There are many regions in France where wine is grown and where French wine tours are popular. Each tour offers a variety of services and each region offers a unique tasting experience. Considered by many as the true home of modern wine making, France has made the wine tour a natural extension of the grape business.

Regional Wine Tours

French wine tours start with Alsace in the North-east of France. This is a relatively small wine growing region focusing on mostly white wines such as Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc. It is often a popular area visited by many French wine tours as it is close to the German border and the region is most attractive.

Perhaps one of the most well known wine-growing regions in the world is the Bordeaux region of France. This is home to some very popular French wine tours. On these tours the wine enthusiast will experience the traditional blend of grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Burgundy wine tours focus on the region in the east of France between Dijon and Lyon. Partakers of French wine tours in this region may feast on wines developed with both white and red grape and also the famous Beaujolais. Beaujolais is actually grown in the lower part of the burgundy wine region and many regard it as a separate wine region by itself.

A tour timed to perfection would allow you to try the Nouveau Beaujolais. Nouveau Beaujolais is nominally released to the public on the third Thursday in November. Many popular French wine tours target this period as it is a truly unique experience in the industry, and the visitor can celebrate at any of the hundred or so festivals in France celebrating the arrival of the wine.

If your preference is Champagne, there are specific wine tours for you. This variety of French wine tours will take you just an hour east of Paris. Here the quality of the tours is often delightful and surprising as the largest producers put on quite a show.

French wine tours may also take you to the Rhone or Loire valleys where the variety of climates and soils permit a broad variety of grapes to be grown. Although the wines in this region are not as well known to the rest of the world, in Europe these wines are recognized as providing extraordinary value for both reds and whites.

Any article about French wine tours must include Provence. This most beautiful region in the south-east of France is where historians agree that wine cultivation in France may have begun in the 6th century BC.

Arranging Your Wine Tour

There are two principle forms of organized French wine tours, a guided tour or an independent tour. Depending on how lavish the tour you choose, the guided tours include a wine expert and a driver. On an independent tour, the enthusiast may proceed alone, but as with the guided tour all of the arrangements have already been made for you. There are in fact a number of companies providing services to you and will custom fit your tour to your needs.

Some tours also include hotel accommodations and restaurant reservations as part of the service. French wine tours at the top end of the market may cost upwards of a thousand dollars a day.