This article follows on from last month’s exploration of French white wines. As a recap, AOP is short for Appellation d’Origine Protégée and IGP is Indication Géographique Protégée. AOP wines have tighter rules about their production and are considered of higher quality than IGP, although that does not always relate to the quality of a particular wine. There are poor examples of AOP wines and some great IGP ones.
I believe that the real strength and beauty of French wine is its diversity and finding great matches of wines to food. Therefore my approach is basing the wine choice on what you are planning to eat and stepping outside the comfort zone of choosing wines from the same region all the time.
Light-bodied wines
I think it is best to categorise red wines by their amount of body as it is generally something that people understand. However, light-bodied wines are not necessarily lower in alcohol.
Light red wines are ideal for serving with starters that include meat, eggs or cheese but are not too acidic. For example beef carpaccio, Quiche Lorraine, a salad of chicken livers or pâté on toast. They can also be matched with meaty fish like grilled salmon and monkfish.
In general, northern France makes lighter red wines, the most obvious and perhaps best-known being Beaujolais. However, there are really two types of Beaujolais.
The lightest ones are made by a process known as macération carbonique. It involves storing whole, uncrushed grape bunches in a vat filled with carbon dioxide gas for a week or two. The grapes undergo a non-yeast fermentation that extracts colour but little tannin from the skins and develops a characteristic fruit aroma sometimes reminiscent of bubble-gum.
It’s the process used for making Beaujolais Nouveau, the worst examples of which can be a bit harsh and sour. Better wine producers do use it to create very aromatic, fun, fruity wines that can be served chilled but still exhibit a fair amount of complexity and length.
The other type of Beaujolais is the traditionally-fermented one, which has deeper colour, more body and more tannin. Most of the Beaujolais Cru AOPs such as Brouilly, Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent fall into this category. These are best served only slightly chilled. Both styles of Beaujolais are made from the Gamay grape.
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Alsace produces a light red wine from Pinot noir, but I have to admit that I’ve never drunk one that I have really enjoyed. They tend to be tart and thin with none of the lovely aromas of Burgundian, or German, Pinot noir.
Speaking of Burgundy, some of the wines, especially at the cheaper end of the market and the lower layers of the AOP pyramid, can be considered to be light reds. Basic AOP Bourgogne reds from a good producer can be a delightful, aromatic, savoury wine. Unfortunately the market (especially supermarkets) is full of rather harsh, sour wines lacking fruit or aroma.
The Jura and Savoie regions also make light, fresh red wines from Pinot noir and Gamay as well as local varieties Poulsard, Trousseau and Mondeuse. They are not particularly well-known but make an interesting alternative, especially if you are eating local dishes made from game – birds and rabbit.
Most poultry and game dishes generally call for a slightly heavier red wine. Burgundian Pinot noir is the obvious choice but Burgundy can be both eye-wateringly expensive and pretty full-bodied if it has been aged in barrels. An interesting source of lighter-bodied, fruit-driven Pinot noir are the AOPs Menetou-Salon and (for more money) Sancerre in the Loire Valley.
The Loire Valley’s other main red grape is Cabernet franc, which makes crunchy, fruity wines with good colour and, in the best examples, interesting aromas of crushed flowers and pencil shavings. AOPs include Chinon, Saumur-Champigny and Bourgueil. I would serve these wines only slightly chilled, around 15–17 °C.
Medium and heavy-bodied options
For roasts, composite dishes like cassoulet and lighter casseroles, I would choose a medium-bodied red.
The majority of Bordeaux reds fit that bill, although the more expensive ones from AOPs such as Pomerol, Pauillac and Haut-Médoc are more heavy-bodied.
Traditional Bordeaux is a wine that is supposed to be aged before drinking. I think it’s a crying shame that so much of it is consumed when it’s only a couple of years old and therefore probably underappreciated.
I would advise drinking Bordeaux when it is at least six years old. That’s when the tannins and intense fruit of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape transforms to give aromas of perfumed wood and dried flowers and the texture becomes silky rather than drying.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is suited to grilled meat and hearty stewsJeff Whyte/Shutterstock
Alternatively, Côtes du Rhône and all its village AOPs such as Rasteau, Cairanne and Plan de Dieu, are medium-bodied wines that mature more quickly and have a softer kind of fruit than Bordeaux. The more expensive wines of the Southern Rhone, such as Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape are heavier bodied and more suited to grilled meat and hearty stews.
The southwest of France, ancient Gascony, produces a wide range of red wines that can nearly all be considered medium-bodied. Gaillac is probably the lightest and simplest. It makes a good party red wine. Fronton, from just north of Toulouse, has a bit more grip.
Côtes de Gascogne is a classic Vin de Pays (now known as IGP) making what most people would consider quaffing wine. AOP Côtes-de-Saint-Mont is a bit of a step up in quality. The AOPs of Buzet, Côtes de Duras and Côtes du Marmandais are all quite similar to Bordeaux, as is Bergerac to the north.
The heavy-bodied wines of this region are Cahors, made from the Malbec grape, Madiran and Irouléguy. These are great matches for the magret de canard that the southwest is famous for.
Breaking the general rule that going south means more body, the Northern Rhône produces red wines that have more body, structure, meatiness and ageing potential than the southerly Côtes du Rhône. Here the Syrah grape makes the fine wines of Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Cornas and Saint-Joseph. While they are big wines, they have an elegance to them reminiscent of good Burgundy.
If you are looking for a good value heavy-bodied red wine to serve with steak, roast lamb, hearty stews and strong cheeses, the Languedoc-Roussillon is probably the best choice. Nearly all the red wines made in this large area are rich, powerful and big on fruit.
The largest AOPs are Côtes du Roussillon, Corbières and Minervois but there are dozens of others. The Languedoc has been through a big change in the last 30 years which has resulted in much better wines but also a lot of new AOPs and IGPs being created on an almost annual basis. I will cover this dynamic region in more detail in a later article.
