The French Table, and the Wine on It

Once you're in France, you'll have plenty of chances to drink wine. Outside France, French wine often has a reputation for poor value: it's pricey, and the taste often doesn't live up to the price. But wine lovers, take heart. In France itself, great-value wines are everywhere. The wine aisle of any supermarket covers a wide range of prices. You'll even find wines at €1 or €2, but those are generally for cooking and not really for drinking. Depending on your budget, we suggest buying wines from about €5 to around €20, and even at those prices, they're genuinely good. If your English is up to it, you could also visit a liquor shop called Nicolas and buy on the staff's recommendation.

Nicolas also offers tastings, and the staff are usually friendly and happy to explain. The French love to talk, and when it comes to wine or perfume in particular, they enjoy sniffing or tasting and then debating it at length. There's no right answer, though. They simply enjoy sharing their own opinions and impressions. A tasting is called a dégustation in French. Nicolas carries a huge range of wines as well as other spirits. It's a chain, so just search Google Maps for the nearest branch.

Next, how to order wine in a restaurant. Prices are much higher than at a supermarket or Nicolas, but it's ideal for creating a special atmosphere. These days, French people hardly drink at lunch and mostly drink in the evening. As mentioned earlier, the server asks first whether you want a drink when you sit down. To order wine by the glass, say "Un verre de vin, s'il vous plaît." Verre means "glass," and vin is "wine." A glass is usually 150 ml and costs between €7 and €10. Champagne is pricier, at least €10 a glass. Champagne is usually reserved for special occasions. Wine is drunk with the meal through all the courses, whereas champagne is an apéritif, so once the main meal begins, you normally switch to wine.

If you order a whole bottle, prices vary too much by wine to give a number. But there's an advantage: the dégustation mentioned earlier. You can taste the wine, and if you don't like it or it smells of cork, you're free to ask for another. A friend of a friend reportedly once sent a wine back four times, a legendary story, but that's very much an exception. Sending it back once is common, so don't worry, and ask for a replacement if it isn't to your liking.

Here's a tip for drinking alcohol, wine included, a bit more cheaply at restaurants: use Happy Hour. It applies only to brasseries and cafés that stay open all day, and during Happy Hour, drinks cost less than usual. The exact times vary, but it's roughly 5 to 8 p.m. In expensive Paris, drinks during happy hour average around €6. The sidewalk sign says "Happy Hour" in big letters, so it's easy to spot. If you'd like to see Parisians enjoying the early evening with friends, give it a try.

Finally, you may have read in the news that French wine production has been falling in recent years. Heat waves caused by climate change are making cultivation harder, so more growers are switching grape varieties or growing regions, and some wineries are shutting down. French wine consumption itself is also noticeably dropping. Since wine isn't essential to a meal, after the recent wave of global inflation, more and more people are clearly dropping it from the table.