the personality of the one who loves it. YES it is out go for it !!!

The Roederer wine library, set up in 1999, is for those who have not had the patience to keep their wine in the cellar to enjoy it at the best time. The vinothéque is between 300 and 500 bottles of rosé and between 700 and 900 bottles of white put on the market each year.  Today, of their 242 ha, 120 ha are certified organic. 122 ha are HVE (high environmental value) certified, of which 10 ha are biodynamic. the first edition of Brut Nature Rosé is breathtaking. The tension of this “bone” wine is even more noticeable on the rosé than on the white. This 100% organic vintage, made from a biodynamic vineyard, with no added sulfur or sugar, co-signed by designer Philippe Starck, has been a great success, especially in Italy.  The Roederer Group is preparing the production of a still red wine and a still white wine. The white will be made from a Chardonnay from Mesnil-sur-Oger. The red will come from a Pinot Noir from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. These two wines, vintage 2018, will be released next February 2021.

King Louis XIV loved the delicate rosé wine produced in Les Riceys, a small village of 1,500 inhabitants located in the south of Champagne, in the Côte des Bars. The production of rosé is a heroic act, because the village also has the right to produce, from the same grapes, Coteaux-Champenois and especially Champagne. The appellation of origin Rosé-des-Riceys occurs in three communes, Riceys-Haut, Riceys-Haute-Rive and Riceys-Bas, on specific plots, from a short maceration of the skins of the pinot noir grapes with its juice. Of the 320 million bottles produced, still wines called Coteaux-Champenois represent less than a million and Rosé-des-Riceys a few tens of thousands. In other  words, nothing for a global market. But it is one of the best rosés in France and its very original taste, more Burgundy than Champagne, is sought after, especially since it can be kept without problem between three and ten years. Among the fifteen producers, it must be mention Alexandre Bonnet, always very consistent,
Olivier Horiot, with a good density, Defrance, quite rustic, and Veuve Devaux, always very elegant. Four interpretations for a unique wine. Indeed to taste !!!

Today, some winegrowers proclaim it loud and clear: they are proud to belong to one of the 580 cellars or unions of French cellars (cooperatives). Out of 75,000 harvest declarations in 2019, 43,300 are cooperative members who own small structures of around seven hectares. The geographical development of my selection begins in Alsace where the Cave de Ribeauvillé, created in 1895, is considered to be the oldest of the cooperatives. The Champagne is the region which offers the most beautiful list of enterprising cellars, since the beginning of the century to moment when the Champagne economic network is united between the trade and the winegrowers following the revolts of 1911. In Burgundy, the producers of crémants are efficient, while in still wines, La Chablisienne has long proved its worth, followed by the cellars from the Mâconnais and the Côte Chalonnaise such as Lugny, Buxy and the Vignerons des Terres Secrètes. Finally, on the western front, two large groups dominate the southwest: the dynamic Cave de Plaimont and Vinovalie, the Bordeaux entity Tutiac, which has taken over the marketing of a large part of the region. The Loire, for its part, remains slightly behind …too small to join forces as cooperatives. The AOP Listrac-Médoc is, with its cousin Moulis, the most “continental” of the town’s appellations of the Médoc. They doesn’t “look” at the estuary like the others. Thus, even if the climate is temperate oceanic, the temperature minima are lower here than in the other communal areas of the peninsula. The Listrac and Moulis area is one of the latest in the Bordeaux vineyards. Listrac is also distinguished by its terroir.

It is with great sadness , really no words for it that I read in the LRVF magazine ,the Lavinia wine shops are closing this January 9 2021! This is certainly bad news, which shows the fragility of the wine professions in these times of the Covid19 virus , and which will make a big splash. The Lavinia store, the emblematic wine merchant on Boulevard de la Madeleine, will close its doors on Saturday January 9 in the evening.  One of the most beautiful wine windows in Paris draws the curtain, after twenty years of ambitious work to raise the reputation of the best French and foreign wines in the capital. Opening of a restaurant where you could drink any bottle of the store without corkage duty (yes wonderful after work), development of a very profitable spirits department, distribution of wines to restaurants via the Vins du Monde subsidiary, corporate gifts, gift boxes for individuals, online sales, home deliveries in the West of Paris, Last April, Lavinia sold its Vins du Monde subsidiary and its allocations to prestigious foreign domains such as Vega Sicilia, Harlan Estate or Pingus. Again, sad very sad if there was one I thought this one will survive but I guess was wrong, the virus did it but it has been a downward fall for a while. Lavinia will be irreplaceable!

