France's old bulk-wine engine room reinvented itself with science and scale rather than tradition — the opposite instinct to Bordeaux and Burgundy, without leaving the country.

Same chalk, same grapes, same method as Champagne — just a few hundred miles north, and only ripening properly since the climate warmed up.

A name on a wine label is a legal claim, not a marketing flourish. Here is what it actually promises, from 1907 French riots to the loophole that created Super Tuscans.