France: Appellations, Regions and Grapes

France works one of the two largest vineyards in the world. FranceAgriMer puts the French vineyard at 766,674 hectares in 2024, of which 733,621 hectares were in production, and records 2024 wine production of 27,296 thousand hectolitres excluding Cognac and Armagnac. The OIV, counting on a different basis, sets the French area under vines at 783 kha in 2024, the second largest area under vines, and French 2024 wine production at 36.1 mhl, second in the world ranking and 23.5 percent below 2023. France is also where the modern appellation system was written into law. The decree-law of July 30, 1935 created the Comité national des appellations d'origine des vins et eaux de vie, which on July 16, 1947 became the Institut national des appellations d'origine des vins et eaux-de-vie, the INAO. The first AOCs were recognised on May 15, 1936: Arbois, Cassis, Cognac, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Monbazillac and Tavel. In its 2022 key figures INAO counted 366 wine AOC/AOP and 76 wine IGP.

• 766,674 hectares of French vineyard in 2024, 733,621 hectares of it in production (FranceAgriMer)
• 783 kha under vines in 2024, the second largest area under vines, and 11.0 percent of the world total (OIV)
• 366 wine AOC/AOP and 76 wine IGP in INAO's 2022 key figures
• First AOCs recognised on May 15, 1936: Arbois, Cassis, Cognac, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Monbazillac and Tavel

FranceAgriMer divides the country into 10 wine basins, each a geographic grouping of the departments that produce wine. In 2024 the vineyard represented 3 percent of the national utilised agricultural area. The basins stretch from cool, northern sites to the Mediterranean coast and the Alps, and INAO's own descriptions record how different those settings are. The Champagne vineyard is a hillside vineyard planted between 90 and 300 metres and mostly chalky, spread over communes in five departments. Alsace sits on the hills of the Vosges foothills. The Savoie vineyard runs in an arc along the Alpine foothills, from Thonon-les-Bains in the north to the west of Albertville in the south. On Corsica the vineyard is mainly coastal, with the majority of production between Bastia and Solenzara on the eastern seaboard. Soils are as varied as the exposures. Châteauneuf-du-Pape lies at an altitude of 120 metres in the Vaucluse and is planted mainly on rolled pebble soils, while Tavel's stony soils of limestone and rolled pebbles drain freely. Arbois grows on the marly soils typical of the Revermont, Monbazillac on clay-limestone soils conducive to grape concentration, in a valley whose morning mists help Sémillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle develop complex aromas, and Cassis on a limestone terroir planted in restanques and exposed to sea breezes. In Burgundy pinot noir and chardonnay are grown on clay-limestone soils, and in Saint-Émilion the soils were shaped by the courses of the Dordogne and the Isle.

• 10 wine basins nationally, and 3 percent of the utilised agricultural area under vine in 2024 (FranceAgriMer)
• Champagne: hillside vineyard planted between 90 and 300 metres, mostly chalky, across five departments (INAO)
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape: altitude of 120 metres in the Vaucluse, mainly on rolled pebble soils (INAO)
• Corsica: a mainly coastal vineyard, with most production between Bastia and Solenzara (INAO)

INAO runs the French tiers. The appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) is a compulsory national recognition stage before a name is registered as a protected designation of origin (AOP/PDO) at European level, and only wine products retain the right to bear the AOC label if they so wish. AOC and AOP rest on terroir, defined by INAO as a delimited geographical area in which a human community has built up, over the course of its history, a collective knowledge of production. Raw materials and processes must come from that delimited terroir, producers follow requirements specified in a cahier des charges homologated by the European Union, and products are controlled by state-certified bodies. AOC and PDO are regulated by the Code rural et de la pêche maritime, articles L.641-5 to L641-10, and wine PDO depends on Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 2024/1143. The protected geographical indication (IGP/PGI) identifies a product whose quality, reputation or other characteristics are linked to its geographical origin. At least one stage of production, transformation or elaboration must take place in the delimited area, and for wine all operations from the grape harvest to the end of the wine-making process are carried out in that area. IGP is regulated by the Code rural et de la peche maritime, articles L641-11 to L641-11-2. Below the geographical indications sits the category FranceAgriMer calls VSIG, vins sans indication geographique, marketed as Vin de France. In 2024 AOP accounted for 55 percent of the area in production, IGP for 27 percent and VSIG for 5 percent; by volume that year AOP was 55 percent of production, IGP 39 percent and VSIG 6 percent.

• AOC is a compulsory national stage before European PDO registration, and only wine products keep the right to use AOC (INAO)
• IGP: at least one production stage in the area, and for wine every operation from harvest to the end of winemaking (INAO)
• Vin de France is FranceAgriMer's VSIG category, wine without geographical indication
• 2024 area in production: AOP 55 percent, IGP 27 percent, VSIG 5 percent (FranceAgriMer)

The hub below follows the twelve French regions that organise this wiki. Hectare figures are the 2024 basin areas published by FranceAgriMer, whose basins sometimes group several of these regions together, and the appellation facts come from INAO.

• Alsace: the vineyard sits on the hills of the Vosges foothills, and its wines generally come from one of seven varieties, riesling, gewurztraminer, pinot gris, pinot noir, pinot blanc, muscat and sylvaner, with the variety named on the label. The Alsace appellation was created in 1962, bottling in Alsace has been compulsory since 1972, and a decree of October 25, 2011 homologated the specifications of the fifty-one Alsace grand cru appellations. FranceAgriMer recorded 15,827 hectares in the Alsace-Est basin in 2024.
• Bordeaux: the Bordelais basin covered 111,910 hectares in 2024. Saint-Émilion and Sauternes were both recognised in 1936, in the first year of the AOC system. The Saint-Émilion appellation is for red wines only, from a vineyard of 5,500 hectares across 9 communes north of the Dordogne valley, planted to merlot N as the majority variety with cabernet franc and, to a lesser extent, cabernet sauvignon.
• Burgundy: the AOP Bourgogne is the foundation appellation of the Burgundy hierarchy and can be declined into 14 complementary geographical denominations, with pinot noir for red and chardonnay for white on clay-limestone soils. Decanter sets out four classification levels in Burgundy, regional, commune, premier cru and grand cru, and describes the Côte d'Or as divided into the Côte de Nuits in the north and the Côte de Beaune in the south. Chablis was among the appellations recognised in 1936.
• Champagne: the appellation was recognised in 1936, among the earliest. Its geographical zone covers communes spread over five departments, and the vineyard is a hillside vineyard planted between 90 and 300 metres on mostly chalky ground. The grapes are harvested by hand and pressed gently, the cellar master builds the blends from the base wines, and the wines are bottled for a necessarily long second fermentation. The Champagne basin covered 31,779 hectares in 2024.
• Corsica: the appellation d'origine was recognised in 1972. The wines are white, red or rosé, built on local varieties such as Sciaccarello and Nielluccio alongside long-established Vermentino, with the whites made from at least 75 percent Vermentino. Five communal names may be added: Calvi, Coteaux du Cap-Corse, Figari, Porto-Vecchio and Sartène. The Corse basin covered 6,123 hectares in 2024.
• Jura: Arbois was one of the appellations recognised on May 15, 1936, won by winegrowers defending the typicality of their wines from varieties such as Savagnin and Poulsard and practices such as the ageing of vin jaune under veil, on the marly soils of the Revermont. FranceAgriMer counts Jura within the Bourgogne, Beaujolais, Savoie and Jura basin, which covered 52,185 hectares in 2024.
• Languedoc-Roussillon: the AOP Languedoc runs in an arc of 200 kilometres along the Gulf of Lion, from Nîmes to the Spanish border, and its production divides into 40 percent red, 40 percent rosé and 20 percent white. The group of wines was recognised as an appellation d'origine contrôlée in 1985, and in 2007 the name Coteaux du Languedoc became Languedoc, with the AOP extending over four departments bordering the Mediterranean. The Languedoc-Roussillon basin covered 207,101 hectares in 2024.
• Loire Valley: Decanter describes a valley running from Muscadet in the west, through Saumur-Champigny and Chinon, to Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé in the east, with Melon de Bourgogne used for Muscadet and Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc featuring heavily in appellations such as Vouvray and Saumur-Champigny. The Val de Loire and Centre basin covered 55,270 hectares in 2024.
• Provence: the Côtes de Provence appellation d'origine was recognised in 1977, and rosé accounts for 90 percent of its production, marked mainly by grenache, cinsaut, syrah, mourvèdre and tibouren, with vermentino, sémillon and clairette for the whites. Cassis, recognised in 1936, is strictly limited to the commune of Cassis and is planted in restanques on a limestone terroir. FranceAgriMer groups Provence with the Rhône Valley in a basin of 112,943 hectares in 2024.
• Rhône Valley: Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Tavel were both recognised on May 15, 1936. Châteauneuf-du-Pape had adopted internal regulations on varieties, yields and practices as early as the 1920s, sits at an altitude of 120 metres in the Vaucluse and produces red and dry white wines from thirteen authorised varieties including Grenache, Syrah and Clairette. Tavel, on the right bank of the Rhône in the Gard, makes a dry, structured rose by short maceration and covers some 800 hectares around Tavel and Roquemaure.
• Savoie: the appellation d'origine was recognised in 1957 and confirmed in 1973. Its geographical area takes in 53 communes of Savoie and Haute-Savoie plus two communes of Ain and one of Isère, and the AOP may be completed by the name of 16 communes, sometimes in white only, sometimes in red, sometimes in both. The mention Crémant has been available for white sparkling wines since 2015.
• Southwest France: Monbazillac, recognised in 1936, guarantees the origin of its sweet wines and takes in five southeast-facing communes south of Bergerac, on clay-limestone soils, where Sémillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle develop their aromas thanks to the morning mists of the Dordogne valley. Cognac, in the Charentes, was also recognised in 1936 and sets white varieties such as Ugni blanc, double distillation in Charentais stills and a minimum of two years of ageing in oak. The Sud-Ouest basin covered 43,318 hectares in 2024.

