Most French wine is still made by small, independent and passionate vintners.
France is peppered with wineries and wine-tasting opportunities. For some people, it can be overwhelming to try to make sense of the vast range of French wines, particularly when faced with a no-nonsense winemaker or sommelier.
White wine should be clear ... if not, it's Spanish.
Acidity is like salt. It gives wine character. "Legs," a.k.a. "tears," indicates how much sugar is in the wine. Dry wine has fewer legs; sweet wine has more and faster-running legs.
When you sip a little wine and then suck air in, it exaggerates the character. You're not making it better, but bringing out its flavors, so that it's easier to identify the characteristics of that particular wine. Olivier feels that Americans need to break out of their four favorite words to describe the taste of wine: "dry, sweet, fruity, oaky."
The Champagne region defended its name and therefore has a strong image today. The Chablis region did not, so wine growers outside of France used the name and made it cheaply. Today the real Chablis is better than its reputation.
Terroir (pronounced "tehr-wah") is a uniquely French concept. The French don't call a wine by the grape's name. Two wines can be made of the same grape, but be of very different character because of their terroir. A real Chablis made from the Chardonnay grape is better than Chardonnays made elsewhere because of its terroir. Terroir is "somewhere-ness," a combination of the macro- and microclimate, soil, geology, and culture (the accumulated experience of the people and their craft).
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