Summary: This week we do a 10,000 foot overview of the motherland of winemaking: France. Here are the notes: First we cover a little about the French wine industry and why it's so important (big $$ here!) After covering major grapes grown in France, we talk about the history of the country and how it got its start as a wine juggernaut. We re-address the concept of terroir and then get into the major regions and what you'll find in each. The regions we covered are: Alsace on the German border, which mainly makes whites of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat, and Silvaner. Then we hop to Champagne -- we all know what's there! We take a jog over to the Loire, covering the Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume, the Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc in Touraine and Anjou-Saumur, and then talk about Muscadet, the strange name that's neither a region nor a grape (more on that in this post). Next, we head to Burgundy and talk about three grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Gamay. Yup, that's it...you'll have to listen to figure out why the region is so complex! Then we're down to the Rhône Valley for Syrah, and the whites Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne in the northern part and red blends made of mostly Grenache/Syrah/Mourvedre in the south and Grenache blanc/Marasanne, and Roussanne for whites. We briefly talk about the MASS production of the Languedoc and Roussillon regions and then cap off the podcast with the big daddy of them all: Bordeaux, where we talk about red, white, and sweet blends. It's a long one, but it will give you a good grounding in what you can find where. That way when we talk about each region on future podcasts, you'll have a reference point! Here's a link: If you like the podcast, please review it on iTunes, drop a comment below, or join the awesome conversation on Facebook (Wine For Normal People page) and Twitter @normalwine! If you've got a question you want us to answer, post it on any of those places and we'll include it on the show! Thanks for listening! We can't wait to hear from you! Podcast music: "Café connection" by morgantj / CC BY 3.0, ©2009 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Map: Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license
