France

French labels name places, not grapes. The AOC system — administered by INAO since 1935 — fixes the boundary of each named area along with its permitted varieties, maximum yield and minimum alcohol. So Chablis already tells you Chardonnay grown on Kimmeridgian limestone, and Sancerre tells you Sauvignon Blanc, without either grape appearing on the label.

What an appellation does not tell you is how good the wine is. It is a boundary, not a score, and two neighbouring growers inside the same lines can make very different wine. Our French range covers Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, the Loire, Alsace and Champagne.