This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (September 2015)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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The Guide Hachette des Vins is a French wine buying guide published by Hachette Livre (Hachette Pratique). Its first edition was released in 1985. [1] It is France's best-selling wine guide and one of France's oldest. [2] The Guide Hachette des Vins is considered to be France' most authoritative guide and commonly referred to as the bible of the French wine industry. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within France such as the Margnat wines were during the post war period.
Hachette is a French publisher.
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
The Guide Hachette uses blind tasting panels to evaluate wines by appellation. [1] Each year 40,000 wines are tasted blind and rated by experts. [1] [7]
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, such as what grapes may be grown, maximum grape yields, alcohol level, and other quality factors, may also apply before an appellation name may legally appear on a wine bottle label. The rules that govern appellations are dependent on the country in which the wine was produced.
No fee is required to submit samples. [9] Only the most recently bottled vintage is allowed to be submitted for blind tasting. [1]
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine. A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and declare vintage Port in their best years. From this tradition, a common, though not strictly correct, usage applies the term to any wine that is perceived to be particularly old or of a particularly high quality.
Wine tastings are organized locally in each region between January and May. [1] Blind tasting sessions composed of a panel wine professionals (enologists, wine merchants, wine brokers, sommeliers) are organized with the Syndicat Viticole or Winegrower's Syndicate of each appellation present in the guide. [1]
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onwards. Modern, professional wine tasters use a constantly evolving specialized terminology which is used to describe the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of a wine. More informal, recreational tasting may use similar terminology, usually involving a much less analytical process for a more general, personal appreciation.
Each wine is rated on a scale of 0 to 5. [7] [9]
Taster's grade | Wine Quality | Final Wine Rating |
---|---|---|
0 | Faulty wine | Eliminated |
1 | Poor or mediocre | Eliminated |
2 | Good | Commended (no stars) |
3 | Excellent | * |
4 | Remarkable | ** |
5 | Exceptional | *** |
The top rated wines are subject to a second round of blind tasting. [7] After the second tasting, the panel votes on one or two wines to receive Coup de Coeur [Judges' Favorite]. [7] The Coup de Coeur is considered to be the highest recommendation. [6] [10] [11] [12] [13]
The 2016 edition covers:
Champagne is sparkling wine. Many people use the term Champagne as a generic term for sparkling wine but in some countries, it is illegal to label any product Champagne unless it both comes from the Champagne region and is produced under the rules of the appellation. Specifically, in the EU countries, legally only that sparkling wine which comes from the Champagne region of France can be labelled as Champagne. Where EU law applies, this alcoholic drink is produced from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France following rules that demand, among other things, secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to create carbonation, specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from specific parcels in the Champagne appellation and specific pressing regimes unique to the region.
Cognac is a variety of brandy named after the town of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.
Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here—those commonly referred to as "Burgundies"—are dry red wines made from Pinot noir grapes and white wines made from Chardonnay grapes.
Chambertin is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, with Pinot noir as the main grape variety. Chambertin is located within the commune of Gevrey-Chambertin, and it is situated approximately in the centre of a group of nine Grand Cru vineyards all having "Chambertin" as part of their name. The other eight vineyards, which all are separate AOCs, have hyphenated names where Chambertin appears together with something else, such as Chapelle-Chambertin. Chambertin itself is situated above the Route des Grands Crus. It borders on Chambertin-Clos de Bèze in the north, Griotte-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin in the east and the Latricières-Chambertin in the south. The AOC was created in 1937.
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976—known as the Judgment of Paris—was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A Californian wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.
Michel Dovaz is a Swiss wine critic and food writer. He started his career as a journalist in Paris, France and later taught wine courses at the Academie du Vin in Paris when he served as a judge at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. He subsequently wrote several books on French wine as well as the chapter on Champagne for the Guide Hachette des Vins.
Languedoc-Roussillon wine, including the vin de pays labeled Vin de Pays d'Oc, is produced in southern France. While "Languedoc" can refer to a specific historic region of France and Northern Catalonia, usage since the 20th century has primarily referred to the northern part of the Languedoc-Roussillon région of France, an area which spans the Mediterranean coastline from the French border with Spain to the region of Provence. The area has around 700,000 acres (2,800 km2) under vines and is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world, being responsible for more than a third of France's total wine production. In 2001, the region produced more wine than the United States.
