Top 10 Most Popular French Wines Currently in Demand

1. Chateau Trotanoy

Chateau Trotanoy is known for producing some of the finest wines under the Pomerol appellation. These wines are aged and exhibit complexity, luxurious character, and smooth texture rarely found in most Bordeaux wines. They offer a unique, sensual, dense flavor with exquisite purity of fruit. Trotanoy is a naturally dense, complex, full-bodied wine with exceptional aging potential. It boasts a deep color and a powerful, repetitive nose on the palate with the addition of notes of dark chocolate, cream, and a particularly concentrated flavor profile due to its very old vines.

To produce Chateau Trotanoy, two laser sorting tables have been used since the classic 2009 vintage. The fermentation process takes place in traditional concrete vats, temperature-controlled, ranging from 15 to 146 hectares in size. The wine is aged in new French oak barrels from 40% to 50% for 18 to 20 months before bottling. The average annual production of Chateau Trotanoy is approximately 2,250 cases per year. Chateau Trotanoy is best served at 15.5°C, 60°F. It pairs well with all kinds of classic meat dishes, beef, pork, lamb, duck, chicken, roast chicken, quail, stew, and grilled dishes.

2. Chateau Rieussec

The wine is fermented in barrels. The production is classified, and each batch is identified and isolated in a barrel lot, to assess whether it can be used in the Grand Vin after fermentation or not. Several tastings from each barrel are then conducted to ensure a strict selection for the Grand Vin. The wine cellars are located in the heart of Chateau Rieussec vineyard in Fargues. Each vintage is aged in oak barrels mainly produced at DBR cooperative. Half of them are renewed annually. The wine aging time in barrels ranges from 16 to 26 months, during which the wine is periodically racked. The wines are bottled at the Chateau.

The wines of Chateau Rieussec are aged in new French oak barrels on average about 50% for 18 to 24 months, depending on the characteristics of the wine. With concentrated flavors, a thick texture, notes of pineapple, honey-soaked apricots, oranges, mangoes, and spring peach along with vanilla and caramel aromas are easily found. This is a delicious wine that can last for decades. The production at Château Rieussec and Carmes de Rieussec varies greatly depending on the vintage, but averages around 12,000 barrels per year. Rieussec also produces a small amount of dry white wine, “R” de Rieussec. Chateau Rieussec ages well, with wines often being darker than other Sauternes wines.

To produce Chateau Malescot St. Exupery wine, the fermentation process takes place in a combination of 22 concrete tanks and stainless steel tanks temperature-controlled. They are divided into 6 concrete tanks and 16 stainless steel tanks ranging in size from 80 ha to 160 ha. The malolactic fermentation process takes place in tanks, barrels, or a combination of any of them. They may use a concentrator or reverse osmosis machine, as well as bleed from the wine barrels to increase the alcohol concentration. According to Jean Luc Zuger, these decisions are case-by-case.

Chateau Malescot St. Exupery wine is aged in French oak barrels from 80% to 100% for 14 to 16 months before bottling. There is a second wine, La Dame de Malescot. On average, about 9,000 barrels are produced each year. It should be noted that starting from 2015, the wines here seem to be crafted with a more delicate touch, bringing more sophistication and finesse. This wine has no purple hue. It is dense, rich, pure, and aromatic. Soft tannins and an elegant, long-lasting structure. The 2009 is a great vintage and even better than 2005. Malescot St. Exupery pairs perfectly with Asian cuisine, refined fish dishes such as tuna, mushrooms, and noodles as well as cheeses.

Perrier Jouet Champagne House was founded by Pierre-Nicolas Perrier and Rose-Adélaïde Jouët in 1811. While the sparkling wines produced at this Champagne House include typical Champagne blends, they emphasize Chardonnay grapes in their famous Grand Brut blend. In the early days of Perrier Jouet, all champagne wines were sweetened with sugar. Perrier Jouet introduced the “Cuvee K” in 1846 with only 5% sugar, and this dry style made waves worldwide. Today, Perrier Jouet House is under the patronage of the Pernod Ricard brands. It owns over 160 hectares of vineyards, mainly the Grand Crus of Cramant and Avize. Only the cellar master at Perrier Jouet knows the secret to the distinctive style of Perrier Jouet.

The Belle Epoque collection of Perrier Jouet comprises their finest vintage Champagnes. These wines are all aged for at least six years and have a dosage of 8 grams/liter. The newly released 2013 Perrier-Jouët Brut Belle Epoque is a performance-driven wine, bursting from the glass with aromas of mirabelle plum, tangerine, buttered pastry, and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, firm, and enticing, it is seamless and elegant, with a silky smooth core and fruity richness amplified by a dosage sufficient to command attention.