This is the wines news of France X !! no date kept, The General Syndicate of Winegrowers (SGV) of Champagne authorized  last Thursday in Epernay the planting from 2023 of semi-large vines, breaking with the obligation to plant only narrow vines on the 34,000 hectares of the appellation. The winegrowers will thus be able to replant more spaced vines, between 2 and 2.2 meters against 1.5 meters currently, and higher, about 2 meters against 1.2 to 1.3 meters, which the rule prohibited until now. there in force, since the 1920s. This decision follows a study carried out since 2006 by the Syndicate, the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) and the Interprofessional Committee of Champagne Wine (CIVC) .It has shown that semi-large vines were more resistant to frost, drought and disease, requiring less or even more chemical inputs, and made it possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% thanks to the use of more efficient equipment, while by reducing production costs by 20%. There are divided opinions by winegrowers so the effect will be seen by 2023.

The General Assembly of the Interprofessional Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) was held on July 12, 2021 at the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.  The commercial rebound is at the rendezvous for Bordeaux wines, with an increase in exports of 13% (China 13%, United States 21%, Belgium 9%, United Kingdom 6%, Japan by 14%). In France, we can see that consumption is also picking up again. We’re back to pre-crisis figures.

We continue with the wine news of France XI of April 2 2021 !!! The Château Ormes de Pez in Saint-Estèphe (same owner as Lynch-Bages): notes of dried flowers and ground pepper from the first nose, and a nice freshness on the finish. In the second, I would hesitate, either Les Forts de Latour (the “second” of Château Latour, Pauillac premier grand cru classé) for its elegant classicism, its aromatic richness and its almost silky texture  Or Le Clémentin by Pape Clément, also the dolphin of a flagship of the Bordeaux vineyard for its intense aromas and light delicacy.

How about the emblematic and historical Corton-Charlemagne by Louis Latour: sublime of  Burgundy. This Chardonnay cuvée is a jewel from the mamelon which culminates in the north of Beaune. It has more than 1,000 hectares of which 550 are vines of 167 great vintages in the Corton appellation and Corton-Charlemagne. If red they are planted with Pinot Noir, they are entitled to the Corton appellation. The wine owes its name to two emperors. Otho, a Roman whom no one remembers, who reigned from January to April 69, owned an estate here, like Charlemagne later. It is said that the latter, at the end of his life, suffered from tremors. Tired of spilling his red wine on his superb flowery beard, he had white grape varieties planted. A young Corton-Charlemagne, whose color sometimes reveals green reflections, releases formidable mineral notes. It is then urgent to wait. Over time, the aromatic palette widens, the notes of honey, frangipane, toasted almond and cinnamon become more present. The oldest vintages release a leathery nose, without the wine ever losing its delicate acid touch. On the palate, the juice is both racy, concentrated but elegant.  In Paris, a discreet circle, aptly called Cercle Corton-Charlemagne, maintains the cult of this wine. The Maison Louis Latour house covers some twenty hectares, a continent on the scale of Burgundy. Half of these vines are in the Corton-Charlemagne appellation, spread over the climates En Charlemagne, Le Charlemagne, Les Pougets, Les Languettes and Le Corton. A fifth of the Corton-Charlemagne appellation has changed hands over the past twenty years. In one generation, the value of land would have quintupled. At the start of 2017, the acquisition of the Bonneau du Martray estate (11 hectares) by the American billionaire Stanley Kroenke terrified the locals. The wine has remained the same, unique, reflecting a protected territory, a know-how transmitted over the centuries, an ideal detached from fluctuations in the price of the land. The 2013 Château Latour was released, with a higher price than the previous one, despite ratings in free fall and a vintage deemed to be catastrophic. 365 euros!. This is the professional price announced by Château Latour for its 2013 vintage, which is one of the five Premiers Grands Crus Classé of 1855, i.e. a slightly higher price than the previous one, which already amounted to 350 euros when it was released. The property of the Pinault family no longer sells its wine en Primeurs since 2012. The second wine Les Forts de Latour 2015 has just been released at the professional price of 150 euros, with marks of 93 and 94, respectively attributed by Galloni and Martin. The competition promises to be tough. Indeed!!

