France drinks

France drinks

French alcoholic drinks

Still, the main drink of France is wine. There are a huge number of vineyards here, and each region produces its own unique variety. Wine producers try to maintain traditions in its production, although most of the processes today, of course, are performed by machines.

French wines

However, in the province of Champagne, for example, there are also producers who prefer completely natural hand-made wine.

Bordeaux is famous for its most expensive and prestigious wines, producing varieties such as Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafite Rotschild, Chateau Mouton Rotschild, Chateau Haut Brion and Chateau Margaux. It is worth noting that the region from which the wine was brought can be determined by the shape of the bottle.

french bordeaux

So, the shape of a bottle from Bordeaux is classic, with a curved bottom where the wine sediment should fall. Fine wines can also be tasted in the southeastern regions of France, as well as in the south, for example, in Provence, where they are produced right nearby, in local vineyards.

Important: To date, 466 varieties of wine produced in various parts of the country are officially registered in France. To get on this list, the manufacturer needs to pass commissions for several years to determine the quality of his product, as well as participate in competitions and festivals.

Last minute tours to France from Moscow

A special type of wine produced in the French province of Champagne is sparkling wine, known throughout the world as champagne. It comes in white and rosé and is a blend of several wines.

Wine plantations in Champagne

Thanks to a special manufacturing technology, champagne contains a lot of carbon dioxide, which is why it is called sparkling. This is a festive drink, although it is often drunk on weekdays, usually combined with light food.

By the way, jealous winemakers from Champagne very often sue other countries and producers for the “champagne” brand on the bottle label. The result of such scandals was that in France only a product made in Champagne can be called champagne. The rest of the alcohol, produced according to a well-known technology, is called "sparkling wine" here.

Another famous alcoholic drink produced in France is cognac - a strong and aromatic alcoholic drink made from white grapes of special varieties. Cognac becomes really high quality after a long exposure. A truly aged cognac is not at all dark, but light in color.

french cognac

Another French drink historically produced in Gascony is Armagnac, which in fact is strongly reminiscent of brandy. He also insists often for several decades.

Gascony is also the birthplace of one little-known drink in Russia - flock. Even for some French people, flock is a kind of exotic because of the long stay of the drink within the borders of Gascony. However, in the "homeland" of d'Artagnan, flock has been known since the 16th century, but the drink became widespread only at the very end of the 19th century.

Flock is a secondary processing of Armagnac. Gascony brandy in proportions of 1/3 is mixed with certain varieties of grape juice, rolled into barrels, and sent for aging, at least for 14 months. The product turns out to be strong - from 16 to 18% strength, but the unique taste qualities, while observing the technology, made the drink very popular among the French.

A well-known alcoholic drink, made on the basis of not grapes, but other fruits, (usually apples) is called Calvados. It is made from apple cider and is also a fruit brandy. Calvados is drunk both cold and warm.

In addition, Calvados became the basis for another drink, which is especially loved in Normandy. Pommo is a fortified wine made from apple juice and calvados. 4 measures of brandy to one measure of apple juice and gives the signature drink of the north of France.

Making pommo is only allowed under strict rules. The main law of production is that apples for raw materials must be harvested in the same area where Calvados was made. The resulting drink has a strength of about 17%, it is served as an aperitif with meat or fish dishes, or as the main drink of a feast.

A truly strong alcoholic drink in France can be considered absinthe, around which scandals and attempts to ban it are constantly flaring up.

Absinthe is a strong tincture made from anise, bitter wormwood, with the addition of fennel, calamus, mint, licorice and other herbs. Naturally, as a result, the drink is very bitter. They drink it with lemon or sugar, often setting it on fire beforehand.

In France, Pinot de Charentes, or simply Pinot, is called a drink that “arising by mistake”. This is a fairly strong alcoholic product made from grape must and cognac spirit. It, according to official legend, was invented by one of the winemakers of Charente, accidentally adding grape juice to a barrel of brandy.

The result of such a "mistake" was one of the most prestigious types of alk

bare, which is not easy to find outside of France. Pinot is usually aged in oak barrels for five to ten years, although inexpensive varieties can be sold after 8 months of aging. Only in France, up to 14 million liters of this drink are sold annually.

French soft drinks

The conventional wisdom that French national drinks are represented only by alcohol is not true. In everyday life, the French consume a lot of soft drinks, the recipe of which once again confirms that this nation has its own opinion on everything.

The most common everyday drink in France is syrup. By consistency, this is the same syrup that was added to soda water in Soviet automatic machines. But in France it is used to create their own cocktails, literally - "on the run".

French syrups

The French favorite is mint syrup - you can buy it in bottles in most supermarkets, or you can see it on the menu of any bistro. Of course, no one will drink it in its pure form, so it is often added to soda or mineral water, while a bottle of such a drink has the same name - syrup.

But the usual juice for Russians can be seen not in every institution. The fact is that for the French, juices are a homemade drink, which is considered bad manners to drink in a cafe. However, some restaurants have orange or apple juice on the menu, which is served strictly in sealed glass bottles, and never in glasses.

Cocoa in France is called hot chocolate. It is served in any reputable cafe or restaurant, necessarily boiled in milk. At the request of the client, chocolate can be served with foam, like a cappuccino, or with a fluffy crown of whipped cream.

Mineral water among the French is one of the main elements of everyday life. There is practically no export water anywhere, it is extracted strictly from artesian wells located in France.

And, of course, coffee. The French drink a black tonic drink in huge quantities, at every turn. There is an opinion that a real Frenchman will never order a cappuccino or latte, but, nevertheless, these types of coffee drinks are always present in any menu.

Important: The cheapest coffee in France is at the bar. The fact is that the price of a drink in any bistro depends on the service. And if the client himself came up for the order, he was entitled to a small discount.