Kilien Stengel, is a French gastronomic author, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He worked at Gidleigh Park, Nikko Hotels, Georges V Hotel in Paris, and in a lot of restaurants Relais & Châteaux. He was a teacher of Gastronomy at the Académie of Paris and of Orléans-Tours. Actually, Kilien Stengel work now at the European Institute for the History and Culture of Food, in the François Rabelais University. He is captain of a culinary book fair, en directot of a collection book. Usually, he work for Ministère de l'Éducation nationale teacher competition, Meilleur Ouvrier de France award, and Masterchef France. In 2015 his PhD in Information science is supervised by J-J. Boutaud.
Luxembourg wine is primarily produced in the southeastern part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with vineyards overlooking the Moselle River. Along this river, which for 42 km makes up part of the border between Luxembourg and Germany, wine is made in three countries. There is a continuous history of winemaking along Moselle and in Luxembourg going back to Ancient Roman times. Wine production in 2006/07 was 123,652 hectoliter from 1,237 hectares of vineyards. Out of total wine exports of 87,776 hectoliter in 2005/06, 71,726 hectoliter or 82% was exported to nearby Belgium. Exports to Germany was the second largest at 8,168 hectoliter, or 9%, and is to a large extent made up of base wine in bulk for the production of blended Sekt rather than being sold bottled with "Luxembourg" anywhere on the label. Therefore, very little Luxembourg wine is seen outside Luxembourg and Belgium.
Château Miraval is a château and vineyard located in the village of Correns, just north of Brignoles, a village in the Var département in the south of France. The château hit headlines in late May 2008 when it was revealed that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had leased it for three years with an option to buy, after surveying prospective properties by helicopter, with the intention of having the twins they expected born in France. It is now owned by Pitt and Jolie, who were married in the château's chapel in August, 2014. In 2017, a new product was released by Château Miraval, an organic extra virgin olive oil. L'Huile d'Olive Miraval is packaged in black stoneware bottles and contains blended extra virgin olive oil produced from olives grown on the Miraval estate and locally-sourced Verdale, Pichouline, Tanche, Lucques, Aglandau, Cayon and Arboussane organic olives.
Frédéric Lornet is a wine producer who owns and runs the Abbaye de la Boutière in Montigny-lès-Arsures; a small village just outside Arbois in the Franche-Comté / Jura region of France.
Saint-Estèphe is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for red wine in the Bordeaux region, located in the Médoc subregion. It takes its name from the commune of Saint-Estèphe and is the northernmost of the six communal appellations in Médoc. Five classified growths of 1855 are located within the appellation area. Saint-Estèphe has held AOC recognition since 1936.
Saint-Julien is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for red wine in the Bordeaux region, located in the Médoc subregion. It takes its name from the commune Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and is one of the six communal appellations in Médoc. A number of classified Bordeaux estates are located within the appellation.
Buzet is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) for wine in South West France, in the department of Lot-et-Garonne.
Marcel Deiss is a French wine grower and producer. It is based in Bergheim, in the Alsace wine region of France.
Crémant de Luxembourg is a sparkling wine from Luxembourg's Moselle district made according to the traditional method of sparkling wine production which includes a second fermentation in the bottle followed by nine months of maturation. Only grapes from the best local varieties are used. They must be perfectly healthy, fully ripened, and free of damage from crushing or transportation.
Maison Louis Max is a French wine producer from Burgundy, France founded in 1859 based in Nuits-Saint-Georges.
Château des Jacques is a wine producer located in Moulin-à-Vent, in the north of the Beaujolais region. The 88 hectares of vineyards are spread over six appellations located in Moulin-à-Vent, Morgon, Chénas and Fleurie. Vineyards included in the domaine's holdings include: Grand Clos de Rochegrès, Clos du Grand Carquelin, Champ de Cour, La Roche, Clos des Thorins, La Rochelle and Côte du Py.
Egly-Ouriet is a Grower Champagne producer.