How to Understand French Grapes and Where They Come From

The following is how I taught myself to understand French grapes and where they come.  American wines are labeled by grape variety.  French wines are labeled by the area in which they come from which generally implies a certain wine style and/or grape(s).  The French government has a system called Appellation d'origine Controlee (AOC) which regulates what grapes may be grown where.  There are derivatives of this system and it is constantly changing.

I first learned by breaking France into the following 6 major regions: Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Rhone Valley, Burgundy, Alsace, and Champagne.  I then learned which major grapes grow in each respective region.

Loire Valley—Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc

Bordeaux—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon

Rhone Valley—Syrah, Grenache, Viognier, Roussanne

Burgundy—Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chardonnay

Alsace—Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris

Champagne—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier

There are many other grapes that are allowed to be grown in each respective region, but these are the major ones I learned first.  When I first starting learning about these major regions I pulled out a map of France and stared at the map and drawed on it until each region was stuck into my brain.