How the Humble Vin de France Became a Beacon of Cool
Illustration by Hazel Zavala Tinoco
It used to be that Vin de France was easy to summarize as a category of wine: unremarkable, unmemorable, and frankly, uncool. Yet in recent years, they’ve become an unexpected, even unavoidable, fixture in the chaos of wines that pop up in my Instagram feed.
Think orange wines from the Alsace, pét-nats from the Bergerac, or newfangled PiWi wines made from grapes bred for disease resistance and sustainability. Many are recognizable by their eccentric, tongue-in-cheek labels. Cartoon critters like monkeys or pigs knocking back bottles are common. Others sport sassy names like Hurluberlu (French for “weirdo”) and even provocations like, “You Fuck My Wine?!” Other than Vin de France written on the front or back label, many offer no other indication of brand or origin.
That’s not to say that baller lineups of Champagne and Burgundy fail to pop up on social media anymore. Classic regions have never ceased to drive the market for fine wine. Yet the nerve center of wine culture, that magnetic force that draws in newer, younger generations of wine drinkers despite a global downturn in wine sales, marches to an entirely different beat.
Vin de France is a designation that sits squarely at the bottom of France’s legally enforced wine hierarchy. Generally, these wines are run-of-the mill, produced in bulk, and inexpensively priced. They’re labeled, simply, “wine of France,” because they fall outside the established standards of more prestigious classifications regulated and controlled by regional bodies like the Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP) or Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC).
Twenty years ago, having to label a wine Vin de France, or Vin de Table (until 2010), would be like a death sentence for a quality wine producer, explains Nicolas Mestre, co-founder of the importer Williams Corner Wine. The designation was just a hair better than admitting total failure and abandoning one’s wine to a distiller for repurposing. But over the last decade, the category has developed into a respectable safe haven for high-quality wines that exist in defiance of regional standards or regulations.
“It’s not so much that the Vin de France category itself is interesting,” says David Hinkle, the chief French wine officer of the importer, Skurnik Wines. “Rather, the most interesting Vin de France are wines that use the designation strategically because of some legal issue.”
Indeed, the most compelling wines of the Vin de France share some version of a renegade origin story: Landmark wines rejected by an AOC due to petty bureaucratic technicalities. Innovative winemakers venturing to revive indigenous grapes or experimenting with varieties not sanctioned by the AOC. Natural wine producers who simply gave up on the AOC after repeated rejections for not conforming to a standard color, taste or style.
It’s a classically French situation. “Think back to the Impressionists,” says Mestre, referencing the Paris Salon dominated by classicists with little tolerance for the avant-garde. Artists outside the conventional art community “were considered nuts, so they found new ways to exist outside of the system,” he explains. The safe havens they created, like the Salon des Refusés or the Salon des Indépendants functioned much like the Vin de France, as refuges for the radical and boundary breaking.
But has Vin de France, like the Impressionists’ salons, contributed to the decline of the establishment, in this case, the almighty appellation system?
Many of the most celebrated Vin de France producers, “[are not] actively trying to avoid the appellation [rules],” explains Hinkle. “Most winemakers are still really proud of the appellations, and they’re continually trying to raise the level of the appellations.”
It’s just that there’s a growing contingent of producers who rely on the flexibility of the Vin de France as a tool, “dabbling in both the AOC and the Vin de France as they see fit,” suggests Mestre.
Still, the hype that surrounds the Vin de France label exposes cracks in the hegemony of the AOC. Too often the AOC is criticized as enablers of mediocrity and predictability rather than champions of excellence or ingenuity. Increased recognition of high-quality Vin de France challenges the hierarchy of regional rankings and quality designations that wine lovers have been conditioned to rely upon. Instead, the winegrowers, their own unique terroir, and winemaking take centerstage.
For a growing segment of wine lovers today, the allure of wine isn’t the exclusivity or specificity outlined by traditional hierarchies or classifications, explains Oscar Salinas, co-owner of Los Naturales, a natural wine bar and bottle shop in Chicago. He says it’s the stories behind these Vin de France producers, and the openness, creativity, and accessibility that their wines foster that have made the category appealing to a broader demographic of wine drinkers.
Not all Vin de France wines are emblems of excellence or ingenuity. Bulk wines still dominate the category and the commercial success of natural wines has contributed to a flood of new producers, many “without the fastidiousness and skill to make palatable and interesting wines,” says Mestre.
But the evolution of Vin de France echoes the revolutionary spirit of France, an irrepressible drive for individuality and freedom despite the gravitas of history.
Here are just a few Vin de France wines that you should try:
M. & C. Lapierre 2023 Vin de France Raisins Gaulois, $24
Lapierre is one of Beaujolais’s renowned Gang of Four producers, pioneers of the natural wine movement who elevated the region from industrial decline to renewed greatness. This diminutive Vin de France bottling is intended to showcase Gamay at its most uninhibited and pleasurable. While sourced almost entirely from the prestigious cru appellation of Morgon, its irresistibly quaffable style relies on young vines grown freely and harvested at yields higher than what the AOC regulations allow.
Henri Milan 2017 Vin de France Le Grand Blanc, $37
Henri Milan’s commitment to grow grapes best suited to the specific soils and microclimate of his family estate in Provence’s Alpilles mountain range led him to experiment with an array of unconventional varieties, from Merlot and Chardonnay to the Corsican Nielluccio, many not permitted under the AOC Baux-de-Provence. To bypass restrictions, Milan voluntarily declassified all of his wines to the Vin de France designation. This biodynamic blend of Grenache Blanc, Chardonnay, Rolle (a.k.a. Vermentino) and Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains is refreshingly dry and saline, marked by pops of lemon peel and fennel.
Matassa 2023 Vin de France Blanc, $38
Domaine Matassa in the Roussillon was founded by South African Tom Lubbe. Outspoken against the notion that traditional AOC hierarchies determine quality, Lubbe voluntarily labels all his wines Vin de France. This spry, minerally blend of Grenache Gris and Macabeu sourced from old vines, mostly 60 to 120 years old, clocks in at a delicate 10.5% ABV, a masterful rarity in Southern France. Certified organic, his wines are bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with no added sulfur.
Domaine de la Taille aux Loups 2022 Vin de France Venise $54
Vouvray is a battlefield for one of the most notorious legal confrontations between an AOC and its winegrowers. Since 2014, benchmark Loire producers François Chidaine and the late Jacky Blot of Domaine de la Taille aux Loups have labeled their wines grown in Vouvray as Vin de France, after being ousted from the appellation because the wines are vinified in the neighboring village of Montlouis. This single-vineyard expression of the monopole (a vineyard owned exclusively by one owner) Clos de Venise is a bracingly dry, crystalline Chenin Blanc, sumptuous with flavors of honey and beeswax.
Anne et Jean-François Ganevat NV Vin de France J’En Veux Encore!!! $55
Consecutive vintages of harvests decimated by frost lead Jean-François Ganevat, one of the Jura’s most acclaimed biodynamic producers, to seek out grapes from friends in Alsace, Beaujolais, and the Savoie. Cross-appellation collabs like the J’En Veux Encore!!! change their varietal makeup from year to year, a bit of Syrah mixed with Gamay and Pinot Noir one year, Gamay and Trousseau the next. No matter the mix, they’re consistently captivating, soulful wines with just a bit of cheek.
Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit
