France

Globalisation is on the march and the world of wine is part of it. Yet France still remains a beacon for quality wines, even if some of its flagships are sometimes challenged in comparative tastings, the first of which, in 1976, the famous "Judgement of Paris", saw Californian wines win ahead of Burgundy and Bordeaux. France is the world's second largest wine producer in terms of volume, and has a rich history, a reputation, and a variety of wines and grape varieties that are unequalled on a global scale. If only for this reason, it remains an essential pole whose magnetic force has lost none of its intensity.