A Brief Overview of French Wine Regions

France is home to nine wine regions, with seven of particular importance. 

1. 1. Bordeaux: Many of the world’s most expensive wines come from Bordeaux, where the term premier cru originated. The region is divided into the Left Bank, which includes the famous district of Médoc (home to Pauillac’s renowned Cabernet Sauvignon) and the Right Bank, where you’ll find Pomerol and Saint Emilion. 
2. 2. Burgundy: The Burgundy region makes some of France’s top wines, but in minuscule quantities compared to Bordeaux, so their rarity also adds to their value. One of Burgundy’s best-known wines is Chablis, a chardonnay made near the town of the same name. In Burgundy’s capital, Beaune, pinot noir dominates. 
3. 3. Champagne: Rounding out the top three regions, Champagne makes special-occasion sparkling wines. Sparkling wines made outside of Champagne are known as crémant. 
4. 4. Languedoc-Roussillon: This area in southeast France is the largest wine region in the country, but the majority of production here is bulk wine, such as red Carignan (from Spain), that is not exported. 
5. 5. Loire Valley: The centrally located Loire Valley region produces most of France’s white wine, in addition to wines from many native grapes found nowhere else. Wines produced in the Loire include Muscadet (a light, dry white wine made with melon de Bourgogne), Vouvray (chenin blanc made in the Touraine subregion), and Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (dry white wines made from sauvignon blanc). 
6. 6. Rhône Valley: The Rhône Valley is notable for its red wines, from syrah in the north to grenache in the south. 
7. 7. Alsace: This wine region has been part of Germany in the past, and the wines that come from Alsace reflect that history. This part of France is home to the German grape riesling and the Italian grape gewürztraminer.

13 French White Grape Varieties

Thirteen grapes comprise the majority of white wine grapes in France. 

1. 1. Chardonnay: Chardonnay is the most popular white wine in the world. The green-skinned grape originated in the Burgundy region of France but now grows in almost all major wine regions across the globe. In France, its best-known expressions include Montrachet, a grand cru white Burgundy famous since the early eighteenth century. Elsewhere, it’s often produced as a varietal wine. 
2. 2. Sauvignon blanc: Native to France, this citrusy, acidic white grape has notes of gooseberry and dominates in the Loire Valley. 
3. 3. Pinot gris: Known as pinot grigio in Italy, this Burgundian grape variety is popular in Alsace. 
4. 4. Pinot blanc: This early ripening white pinot is often the star of sparkling Crémant d’Alsace. 
5. 5. Pinot meunier: One of three grapes winemakers can legally use to make Champagne (the other two are Chardonnay and pinot noir), pinot meunier used to be the most popular variety in the region in Champagne. Now, pinot noir dominates Champagne. 
6. 6. Chenin blanc: Chenin blanc is native to the Loire Valley and continues to be important to winemakers there, especially in Vouvray and Chinon. Learn more about Chenin blanc in our guide here. 
7. 7. Sémillon: This gold-colored grape from southwestern France is used to make the famous dessert wine Sauternes. 
8. 8. Viognier: Viognier is a warm-climate white grape with an apricot aroma. It’s the main grape in Condrieu, in the northern Rhône. 
9. 9. Melon de Bourgogne: Melon de Bourgogne is the most popular grape in the Loire. It’s used to make Muscadet, a light, dry white wine. 
10. 10. Marsanne: Marsanne originated in the northern Rhône but has spread through France, including the South of France. A productive variety with good aging potential, it is popular among growers. 
11. 11. Muscat blanc à petits grains: Possibly the first grape grown in France, this tiny-fruited variety likely originated in Italy or Greece.
12. 12. Roussanne: This white grape grown in the Rhône has an herbal aroma that contributes to white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 
13. 13. Muscadelle: This fresh, fruity grape from southwest France is used in blends with sémillon and sauvignon blanc to make sweet wines in Bordeaux. 

7 French Red Grape Varieties

Seven red wine grapes are particularly common in France. 

