Wine Regions

Camping in France’s Wine Regions

Wine enthusiasts might be pleased to hear in France’s wine regions, camping is a regular occurrence.  Not only do you get to wake up and savor the scenic beauty of the country’s rolling hills and valleys, but you also get to establish relationships with wine growers and most importantly, sample their product.

Camping in France’s wine regions began a little over two decades ago thanks to an organization called France Passion.  It started small enough that only a handful of vineyard owners participated.  Nowadays, the organization has over 2,000 vineyard partnerships and has extended its reach to fruit growers and farms that produce milk and cheese.

Discover French Vineyards by Motorhome Rental

France has many wine regions however and even with a motorhome rental, it’s almost impossible to visit them all in one go.  My suggestion will be to pick one or two from the locations below and start exploring.

Bordeaux: It’s All About the Reds

When you think about French red wines, the first region that comes to mind is Bordeaux and for good reason.  Together with Burgundy and Champagne, the Bordeaux region in France makes up the top three most famous wine-producing regions in the country.  Bordeaux’s fame in particular is largely due to its immediate access to the sea and long-standing history as the preferred wine producer.  The prominent grapes in the region are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, making the area a popular spot for vino lovers who are all about the reds.

Burgundy: The Best of the Best

Further north of the country is the region of Burgundy.  Nowhere near the size of Bordeaux in area but its influence in the wine world is just as big, or perhaps even bigger.   If you consider yourself quite the connoisseur, then Burgundy is where you ought to start because in this part of the country, everything is about the “terroir.”  Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the two grape varieties growers use to create some of the most complex and expensive wines in the world: red and white Burgundy.   Now not everything produced here will cause you surrender your mortgage but if you look hard enough, you’ll find several wine estates with reasonable offerings.  Some of them might even let you park your motorhome rental overnight for free.

Champagne: Let’s Toast and Celebrate

You’ve likely heard people use the word “champagne” intermittently to refer to bubbly wine but only knowledgeable vino drinkers know that true champagne are only those that contain grapes and were produced in the region of Champagne in France.  Those who have an interest in learning about the “champagne process” can start their camping trip here.

And just in case travelling through rural France in a motorhome rental isn’t quite working out, you can always take a train back to Paris, located just 90 miles southwest.