FranceAgriMer publishes planted areas by variety from the DGDDI planting declarations held in the casier viticole informatisé, with the 2024 figures drawn from declarations at 31/07/2025. Ugni Blanc led in 2024 at 99,816 hectares, up 3 percent on 2023, followed by Merlot N at 92,845 hectares, down 11 percent, and Grenache N at 73,797 hectares, down 7 percent. Syrah N covered 59,843 hectares and Chardonnay B 45,979 hectares, unchanged on the year. Cabernet Sauvignon N stood at 37,372 hectares, Sauvignon Blanc at 31,751 hectares, Cabernet Franc N at 27,418 hectares, Pinot Noir at 20,939 hectares and Cinsaut N at 19,731 hectares.

• Ugni Blanc: 99,816 hectares in 2024, 3 percent above 2023
• Merlot N: 92,845 hectares in 2024, 11 percent below 2023
• Grenache N: 73,797 hectares, and Syrah N 59,843 hectares, in 2024
• Chardonnay B: 45,979 hectares in 2024, unchanged on 2023

According to FranceAgriMer, French wine production reached 27,296 thousand hectolitres in 2024, excluding Cognac and Armagnac, a fall of 19 percent on 2023 and of 17 percent against the five-year average, after a rainy spring, frost and hail episodes and a wide spread of downy mildew. Of that total, AOP wines accounted for 14,965 thousand hectolitres, IGP for 10,617 thousand and VSIG for 1,713 thousand. By colour, red and white were close to level at 10,428 and 10,226 thousand hectolitres, with rosé at 6,642 thousand. Average yield across the vineyard was 42.4 hectolitres per hectare. The OIV, on its own basis, reports French 2024 production of 36.1 mhl, the lowest output since 1957, when France made 32.5 mhl. According to FranceAgriMer, the value of French wine production stood at about 10.9 billion euros in 2024, 12 percent of the value of total French agricultural production. Exports reached close to 13 million hectolitres, up 1 percent on 2023, for more than 11 billion euros, down 2 percent. The United States alone took 20 percent of the value of French wine exports, ahead of the United Kingdom at 13 percent and Germany at 7 percent. The OIV records French exports of 12.8 mhl in 2024, third in export volume. FranceAgriMer also reports that France holds first place for organic vineyard area worldwide, with 22 percent of its vineyard farmed organically in 2024, across 163,469 hectares and 11,369 holdings.

• According to FranceAgriMer, 27,296 thousand hectolitres produced in 2024 excluding Cognac and Armagnac, down 19 percent on 2023
• According to FranceAgriMer, exports of close to 13 million hectolitres in 2024 for more than 11 billion euros
• According to the OIV, French 2024 production of 36.1 mhl was the lowest since 1957
• According to FranceAgriMer, 22 percent of the French vineyard was farmed organically in 2024, on 163,469 hectares

Primary sources (INAO and FranceAgriMer): https://www.inao.gouv.fr/en/aop-appellation-origine-protegee, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/en/igp-indication-geographique-protegee, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/en/expo-90ans/9-six-premieres-aoc, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/en/history-1935-1970, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2024-11/Chiffres-cles-SIQO-2022.pdf, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/champagne-21054, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/vin-de-corse-ou-corse-blanc-16057, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/alsace-blanc-pinot-gris-25007, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/cotes-de-provence-rose-25209, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/languedoc-rose-18136, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/vin-de-savoie-ou-savoie-blanc-17290, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/saint-emilion-17447, https://www.inao.gouv.fr/produit/bourgogne-rouge-24536, https://www.franceagrimer.fr/sites/default/files/2025-12/20251121_CC%20VITI%20VINICOLE%20%202025.pdf, https://www.franceagrimer.fr/sites/default/files/rdd/documents/FICHE_FILIERE_VIN_2023_2.pdf. Secondary sources: https://www.oiv.int/sites/default/files/documents/OIV-State_of_the_World_Vine-and-Wine-Sector-in-2024.pdf, https://www.decanter.com/wine/wine-regions/burgundy-wine/, https://www.decanter.com/wine/wine-regions/western-europe/france/loire-valley/. Last verified 2026-09-16