Each time I visit a French wine region, I am astounded by the complexities of each appellation. For example, when I visited the Beaujolais in 2019, I discovered that within the region there are dozens of different appellations making red wine, each characterized by different grape growing elevations, yields, soil type, aging times, barrel types, and a myriad of other environmental and winemaking factors. The resulting wines are all so incredibly different, even though Beaujolais red wines are always, without fail, made from THE EXACT SAME GRAPE (gamay noir à jus blanc). It blows my mind how a single grape variety can produce so many diverse wines.

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