Wine with Leslie: The best bargains from the French wine sale

Selections this week are all from the Languedoc

France didn’t invent wine but modern wine in general owes more to France than anywhere.

Fri, 23 May, 2025 - 02:00

Leslie Williams has been the Irish Examiner's wine columnist since 2012 and has been reviewing restaurants since 2015.

A return to the mother country this week, France. Cultivation of vines began in the fertile crescent of the Middle East along with civilisation. The Greeks brought wine to Italy and then to Southern France, and then the Romans brought it almost everywhere else.

The first French vines were planted in Provence and the Languedoc and the latter is still a powerhouse of French wine today. France didn’t invent wine but modern wine in general owes more to France than anywhere. France set the benchmarks for quality red, white, sparkling and dessert wines before anyone else.