France has more land under vine than any other country, save Spain, and is the biggest by-volume producer of fine wine. Phocaean Greeks arrived around 600BC, founding the city known now as Marseilles, and planting vines that they had brought with them, although it seems that Gallic tribes were already familiar with wine and had been importing it for some time from Italy. Today, France is famous for its classic wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire, the Rhône, Champagne and Alsace, plus re-emerging regions such as Languedoc-Rousillon and the South West. It offers a truly diverse array of wines.
