September's Wine School will be our own "Le Tour de France" spanning from the northern region of Champagne to the southern Rhone Valley. To start I would like to assure you that none of our participants will be accused of "doping" or any other form of performance enhancement. I say this half-jokingly because in the New World (U.S.A., Argentina, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand) winemakers are given certain freedoms to "cheat" in the winery. These freedoms range from "chaptalization", which is when winemakers add sugar to the grape must to boost alcohol and body in a cool vintage, to "reverse osmosis", which is a process used to remove alcohol in an extremely hot vintage. The Old World (France, Italy, Spain, Germany) winemakers are not afforded such freedoms, and in fact are forced to adhere to strict laws that govern everything that they do in the vineyard and in the winery. These rules are referred to as Wine Laws and are taken very seriously.

Many people claim that they don't drink French wines because the labels are confusing and it doesn't tell them what is in the bottle. I can tell you that because of these wine laws, what you see is what you get with French wines. The trick is that you need a simple decoder ring to tell you what the names on the labels mean. Once you can crack the "appellation" code you are assured by the A.O.C. (Appellation d' Origine Controlee) that what is in that bottle is typical and similar to all wines with that appellations name on it. The A.O.C. is responsible for overseeing wine laws and insuring that each wine is typical of the style from the region or appellation that it comes from. So, once you know you like Sancerre, which by law must be made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape, than you should have the confidence to know that you will like all wines labeled with the appellation name of Sancerre. You may prefer one producer to the other, and more expensive versions may be better that cheaper ones, but all the wines will be very similar in style.

Most wines from the New World are what they call, varietally labeled, meaning they put the name of the grape on the label. I contend that this method actually makes buying wine more difficult. A Merlot from cool climate of Northern Italy tastes very different than a Merlot from the warm region of Napa Valley, yet both are labeled Merlot. I think this is very frustrating to novice wine buyers, and this is why many people get stuck on drinking certain brands rather than experimenting with different wines. My hope is that this month's Wine School will help you begin to develop that decoder ring, and allow you to purchase and enjoy French wines with a new sense of confidence and curiosity.

I will use a consistent legend throughout my selections:

1. GrapeVariety
• ProducerWinery
• FantasyName
• PlaceName
• Vintage
• Price

1. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier (Sparkling)
• Deutz
• Brut Classic
• Champagne, France
• Non Vintage
• $32.99
• The Champagne region of France has the most stringent wine laws in Europe, which results in high quality wines at lofty prices.

1. Cinsaut, Grenache (Rose)
• Chateau Miraval
• Cotes de Provence, France
• 2006
• $16.99
• These are both red grapes that result in a pink wine by using the method of "saignee" which means bleeding. Red grapes are broken or barely crushed and left in contact with the juice for a very short time to give the juice a pink hue, but not a red color.

1. Sauvignon Blanc (White)
• Alphonse Mellot
• Les Romains
• Sancerre, Loire Valley, France
• 2004
• $17.99
• Sancerre is in the picturesque Loire River Valley. The producers use oak barrels very sparingly if at all. The wines are typically very light, crisp with mineral qualities.

1. Gewurztraminer (White)
• Willm
• Alsace, France
• 2006
• $11.99
• The appellation of Alsace is the only region in France that is allowed to label their wines by variety. Alsace went back and forth between France and Germany so many times that it seems to have more in common with Germany than France. French wine law states that if the grape variety is named on the label it must be 100% of that stated grape.

1. Sauvignon Blanc (85%), Semillon (15%) (White)
• Chateau La Louviere
• Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France
• 1998
• $20.99
• White Bordeaux can be a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon or Muscadelle. Chateau La Louviere chose not to use any Muscadelle in this blend, which is legal.

1. Gamay (Red)
• Georges Duboeuf
• Prestige
• Fleurie, Beaujolais, France
• 2003
• $10.00
• There is more to Beaujolais than Beaujolais Nouveau. There are 10 Crus which make very serious, light, and fruity wines. Fleurie is one of those 10 Crus, and is the perfect wine for a hamburger and steak frittes.

1. Pinot Noir (Red)
• Rene De Lacray
• La Croix des Vignes
• Gevrey-Chambertin, Burgundy, France
• 1999
• $24.99
• Red Burgundy is Pinot Noir and only Pinot Noir, outside of Beaujolais. All those hyphenated names are regions trying to ride the coattails of their famous Grand Cru vineyards in their region. Grand Cru is the title given to the best vineyard sites in a region, chosen by the A.O.C.. Regions will usually mention the names of these Grand Crus in their names to help sell neighboring wines such as Chambertin in Gevrey-Chambertin.

1. Cabernet Franc (Red)
• Frederic Mabileau
• Racines
• Bourgueil, Loire Valley, France
• 2005
• $19.99
• The red grape in the Loire Valley is usually Cabernet Franc. Grape growers are allowed to plant gamay, malbec and pinot noir as well, but in Bourgueil it is Cabernet Franc.

1. Syrah (Red)
• M. Chapoutier
• Petite Ruche
• Crozes-Hermitage, Rhone Valley, France
• 2003
• $21.99
• Crozes-Hermitage is 100% Syrah. This is a very warm climate that gives you a dry wine with high alcohol and loads of black pepper and spice. This is a nice match for lamb and game meats.

1. 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc (Red)
• Chateau Simard
• Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux, France
• 1995
• $22.99
• Chateau Simard is consistently rated a best buy. 1995 was a great vintage, and the wine is ready to drink which makes this wine even more of a bargain. Merlot always dominates the region of Saint-Emilion, so it is a nice transition to Bordeaux for Merlot drinkers.

1. 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Verdot
• Chateau Greysac
• Medoc, Bordeaux, France
• 2003
• $14.99
• Bordeaux has six grape varieties allowed in the blend at the winemakers discretion. The four grapes in this wine, plus malbec and carmenere.

1. Muscat (White, Dessert)
• Domaine de Coyeux
• Beaumes de Venise, Rhone Valley, France
• 2002
• $15.99
• This is a great dessert wine made from the very floral Muscat grape. The winemaker adds a spirit before the wine finishes fermenting which stops fermentation and leaves sugar in the wine. This is the same method that is used in Port wine production.

All Wines were purchased at Varietal Wine & Spirits, where owner Joseph Yi offers extremely knowledgeable assistance and a 10% discount when you buy a full case. Our Wine School case cost $227.79 after discount this month.