Many of the world’s most best-known wine brands are Champagnes. The term was  widely used to refer to sparkling wines from all over the world. This has been a point of  much controversy and legal wrangling in recent decades; Champagne is a legally  controlled and restricted name. 

Champagne’s fame and success is, of course, the product of many complex factors. And  yet there are three key reasons of which we can be reasonably certain. First, the all important bubbles, which make it stand out from less “exciting” wines. Second, the high  prices that Champagne commands, which make it feel somewhat exclusive and special.  Third, two centuries of clever marketing to a willing and highly receptive consumer base.

Located at a northern latitude of 49°N, the Champagne region lies at the northern edge  of the world’s vineyard-growing areas, with lower average temperatures than any other  French wine region. In this kind of cool climate, the growing season is rarely warm  enough to ripen grapes to the levels required for standard winemaking. Even in  temperate years, Champagne’s grapes still bear the hallmark acidity of a marginal  climate, and it was only the discovery of secondary fermentation that provided a wine  style capable of harnessing, and even embracing, this tartness.

Burgundy (“Bourgogne” in French) is an historic and highly respected wine region in  eastern France. Burgundy wines have long had devout followers throughout the world  and continue to do so today. Although Bordeaux produces about four times as much  wine every year, Burgundy’s estimated 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of vineyards are  of equal prominence, producing some of the most exclusive wines on Earth.

Burgundy wines come from several distinct subregions, each with its own particular  character.

The Côte d’Or

This is the heartland of Burgundy, and what most people readily refer to when they talk  of the region. The Côte d’Or – the golden slope – is an escarpment that runs for 60km  (40 miles) between southern Dijon in the north and the villages of Santenay and  Maranges in the south.

The Côte d’Or is further divided in two with the Côte de Nuits in the northern half and the  Côte de Beaune in the south.

The Côte de Nuits

The Côte de Nuits is predominantly Pinot Noir country (although some stellar  Chardonnay vineyards can also be found here). It covers the area between southern  Dijon (starting in Marsannay) and runs down to Nuits-Saint-Georges and Corgolin and  Comblanchien beyond (before the start of the Côte de Beaune).

The Côte de Beaune

The Côte de Beaune covers both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a host of  internationally recognised appellations. These include the Chardonnay-centric titles of  Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet in the central-south of the  subregion; the more heterogenous Corton slopes at the very north (as well as Santenay  in the very south); and the Pinot Noir-predominant neighbours of Volnay and Pommard,  in the central Côte de Beaune.

Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, needs little introduction as one of the world’s most  famous, prestigious and prolific wine regions. The majority of Bordeaux wines (nearly 90  percent of production volume) are the dry, medium- and full-bodied red Bordeaux blends  that established its reputation.

The finest (and most expensive) of these are the wines from the great châteaux of the  Haut-Médoc and the Right Bank appellations Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The former is focused (at the top level) on Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter pair on Merlot grapes.

The legendary reds are complemented by high-quality white wines based on Sémillon  and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. These range from dry whites to challenge the best fro the Burgundy region (Pessac-Léognan is particularly renowned) to the sweet, botrytized nectars of Sauternes.

Those from the top châteaux are regularly traded for several thousand dollars. Auction figures and retail prices do not always conform with Bordeaux’s distinct and historically significant classification system, which has remained largely unchanged since the middle  of the 19th Century.