The next charitable auction of Hospices de Beaune wines, the most important in the world, will be in part for the benefit of the cause of women whose sale will be organized this year by Sotheby’s, replacing its competitor Christie’s. The choice of beneficiaries of the sale of this barrel, which had reached the record of 660,000 euros last year, has not yet been carried out but it will be an association for the fight against violence against women and another in the field medical help. This decision was long overdue because French wines represent more than 85% of the amount of sales made by Sotheby’s in this area. Sotheby’s sold in 2020 for 92 million dollars (78.5 M EUR) of wine and spirits and already 58 M USD (49 M EUR) during the only first half of this year 2021; according to Sotherby’s. In 2014 , they represented 26% of sales, against 50% in 2019. Bordeaux represented 62% of sales in 2014 and 26% in 2019 of it. Of course.

And something could not tell much before, but now in retirement mood, let me tell you a bit. This is my HQ head office and they were into wines of course, I saw it part of my job in Finance dept. head of a service to be told later.  I knew it was coming and we are now big into wines!! By completing the merger with Vinadeis and taking over the entire Cordier brand, the InVivo Wine group is deeply restructuring and changing its identity: it becomes Cordier by InVivo, with the ambition of establishing itself as a global wine giant. In 2015, InVivo, the leading French agricultural cooperative group (whose wine branch is InVivo Wine), acquired a 78% stake in Cordier-Mestrezat, (I got a free bottle!) , the remaining 22% being held by the large wine cooperative group Val d’Orbieu  which has since become Vinadeis. Vinadeis goes completely under the banner of InVivo, the whole being now called Cordier by InVivo. Currently bringing together 9 cooperatives, 32 estates, 600 employees, 3,600 wine growers for a turnover of 500 million euros, Cordier by InVivo aims to quickly reach one billion turnover, by relying on a solid logistics park, a production tool spread over several key sites (Cubzac, Trilles, UCCOAR, Sudvin) and a very wide range, which goes from bulk to organic and revolves in particular around promising brands such as Café de Paris, Maris, the Mythique cuvée, Bonne Nouvelle, Canei or LeVal. The affordable wine drinkers of the future beware a new player is coming and soon purchasing property in California USA !

And here I go with the wines news of France XII of April 10 2021 !!! SJB, the Bollinger family holding company, acquires Ponzi Vineyards, a historic estate in the Willamette Valley, in the United States. Domaine Ponzi Vineyards, was created in the late 1970s by Dick and Nancy Ponzi. For its part, the Ponzi family remains the owner of 40 hectares under a supply contract with the estate. The total needs of the winery represent in all and for all 140 hectares of vines. Production hovers around 480,000 bottles, at prices ranging from 25 to 120 US Dollars. SJB which brings together the brands Bollinger, Ayala, Chanson, Langlois-Chateau and Delamain. These vines largely dominated by Pinot Noir, but Pozzi also produces Pinot Gris and Chardonnay located in Laurelwood. Last June 2020 they joined the AVI (American Culture Area, equivalent of the French AOC) of the Willamette Valley which brings together the terroirs of Chehalem Mountains, Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity Hills, McMinnville, Ribbon Ridge, and Yamhill-Carlton. The strategy is to get closer to the American consumer who is especially fond of local wines, as well as to the zone where the consumption of high-end wine is the most important. The acquisition of this property forms the basis of Bollinger’s new US strategy. Bollinger is not, far from it, the first Champagne house to attempt an adventure in Oregon. Four years ago, under the leadership of Gilles de Larouzière, the Maisons & Domaines Henriot group became the majority shareholder of the Beaux Frères estate, owned by Michael Etzel, Robert Parker and Robert Troy, in the historic Willamette Valley. Long before that, at the end of the 1980s, the region had been brought to light by the Burgundians Robert Drouhin and his daughter Véronique, true pioneers. Since then, the Jadots, Meo Camuzets and others have joined them. With success…. Now how the wine will be best if all is from France lol !

