French Country
French Country
Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC) wines take up a significant amount of the limelight in France, but there are many thousands hectares of vineyards that fall outside of this classification. Of these, wines granted the status of Indication Geographique Protegee (IGP) are the most important and include the regions of Ardeche, Languedoc-Roussillon and Cotes de Provence, France's best-known region for rose wines. Producers must meet strict conditions to hit the required quality standards, particularly around yields and minimum alcohol content. There are many excellent wines offering great value for money made under the IGP label and relaxed labelling laws allow winemakers to indicate the wine's grape variety on the bottle. Alongside the classic Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, varieties like Viognier, Grenache and Syrah are prominent. Despite a perception of inferior quality to AOC wines, this is not the case, as winemakers looking to work innovatively outside of their own strict AOC rules will label their wines as IGP.
