Water is Life of Wine France As you proceed on your journey of wine discovery, you will come to a quick realization that all wine is determined by its water. Of course, all life on Earth needs water to survive; but it is not the water as portable source. It is the affects that water has on the land that will greatly influence the wine.
Take out a map of France, what do you see? Most maps tend to show the cities of importance, the roadways, and the railroad tracks. These are important to wine but look closer. You may have to look at your map legend to find it on your map. One time this was the most import item on a map, and now you must seek and look very closely to find these important items of topography called river. Yes, the rivers are one of the main responsibilities for wine and wine production.
On the map of France you will find 4 major waterways with their tributaries. In the south west of France emptying into the Atlantic Ocean is the Gironde estuary which is formed by the rivers Dordogne and Garonne. The Dordogne has a tidal bore, wave action flowing into the river, and is one of the two major rivers of the Bordeaux Region of France. The Garonne River is the larger of the two rivers allowing seagoing vessels to reach the port of Bordeaux. Both rivers play an important role in the type of wine made, the quality of the wine, and in the shipment of the wine. Here shipping is very important, otherwise the world may never have heard of the wines from Bordeaux, some of the greatest wines in the world.
Further north on the Atlantic is the Loire River with its headwaters near Nantes, France. 'Loire' means silt, sediment,or deposit because of the flatness and heavy silting of the river. The Loire River for over 2,000 years plus has been a major route of transportation into and out of the Loire Valley bring goods from all over the world and shipping its farm products to include wine back out to the world.
Still further north on the Atlantic is the Seine River that runs past Paris. Oceangoing vessels can navigate 75 miles upstream on the Seine from there low style riverboats are used to transport goods up and down the river. The Marne River tributary of the Seine River is important because of its vicinity to the Champagne Region of France where the world's greatest sparking wines known 'of course' as Champagne.
In the southeast of France near Italy, the Rhone River empties into Mediterranean Sea. The Rhone River is a major river of Europe, the tributaries of the Rhone River beginning in the northern part of France and the western part of Switzerland.
These geographical regions of origins of wine lend more to the wines than name. Each river is different. Each river brings different nutrients, temperatures, and people to the regions. All this and more, make the wines great and small that we taste, consume, and enjoy each day. When you taste a wine from these regions, you are tasting the rivers' water, and all that they have brought to your palate.
Nature is Beautiful;
Art captures the Soul.
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