1. 1. Pinot noir: French monks cultivated pinot noir and used the grapes to make wine as early as the fourteenth century. Since then, the grape has become one of the most popular in the world. A great pinot noir will have complexity, elaborate aromas, refined texture, freshness, silky tannins, and finesse. Best known as a varietal red wine, pinot noir is also used to make rosé wines such as sparkling Crémant d’Alsace, and white wines like Champagne. 
2. 2. Cabernet sauvignon: Cabernet sauvignon is the most popular red wine in the world. Cabernet sauvignon is a full-bodied, acidic wine with strong tannins that mellow with age. The blackberry-scented wine is particularly popular in Bordeaux. 
3. 3. Cabernet franc: Cabernet franc originated in Spain, but it quickly became popular in France, where it’s grown in Bordeaux’s Right Bank and in the Loire Valley for blends and varietal wines. Learn more about Cabernet franc in our guide here. 
4. 4. Malbec: This dark, juicy grape originated in France and was once very popular in southwest France, specifically Cahors. It’s one of six varieties allowed in Bordeaux wine. 
5. 5. Merlot: Full-bodied merlot is traditionally produced as a blending wine in Bordeaux, but it’s also popular worldwide as a varietal wine. 
6. 6. Gamay noir: This early-ripening variety from Burgundy has a fruity, acidic flavor and is popular in Beaujolais, including Beaujolais nouveau, the wine’s youngest expression. 
7. 7. Mourvèdre: This late-ripening grape grows in the warmer climates of southern France, such as the Bandol (Provence) and Châteauneuf-du-pape (Southern Rhône) appellations.

Most of us are now in the last quarter of our life and should read this interesting piece of advice. This is one of the nicest and most gentle articles I’ve read in a while: no politics, no religion and no racial issues – just food for thought.

The Last Quarter- author unknown

Time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young and embarking on my new life. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then, and of all my hopes and dreams. However, here it is …… the last quarter of my life and it catches me by surprise.

How did I get here so fast?

Where did the years go and where did my youth go?

I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that I was only on the first quarter and that the fourth quarter was so far off that I could not visualize it or imagine fully what it would be like. Yet, here it is, my friends are retired, and getting grey. They move slower, and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me but I see the great change. They’re not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant …… but like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we’d become.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day and taking a nap is not a treat anymore. It’s mandatory because if I don’t of my own free will, I fall asleep where I sit. And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did. But at least I know that, though I’m on the last quarter and I’m not sure how long it will last, that when it’s over on this earth, it’s over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn’t done; things I should have done but truly there are many things I’m happy to have been done.

It’s all in a lifetime.

So, if you’re not on the last quarter yet, let me remind you that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life do it quickly. Don’t put things off too long. Life goes by so quickly.  Do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether you’re on the last quarter or not. You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of life. Say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember, and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the past years.

‘Life’ is a gift to you.

Be Happy!

Have a great day!

Remember, it is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

You may think:

Going out is good – but coming home is better!

You forget names – but it’s okay because some people forgot they even knew you!

You realize you’re never going to be really good at anything like golf – but you like the outdoors!

The things you used to care to do, you aren’t as interested in anymore – but you really don’t care that you aren’t as interested.

You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV on than in bed – you call it ‘pre-sleep’!

You miss the days when everything worked with just an ‘On’ and ‘Off’ switch!

You tend to use more 4 letter words – ‘what’ and ‘when’

You have lots of clothes in your wardrobe, more than half of which you will never wear –

but just in case!

Old is good –

Old is comfortable

Old is safe

Old songs
Old movies

… and best of all, Friends of old!

So, stay well, ‘Old friend!’ Have a fantastic day!  Have an awesome quarter – whichever one you’re in!

‘It’s not what you gather but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.’

Courtesy: JM in Calgary

Roman slaves types 

Categories of slaves mentioned by Plautus in his comedies:

• agaso – groom
• atriensis – steward
• auceps – fowler
• auri custos – jewelery attendant
• bubulcus – ploughman
• calator – footman
• cantrix – singer
• cellarius – storekeeper
• cistellatrix – wardrobe keeper
• coquus – cook
• cursor – messenger
• factor – poultry and game fattener
• genus ferratile – chain gang
• holitor – market gardener
• ianitrix – doorkeeper
• messor – reaper
• nuntius renuntius – messengers
• nutrix – nurse
• obstetrix – obstetrician
• opilio – head shepherd
• paedogogus – children’s chaperon
• pastores – shepherds
• pedisequa – attendant
• salutigeruli pueri – pages
• sartor – hoer
• sator – planter
• tonstrix – hairdresser
• unctor – masseur
• vestiplica – clothing folder