French White Wines
France offers the most varied selection of white wines of any country in the world: it’s all in the geography, and the complex matrix of north-south and east-west.
It’s not just a matter of the north being cool and the south hot; it’s the difference between maritime influenced climates to the west and continental climates to the east.
For example, despite being far north Alsace is surprisingly dry - Strasbourg is the second driest city in France after Perpignan! - protected as it is by the Vosges mountains to the west, and enjoys a pretty hot summer. By contrast Bordeaux, right on the bay of Biscay, can be on the receiving end of weather not dissimilar to Cornwall. Then there are regions cooled by proximity to mountains - Jurancon and Limoux, for example, both just north of the Pyrenees; and there’s the really hot zone along the Med in the arc from Marseille to Perpignan.
On the whole each region of France has its own cluster of grape varieties, best suited to its climate and soils: for example the Loire has Sauvignon Blanc grown in the eastern vineyards on calcareous soils, Chenin Blanc in the middle on tufa, and Melon de Bourgogne on the granitic vineyards of Muscadet. Bordeaux has Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon; Burgundy, Chardonnay; and in Alsace there is a bunch of grapes which are also grown in neighbouring Germany and Northern Italy: Pinot Gris (Grigio), Pinot Blanc (Bianco), Gewurtztraminer, plus Riesling. Throughout the Rhône valley, Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon the best results are with grapes able to take the summer heat: Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Rolle (Vermentino) and Macabeu. (Where Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are planted in the south the results tend, with few exceptions, to be poor). Then there are all sorts of weird and wonderful white grapes grown in the outlying areas, such as south-west France (Petit and Gros Manseng among others), Savoie and Jura.
When one considers that many of these wines come in unoaked and oaked styles, the diversity is breathtaking!
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The second wine of Lafaurie-Peyraguey, a Grand Cru Classe of the Sauternes with 18 hectares of...
OriginFrance
RegionBordeaux
ColourWhite
ABV13%
Bottle75cl
CodeCLP119
GrapeSemillon, Sauvignon Blanc & Muscadelle

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Les Gryphées refers to the fossils of ancient oysters found in the vineyards, and this was our...
OriginFrance
RegionJura
ColourWhite
ABV13.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeLAM322

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70% Chardonnay and 30% Savagnin, fermented and aged ‘sous voile’ separately for two years...
OriginFrance
RegionJura
ColourWhite
ABV13%
Bottle75cl
CodeLAM222
GrapeChardonnay & Savagnin

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100% Chardonnay aged ‘sous voile’, under a thin film of yeast very similar to the Flor that...
OriginFrance
RegionJura
ColourWhite
ABV13.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeLAM123
GrapeChardonnay

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Vin Jaune is the Jura’s unique gift to the world of wine, a long aged oxidative wine made...
OriginFrance
RegionJura
ColourWhite
ABV14%
Bottle62cl
CodeLAM417
GrapeSavagnin

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Chateau de Toulet, Loupiac, 2022
Medium Sweet
Toulet has been producing sweet wines since the 13th century and for the last five generations...
OriginFrance
RegionBordeaux
ColourWhite
ABV12%
Bottle75cl
CodeTOU122
GrapeSemillon & Sauvignon Blanc

Chateau Barrere, Jurancon Moelleux, 2014
Medium sweet
A blend of 70% Petit Manseng and 30% Gros Manseng from Jurancon in South West France. Floral...
OriginFrance
RegionJurancon
ColourWhite
ABV13.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeBRR114
GrapePetit Manseng & Gros Manseng

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A blend of no less than eleven grapes this is one of the unsung heroes of our list. Ripe and...
OriginFrance
RegionLanguedoc
ColourWhite
ABV13.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeMAB622
GrapeWhite blend

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Forges, Savennieres, Roche Aux Moines, 2022
Full bodied
Roche aux Moines is one of the top vineyards in Savennières, a tiny but famed appellation on...
OriginFrance
RegionSavennieres
ColourWhite
ABV13.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeFOR522
GrapeChenin Blanc

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The name of this 1er cru originates from “cailloux”; its calcareous soil is full of stones...
OriginFrance
RegionBurgundy
ColourWhite
ABV 13.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeLEQ322
GrapeChardonnay

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This is a little-known clos, a walled (or once walled) vineyard, beneath the village of...
OriginFrance
RegionBurgundy
ColourWhite
ABV 13%
Bottle75cl
CodeLEQ222
GrapeChardonnay

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One of our benchmark wines, named because François Lequin bestows on this wine the traditional...
OriginFrance
RegionBurgundy
ColourWhite
ABV12.5%
Bottle75cl
CodeLEQ522
GrapeChardonnay