Who knows where grapes were first farmed for the production of wine? It seems that Persia is a likely candidate, yet it was the Greeks that first transported it - both as made wine and in terms of wine making knowledge - far afield. For the last thousand years plus, however, it has been French wine that has made the running when a liquid of distinction is required. Pliny the Elder in the first century AD was shipping wine made on the Hill of Hermitage back to Rome, in such high esteem did he hold it; Samuel Pepys was often to be found in his local tavern supping on a flagon of Ho Bryan (Haut-Brion) back in the 17th century.

Red and white, sparkling and sweet, French wine is generally the first stop for any budding wine lover (at least in those countries not having the climate for widespread cultivation of grapes for wine) and with good reason. The sheer quantity of top level fluids emanating from that country trounces all other applicants for the title of Top Wine Nation. Whilst the heights of Italy and Spain can come close, those lofty altitudes come from much smaller mountain ranges. France is, essentially, where it’s at.