Five things they don’t tell you… about wine in france

NEVER CHILL A BOTTLE OF RED AND OTHER UNWRITTEN RULES AROUND DRINKING WINE - BUT DO YOU AGREE? 1. _LES APÉROS_ Wine is a recent arrival at French _apéros_. Traditionally, apéritifs were

pastis for monsieur, and kir for madame (white wine with crème de cassis). Today, however, a glass of dry white or rosé is perfectly acceptable, although it might come with more than a dash

of grapefruit juice in it. _Santé!_ READ MORE: ‘TCHIN TCHIN’, ‘SANTÉ’, EYE CONTACT: THE RITUALS OF FRENCH APÉROS 2. _LES DIGESTIFS_ Red wine is often paired with cheese, but at formal meals,

once the _fromage_ has been removed, the wine will disappear as well. Dessert might be paired with a sweet wine, and you might thereafter appreciate a _petit digestif_, but the real wine

will not come back until lunch tomorrow. _Tchin!_ 3. _LE PETIT VERRE_ Glasses should never be filled up. Just a third of a glass is elegant, so the _nez_ can be appreciated because,

_naturellement_, you are not going to knock it back like a thirsty camel. If the wine mysteriously evaporates, however, _pourquoi pas _a further _s__oupçon_? _A la votre!_ 4. _LES FAUX PAS_

Do not chill red wine. Just don’t do it. Do not put it in the fridge, do not add ice cubes. If you insist on committing this crime against the grape, at least confine yourself to abusing dry

rosé and/or white wine drunk somewhere down south and preferably in _la France profonde_ during_ les grandes vacances_. _Trinquons!_ READ MORE: ROSÉ WINE GUIDE - A TOUR THROUGH FRANCE’S

PINK WINE PRODUCING REGIONS 5. _LA FÊTE_ If you ever find yourself learning a French drinking song, particularly if the chorus involves lots of _glouya, glouya, glouya_, be resigned to not

getting home until dawn. You will almost certainly have a wooden gob and need much coffee. _Félicitations!_ RELATED ARTICLES FIVE THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW... ABOUT PETS IN FRANCE FIVE THINGS

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