The Best Wine Regions to Visit in France

France and wine: it’s as natural a combination as peanut butter and jam. While they may not have invented winemaking (that honour goes to the Georgians, who crushed their first grapes some 8,000 years ago), the French have vinification deeply embedded in their cultural DNA, claiming both the world’s most famous wine regions and its most-loved grape varieties. From the soaring peaks of Jura to the surf-fringed shores of Languedoc, you can hardly visit a corner of this country without catching sight of a neat row of vines.

However, despite this constant, the wine tourism experience is never cookie-cutter. You can sip a long-aged Cabernet Sauvignon in a grand Bordeaux château one day, then sit nosing obscure Négritte at a farmer’s table in Cahors the next. Such diversity is thrilling for any traveller, particularly for wine enthusiasts. Here are some of the best wine regions to visit in France. Please note: when planning your tours and tastings, it’s always best to contact wineries in advance, as some only open by appointment.

Beaujolais

Best for: natural wine

Not so long ago, wine enthusiasts turned up their noses at this northern Burgundian sub-region, known for its unaged “nouveau” wines. However, the past decade has seen a tide change, as younger, ambitious producers use the fruity local Gamay grape to craft seriously interesting – and great-value – natural wines. Centre your explorations around the Cru village of Morgon, interjecting jaunts into vine-carpeted scenery with sips from cult domaines like Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton. Their wines are light, lively, low-alcohol – the perfect refresher after a day touring Benedictine monastery Abbaye de Cluny or pretty stone villages Bagnol and Oingt.

Champagne

Best for: wow-factor cellars

In the twin Champagne centres of Reims and Épernay, both an easy train ride east of Paris, the attraction isn’t the vineyards. Instead, it’s what’s deep beneath the surface: vast networks of ancient crayères – chalk-mines-turned-cellars – where the world’s most famous sparkling wine slowly ages. Tour cavernous Gallo-Roman vaults 18m underground at Taittinger, looking out for WWI graffiti among the immaculate rows of wooden barrels. At Ruinart, you’ll enjoy a lavish house and garden to enjoy alongside a tasting of their signature Blanc de Blanc, and at Gosset a two-hectare park with beehives and seasonal art exhibitions awaits.

Côtes de Provence

Best for: rosé-tinted romance

Yachts bobbing on blue surf, wafts of lavender on a sun-warmed breeze, lazy games of pétanque in a village square – Provence is a mood as much as it is a wine region. The wider area stretches from Cannes to the Alpilles mountains near Arles, with red, white, and sparkling wines all in the mix. If, to you, Provence means rosé, make for the ultra-pale heartland in Côtes de Provence, which radiates inland from the coast around chic Saint-Tropez.

Jura

Best for: stunning scenery

Kissing the Swiss border and framed by a sub-alpine landscape of forested slopes and chocolate-box mountain villages, the smallest wine region in France dances to its own beat. Its unusual vin jaune (yellow wine), made in an oxidative style from the obscure local varietal Savagnin, is fashionable among wine enthusiasts for its nutty, briny character – a dreamy match for local fare such as Comté cheese. Vineyards are broken up by serene lakes, grazing fields of cows, and dense forests dotted with wood-clad cabins. Savour it all in between tastings at the likes of Domaine Rolet and Domaine de la Pinte.

Bordeaux Libournais

Best for: prestige

When it comes to world-famous wine regions, Bordeaux comes top of the lot. The lauded chateaux of the Médoc are largely closed to the average visitor, but Bordeaux Libournais – also known as the Right Bank – is generally more accessible, with smaller producers, approachable wines, and an atmospheric central hub in the form of the handsome medieval city Saint-Émilion. Tour the wealth of stone monuments in the UNESCO-protected centre, including the monolithic church, Franciscan cloisters, and Romanesque keep.

Middle Loire

Best for: diversity

Stretching 600 miles from the heart of France to the Atlantic coast, the entire Loire Valley is too big to tick off on a single trip. Therefore, get a taster of the highlights in the diverse Middle Loire, where sub-regions like Saumur, Vouvray, and Touraine turn out everything from light-bodied Cabernet Franc to sparkling Chenin Blanc and fruity Sauvignon Blanc. The sightseeing draws of riverside cycling trails and Joan of Arc-era châteaux are just as diverse as the vins.

Alsace

Best for: white wine lovers

Beginning just 20 minutes outside the city of Strasbourg – with its photogenic half-timbered houses and cobbled backstreets – easterly Alsace is firmly white wine country. Grapes like Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer, and Sylvaner dominate in the family-run cellars strung along the meandering Alsace Wine Route. Make your way from Marlenheim to Thann in the south, sampling en route citrussy, mineral-tinged tipples crafted by historic producers.

Cognac

Best for: brandy

Think of Cognac and wine might not immediately come to mind, but France’s most prestigious brandy is made entirely from grapes – all grown and distilled in vine-carpeted landscapes in the country’s southwest. Producers like Courvoisier, Bache Gabrielsen, and Delamain all welcome visitors to their operations in the heart of the action around the towns of Cognac and Jarnac.

Côte-d’Or

Best for: small producers

For many wine drinkers around the world, the ‘golden slope’ of Burgundy – heartland of both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – is a holy pilgrimage point. Grand Cru vineyards in communes like Gevrey-Chambertin, Puligny-Montrachet, Pommard, and Nuits-St-Georges have perfected expressions of these grape varieties over centuries. Still, with thousands of local producers, most small, there’s plenty to discover beyond the pricier labels.

Côtes du Lot

Best for: deep France feels

Want a wine holiday that takes you properly off the beaten track? Make for this lesser-known pocket of the southwest, where sleepy towns are untroubled by masses of tourists, and the winemaking is down-to-earth and free from pretension. In Cahors, inky purple wines – made from Malbec (locally known as Côt) – are on tap at Château Eugenie, where you can picnic among the vines.

Languedoc

Best for: value

France’s largest wine region, Languedoc-Roussillon, is also arguably its most underrated, with a diverse crop of grape varieties, wine styles, and landscapes ranging from surf-licked beaches to rugged peaks. Affordable land gives winemakers freedom to experiment, spelling a huge selection of interesting bottlings at very fair prices.

Northern Rhône

Best for: active adventure

With its dramatic steep slopes, the Northern Rhône is the perfect place for those who like to pair fine wines with a dose of active adventure in the form of hiking or cycling. Moreover, for red wine lovers, it holds even greater appeal, as this is the birthplace of Syrah.