Actually, the French don’t know anything about wine...

Despite being one of the top producers in the world, France pales in comparison to the UK when it comes to knowledge of their tipple, writes wine expert Rosamund Hall. It’s true – and it’s not just sour grapes...

It is only by tasting a broad range of wines that you can discover what you do and don’t love ((Alamy/PA))

Before I go on, I need to unequivocally state that I am a signed-up, beret-wearing Francophile. I love France, the French and all things Francais. If I’m asked what my favourite wine is, I always have the same answer: it’s impossible to choose, but it definitely comes from France. If I’m asked where produces the best wine in the world, I don’t skip a beat in answering – France, bien sûr!

The French boast the finest and unequivocally greatest wines in the world – which makes it all the stranger that they don’t actually know anything about wine.

I first came to this realisation when I was working with a very talented Frenchman at a London wine merchant; he was from a prestigious Burgundy family and had pinot noir running through his veins. I felt slightly intimidated by what I presumed to be his great knowledge – but the reality was he had very little understanding of any wine that wasn’t from his region. Yes, he knew the famed regions of his homeland, but anything beyond “L’Hexagone’s” borders really was totally foreign to him.