Madame Bollinger pioneered the very first classic example of Prestige Cuvée, Bollinger RD, now a legend. In 1961, alongside the unveiling of RD 1952, where RD stands for 'Récemment Dégorgé' meaning 'Recently Disgorged', Madame Bollinger's extraordinary vision came to life. Bollinger RD is the result of outstanding foresight: a Champagne that has matured, its aromas enhanced through a particularly long and slow maturation process on its own lees, for over 12 years. Only 20 editions have been released since, and this is the 21st: Bollinger RD 2007, made exclusively from the first pressing (tête de cuvée) of 14 presses, 91% of which are Grand Crus and 9% Premier Crus.

Bottled with a cork during even the second fermentation (to enhance aging), the wine is disgorged and re-corked manually. As Bollinger RD is destined for all the purposes and merits of La Grande Année with a much longer lifespan, evolving new levels of complexity, thus, the blending holds no secrets: 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, with the final dosage ranging from 3 to 4 grams of sugar per liter, making it an Extra Brut. Bollinger RD 2007 introduces itself with complex aromas, opening with hints of honey and brioche, followed by an array of spices (ginger, thyme, and others), before evolving into notes of mirabelle plum, dried apricot, and fresh quince.

The expansive vineyards of Chateau Phelan Segur reside in the renowned Saint Estephe in France. With origins in Ireland, four families, and over two centuries of wine passion, the winery has produced some of the finest wines. Château Phelan Segur is known for its elegance, finesse, and aromas that demand at least 5-7 years of bottle aging to reach their best, with the finest wines capable of aging in bottles for 15 years. Oak wine racks are used for aging, imparting harmoniously blended oak flavors to reveal smooth tannins, all delivering a naturally refreshing taste.

The vineyards lie near the Gironde estuary on a thick layer of gravelly clay and pebble soils deposited by the rivers, providing the ideal conditions for grape cultivation. Grapes are harvested by hand and initially sorted manually on vibrating sorting tables. Subsequently, an advanced optical sorting machine selects the highest-quality grapes for the final Chateau Phelan Segur wine. Around 40 different tanks allow for the fruit to ferment according to various vineyard lots. The wine is aged for about 12 months in French oak barrels, with new wood never exceeding 50%.

Gloria Estate is a popular Bordeaux wine among consumers for its drinkability, seductive characteristics, and reasonable price. It's a top contender for the best-value Bordeaux wines from St. Julien. To craft the wines of Gloria Estate and St. Pierre, grapes are fermented in 76 different stainless steel vats ranging in size from 50 hectares to 178 hectares. Malolactic fermentation takes place in the vats. Gloria Estate is aged in new French oak barrels for 40%, for 14 months. Gloria Estate typically tastes best when aged for at least 5-8 years. Gloria Estate delivers its finest drinking experience and should reach its peak maturity around 8-17 years after bottling.

The 2009 vintage of Gloria Estate is the finest wine ever made at this Medoc estate that I've had the pleasure of enjoying until Gloria 2010 was produced. Gloria exhibits a deep purple hue and offers expressive notions of warm black and red berry fruit, black cherry, and cassis with hints of spice cake, cedar, graphite, and peppermint oil. Château Gloria has a medium to full-bodied palate with beautifully balanced, elegant flavors, ripe tannins, and both richness and freshness.

The 41-hectare vineyard of Lafon Rochet is planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. This shows a slight increase in their Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot plantings. On average, the vines are kept at 37 years of age. However, there are older vines in certain plots. The vineyard is planted with vine density ranging from 8,500 to 10,000 vines per hectare. However, newer plantings are done with 9,000 vines per hectare. In 2015, Lafon Rochet completed the renovation and upgrade of their cellars and storage facilities. The design and concrete vats were created by the same architect who designed the new wine cellars at Chateau Cheval Blanc, Christian de Portzamparc.

Malolactic fermentation takes place with a blend of 50% in new oak barrels and 50% of the remaining wine in tanks or barrels. The wine of Chateau Lafon Rochet is then aged in new French oak barrels 55% for 9 months before being transferred to one-year-old barrels, where it is further aged for 9 months before bottling. On average, nearly 10,000 bottles of Rochet and Les Secrets de Lafon Rochet are produced. While the wines are identical in composition, Les Secrets de Lafon Rochet is produced specifically for export.