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France - Vin De Pays |
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As well as the top appelation wines, France used to make vast amounts of wine to be drunk by the general working classes. In France wine was drunk with lunch, dinner and often breakfast and any time in between. It was generally rough and cheap but consumed in vast quantities, with the average annual consumption at 45 gallons per person in the 1950s. This figure fell steadily to just 15 gallons in 1999. It was apparent to the authorities that people were drinking less quantity but better quality wine, and an economic crisis was on the horizon. Therefor the Vins de Pays system was established to improve the quality by various factors including controlling grape variety, minimum alcohol content, and maximum yields per hectare. This led to the replanting of many of the inferior grape varities with the more familiar Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay etc. These wines were far superior to the Vins de Table but far less complicated to produce than the Appelation Controlee wines. They were also introduced at a convenient time when the New World were naming their wines after grape variety rather than the current French AC system of naming after place of origin. So VDP wine saw the opportunity and followed suit naming after grape variety. These new grape varieties, combined with the huge improvements in technology for grape growing, wine making and cellar ageing now produce wines of a quality undreamt of in these areas twenty years ago.
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