Soon the rebirth of a forgotten vineyard? Chef Yannick Alléno and the prestigious Domaine Marquis d´Angerville have just replanted 30 acres of biodynamic vines … about thirty km from Paris. It was on the initiative of chef Yannick Alléno that an astonishing adventure two years ago began, that of replanting vines in the town of Conflans- Ste-Honorine (Yvelines 78) . And decided to plant two thirds of pinot noir and one third of gamay, intended to produce a wine that I like, the passetoutgrain. The vines will be cultivated biodynamically, with the help of the teams from the Domaine de Volnay, present to advise and support Laurent Berrurier in his new role as winegrower. In four years, if all goes well, we will be able to taste the first cuvée of Clos Bellevue, and drink to the health of a still confidential vineyard, which we would be wrong not to keep an eye. To be continue…

In the category of nature wines, it seems that the Drappier family is one step ahead of many Champagne winemakers. Brut Zero, a wine without sugar, filtration and sulfur, was released in 1998. An oenological success. The rosé will follow. The first draw comes from the 2004 and 2005 harvests. This wine is claimed to be unfiltered, not discolored, not dose. It feels like a field of strawberries on a beautiful end of summer day. On the palate, some tangy notes, peppery hints and over-controlled acidity. What sounds I like about Drappier: the total mastery of the wine which remains very balanced even when it comes to the most cutting-edge products. It is recommended to serve this rosé at 8 ° C. At the table, it will be the ideal companion for langoustines, shrimps, crabs and other sushi.

In a context of tension between the various candidates for the takeover, Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse, premier grand cru classé B of Saint-Emilion, will be sold for 75 million euros to the cosmetics group Clarins, associated with Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse. Cosmetics and wine well I guess that is diversification. To note , Clarins cosmetics were the first gift of my dear late wife Martine to my dear late mother Gladys!

The recent owner of Château Fourcas Dupré, Gérard Gicquel, confirmed his thirst for Médoc by purchasing Château d’Agassac from Groupama. It was after many commas, parentheses and dashes that the sale was finalized with a signature, bottom right. Thus, Groupama, which owned Château d’Agassac since 1996, was promoted to Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel last year. This project responds to the development of the family group with ambitious investments in business services, around “hospitality” carried by the Beautiful Life Hotels group with already 10 high-end hotel establishments and in the wine sector with the acquisition of Château Fourcas Dupré indicates the press release. Beautiful Life Group thus consolidates its presence in the Médoc vineyards with a volume of 500,000 bottles. One of my favorite wines of the Médoc, track since 1990.

And more wines news of France XIII from May 21, 2021 !!! The story of the Chandon Garden Spritz, which is set to hit the terraces this summer, began in the last century. The Chandon epic in Argentina began in the 1950s with Count Robert-Jean de Vogüé. The president of Moët & Chandon, also a figure of WWII then largely involved in the Champagne inter-professional institutions, is convinced that the know-how of his house can serve other causes than just Champagne. And why Argentina? In the middle of the 20C, the United States had barely emerged from prohibition. In the southern hemisphere, there are still very few vines in countries like Australia or New Zealand, and Chile did not consume wine. Argentina, with its long wine-making tradition, is a form of obviousness. Robert-Jean de Vogüé will get closer to his nephew by marriage, Baron Bertrand de Ladoucette, who lives in Latin America. Invited to Buenos Aires by the latter, he notes that, in popular bars, Argentines drink white wine to which they add large ice cubes and a little sparkling water, He went there, with his 2 CV equipped with 4 wheel drive for off-road exploration. The first three hectares are planted next to Mendoza. Today, Chandon Argentina operates over 500 hectares and also employs around 150 suppliers. On the Argentinian model, other fields have emerged. In Brazil and California in 1973, Australia followed in 1986, then India and
China in 2013. With its six sites, Chandon has more than 2,000 hectares.

