French wines pride themselves on a rich, renowned and largely justified heritage, having established themselves as the market leaders for decades.

France has more grape varieties, more climatic regions, and even more micro-climates than any other wine producing country. Add to this the myriad of soil types and you will realise how much France has to offer.

Competitors to its crown emerged bringing new flavours and tastes to a new generation of wine drinkers.

The 'New World' Wine makers had arrived on the scene and began slowly but surely consuming France's market share through more savvy marketing practices and some very good wines. There are certainly new world wines that are as good as a Fronsac or a Bandol or a Châteauneuf du Pape. But nobody will ever make a Fronsac or a Bandol or a Châteauneuf du Pape in New Zealand, Austaralia or California! Even if you found a similar climate, planted the same varieties, and used the same methods, the soil would not be the same, the ambient yeasts would not be the same... Wine is not, or should not be, a standard, industrial product. Or even primarily a technical product. It's a craftsman's product, if it's worth anything.

 
What we want to bring to the wine enthusiast, is a sense of where the wine is from, and why we think that's important. Obviously, the best thing is to go there oneself and taste it at the vineyard (and I hope that we'll inspire people to do that), but next best is to have as much context, cultural, geographical, technical, historical... as possible, to enhance the experience of the wine itself.

Old World wine; it's been there for centuries. Combining experience and tradition, winemakers have gradually found the varieties and methods that work best in the particular combination of climate, geology etc. of their region. Intelligently modernised, the traditional character is maintained or reinforced. Strictly regulated in order to protect the specific character of each appellation.

The Old World Wine Agency strives to introduce as many new wine drinkers as possible to the blended wines that France does like nobody else.  Wines that reveal the grapes and the areas in which those grapes are grown. We also feature single varietals, but will encourage you to try 'vins d'assemblage' wines.