French wine traces its history back to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their winemaking history to Roman times. Today, France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, with a massive 7 to 8 billion bottles produced every year. Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of terroir, which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards. As specialists in French wines, at House of Townend we have wines in our vast range of French wines to suit every need, palate and budget; from every day drinking wines to some of the iconic first growths of Bordeaux.
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