The very first re opening of the Champagne Wine and Regional Archeology Museum should delight all on Saturday May 29th with a route built around an original common thread: chalk. The Musée du vin de Champagne et d’Archéologie régionale d’Épernay will finally open its doors. The place is simply magical!!. Housed in the former home of Charles Perrier, built in a neo Louis XIII style in 1855 and opening onto an English garden, it alone embodies the luxury and excessiveness of Champagne. On the ground floor, the reception rooms, which notably include the ballroom, do not accommodate any display cases. They will house future events, conferences and exhibitions which should once again make the château a major center for the cultural life of Champagne. The museum is broken down into three groups, linked by an original common thread: chalk. The route begins with the rooms devoted to geology. Champagne wine lovers know that their extraordinary minerality owes a lot to the chalk of Campanien and Turonien. The reconstruction of a Lutetian beach discovered in Fleury-la-Rivière allows us to understand the genesis of this wonderful terroir. The second pole focuses on archeology. Chalk has indeed conservative virtues, which probably explains why the Marne is one of the departments that has provided the most prehistoric remains. Virtual reality headsets offer the opportunity to discover the interior of a hypogeum, a cave dug out of chalk that was used as a tomb in the Neolithic period. The third pole focuses on the wine of Champagne itself. It opens with an evocation of the role of the Church and the monasteries in its development. A digital terminal allows you to leaf through the Ebbon evangelary, a relic of those medieval times when the Abbey of Hautvillers was as renowned for its hillsides as for the quality of its copyist workshop.

Again continue with the wines news of France XII of October 7 2021 !!! After the Drouhin family and the Bouchard Père & Fils house, it was last May 2021 ,the turn of the Jacques Bollinger Company (SJB) , which notably brings together the brands Bollinger, Ayala, Chanson Père et Fils or Delamain to set its sights on the vineyards of Oregon in the United States announced the acquisition of the famous winery Ponzi Vineyards. The Bollinger family have just announced the arrival of Jean-Baptiste Rivail (Pommery, Hennessy and Newton Vineyard Napa). The latter will manage and develop the Ponzi Vineyards estate by occupying the position of CEO, from October 4. He will also be responsible for coordinating the development of the group’s brands on the American market.

5 smart tips: Choose the wine before the dish! Starting from the bottle will allow for a better pairing and it’s always easier in that sense. Respect a service order, from the youngest to the oldest. It is recommended to serve white wine before red wine, the lightest before the more tannic, the youngest first, to increase the intensity, both in terms of taste and emotion. Open the bottle and taste it beforehand. This double precaution will prevent you from ending up with a possible corky taste when serving and, moreover, you will be able to assess whether the wine needs a little aeration, in which case it will be good to decant it. Limit the number of wines served … and favor magnums when crowded! Better a few wines, but carefully chosen, than a string of insignificant bottles. Provide 2 bottles of the same wine. In case of a corky taste or deviance, it is always better to have a spare bottle. 5 mistakes to avoid: Serve reds at room temperature. Gone are the days when wine was “chambered” in rooms not heated to 13 °. Too hot, the red wine loses its flavor and precision. Do not exceed 16-17 ° (knowing that it will heat up quickly in the glass and throughout the meal); fruity reds can be served cooler, around 14-15 °. Do not have tasting glasses. The glass is essential because it reveals the aromas and texture of the wine. Reserve the champagne for dessert. Champagne and dessert rarely go hand in hand; and out of pity, avoid chocolate, the ultimate enemy of bubbles. Place the champagne at the start of the meal, or even throughout the meal, without skipping the cheese. Serve the reds on the cheese. The tannins of wine and cheese? Enemy brothers. Apart from rare exceptions (Saint-Nectaire for example), few cheeses go well with red wines. Change the model and think white. Your life will be wonderful now. Serve a Port or a pastis as an aperitif. It is a French tradition, but traditions are made to be debunked … A spirit, a powerful alcohol will numb your taste buds from the start. You may be in a good mood, but not sure that your palate will go away. remember. I am a drinker of red porto but do leave time done with the apéro before beginning the meal.

