In the dead of a German winter, three English wine writers sat round an Italian restaurant discussing French wine. The start of a joke? Actually it was the end of a joke, the punchline being the refusal by the French authorities to allow its more humble wines to use the name of the grape variety. A new French wine category, Vin de France, was born last year and we were being asked to road-test it with a group of German colleagues in order to make a selection for June’s Vinexpo, the giant wine fair in Bordeaux.

Valérie Pajotin et moi

In essence Vin de France is a catch-all category incorporating both vin de table and producers of vins de pays who don’t want to be tied down by geographical boundaries. It allows the name of the grape variety on the label, previously a no-no for vin de table under French law. It also gives producers the flexibility to blend wines from different regions. In short, it creates a new affordable wine category that makes it easier for French wine to compete with the New World.

Schoque, horreur? Well yes and no. Coinciding with the mid-summer’s day tasting, the French quality daily, Le Monde, published an article by Laetitia Van Eeckhout calling the new flexibility ‘a cultural revolution in French wine’. Vin de France’s director, Valérie Pajotin, explained that by chucking the old rulebook in the bin and being able to communicate taste through grape variety to new consumers, ‘we at last have the tools to compete on a level playing field with the big boys of the New World’.

A Rosé by any other name

Vin de France is clearly an opportunity for bigger wine producers to create multi-regional brands. Take the sauvignon trophy winner, for instance, François Lurton’s 2010 Le Fumé Blanc, around £8.30 - £8.75, Butlers Wine Cellar ((0207 221 6081), Bouquet Wines (0207 221 6081). This smoky, elderflower-scented and zestily gooseberryish dry white blends wines from the Languedoc and the south-west; or Vindivin’s Chante-Clair nv, £5.99, Laithwaites (laithwaites.co.uk) the trophy red blend winner, which combines succulent red berry fruitiness in a southern French blend of carignan, syrah and grenache.

Yet while our selection was, unsurprisingly, dominated by big companies, there were plenty of small growers involved because they too see the opportunity to create an eyecatching package saying ‘French wine’. Among them, Katie Jones, who started making her own wine in the Roussillon last year, won the grenache trophy for her moreishly drinkable, mulberry and red fruits-flavoured 2009 Jones Rouge, £95, for 6 bottles inc. delivery, www.domainejones.com; also Dudley & de Fleury Wines (020 7036 9696).

Vin de France tasting

Mark Hoddy was another, a winemaker who created two wines for Laithwaites which respectively won the oaked chardonnay and vermentino trophies. The 2009 La Voûte, £11.99, Laithwaites, is a deliciously rich and buttery, barrel-fermented chardonnay based on a blend of five different vineyards around the Atlantic-influenced area of Limoux. The latter, the 2009 Un Vent de Folie, £14.99, Laithwaites, is a subtle, oak-influenced interpretation of the refreshing Mediterranean grape variety.

This being France of course, not everyone is ‘au dessus de la lune’ about the new category despite its obvious benefits. Entrenched views from both the vin de pays and appellation sectors suggested in the Le Monde article that Vin de France could undermine their efforts to sell French tradition and its focus on terroir. Take the politics out and there’s no earthly reason why there shouldn’t be an entente cordiale between the two.

Something for the Weekend

Something for the Weekend 16 July

Under £6

2010 Quinta de Azevedo, Vinho Verde

Almost a spritzer for its moderate alcohol, this mouthwateringly zesty dry Portuguese white with its sherbet lemony zip and bone dry aftertaste is one for hazy summery days. Buy 2 = £5.99, from Tuesday £4.99, down from £6.99, Majestic.

Under a Tenner

2010 McWilliams Mount Pleasant Isabelle Chardonnay

From Victoria’s delightfully named Tumbarumba region, this is a well-crafted Australian dry white combining burgundy-style nutty overtones with a refreshingly zesty citrusy purity of flavour and a fine dry finish. £7.49, down from £9.99, Until Tuesday, Waitrose.

Splash Out

2004 Luis Cañas Rioja Reserva

With a veneer of smoky vanillin oak aromas, the mature, bottle-aged fruit behind this powerful, modern Rioja combines cassis and dark cherryish with a whiff of smoky oak, fine succulence and a firm backbone of balancing freshness. £16.99, Sainsburys.

Ends