Verzy belongs to the historic vintages of Maison Veuve Clicquot from which Philippe Clicquot founded the House in 1772. The House also has a Manor surrounded by a park within which it has just launched a major project presented to the press on September 28, 2021. A 2000 square meter vegetable garden planted following the principles of permaculture. A true collection, it already brings together more than 300 species and pretty curiosities. For the daily maintenance, the House calls on volunteer winegrowers, who often have their own vegetable gardens. They sometimes bring interesting varieties themselves and in return benefit from the expertise. This garden is for them a source of inspiration which could accompany the evolution of the cultivation practices of the House, which has just started certification a year ago. organic production of part of its vineyard ,La Maison uses the vegetable garden for the kitchens of the Hôtel du Marc, its guest house in Rémoise, and the rest for the Restos du cœur charitable organisation.

And end up this series of wines news of France XIII of December 14 2021 !!! The Grenache is one of the most widely planted grape varieties in France. According to a 2017 report from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), it covers 10% of the national vineyard and, with 81,000 hectares, it is located in terms of area just behind Ugni Blanc (82,000 ha, mainly cultivated for cognac) and merlot (112,000 ha). As popular as it is must-have. It is even more present in France than in Spain, its native country, where it covers 62,000 hectares, especially in the north. Very faithful to these two countries (which represent 87% of its world surface), it is found, sporadically, in other countries, the United States, Australia, Argentina or Morocco for example. It is the eighth most cultivated grape in the world for wine and spirits. While its drought-resistant plants adapt perfectly to rising temperatures, several diseases threaten the longevity of this grape. So on the endangered list of wine producing grapes ! Yet very delicious ,big areas in France to look for wines of this grape are Languedoc-Roussillon, PACA, and the Rhône valley.

5 tips for gifting the right wine: Choose a vintage echoing a year of birth. Choose the wine according to the dish. Play on emotion. Investigate target your friends’ tastes, their habits. The art of speech. Pick a wine you like, and tell them why, tell your experience at the estate, an anecdote, something they’ll remember when they open the bottle. Gifting a wine: 5 mistakes to avoid: Do not trust the professionals… Buy without tasting. To be stingy. Choose an astonishing or very little known wine. Disregard their tastes.

Following the banks of the Loire river to enter “gentle France”, this is the Loire Valley , a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is to take a road that leads from dungeons to castles, from gardens to royal abbeys, from wine-growing villages to historic villages. The route is punctuated by discoveries of a most complex wine over 800 km and 70,000 hectares of sparkling, still, dry, off-dry, mellow, tannic or more fruity. Will bring you to taste grape varieties with character like Cabernet Franc for the red, Bourgueil, Chinon, St Nicolas de Bourgueil and especially the star grape of the Loire Valley, Chenin, for the white, giving dry wines but also sweet wines sumptuous with Vouvray and Montlouis. Gamay in red, Sauvignon in white, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pineau d’Aunis, Pinot noir, Chardonnay, so many grape varieties that are added to produce young and light wines but also more tannic wines for aging. . Between the Atlantic Ocean and Champtoceaux, you will visit Nantes, the medieval city of Clisson and above all you will taste the famous Muscadet! Between Champtoceaux and Saumur, you will enter the domain of Anjou, Saumur, Layon and Crémant de Loire wines. Between Saumur and Chenonceau, the wine route of Touraine, country of Rabelais: the wines of Chinon and Bourgueil will seduce you ; while continuing to savor the wine of Touraine. Love it !!!!

In the first half of 2021, France exported 7.3 million hectolitres of wine worth 5.2 billion euros. This equates to increases of 15% by volume and 40% by value compared with the first six months of 2020 during lockdown, but more importantly to growth of 15% by volume and 9% by value compared with the first half of 2019. Not only are exports of French wines outstripping those during the first wave of Covid-19, they are also returning to growth rates in excess of their pre-Covid performance. I guess folks stay home they drink more lol!!! Among the top 10 export destinations for French wines, however, some markets are casting a shadow over the overall picture. A case in point is the drop in volumes shipped to Great Britain (of course brexit-johnson deal) at the beginning of 2021 compared to 2020 (-13%). Although China imported more French wine in the first half of 2021 than in 2020 (+47% in volume and +86% in value), it has not reverted to 2019 levels (-20% in volume and +6% in value). The above according to export arm of the French government, Business France.

There you go folks , gladly reporting from the world of wine and my belle France. This is again the best wines in the world, me think, Again, hope you enjoy this post on the wine news from France 2021 as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!