Savouring the spiritual home of fine wine

FRANCE is a wonderful country. Really. Look, I know we've had our issues with the French, not least the Hundred Years' War and Napoleonic Wars and, more recently, endless rivalry and downright sabotage regarding the EU, Brexit and neighbourly relations on the continent. I'm not excusing any of that. But having been lucky enough to have spent the last couple of summers driving the length and breadth of France, I can honestly say it's a great country.

- by Matt Nixson

In some ways (don't shoot me) it feels more grown up and at peace with itself than Britain, perhaps not in the major cities, but certainly out in the glorious countryside.

And the wine... well that speaks for itself. It may not have been the world's first but it's by far the world's largest producer of fine wine and, for many, the spiritual home of great grapes. And it's big, really big. Travelling in France reminds you just how small the UK really is (Boy have we punched above our weight historically). That means the range of styles and varieties really is unbreakable and, as the great wine critic Jancis Robinson says, the French really do have a quasi-spiritual relationship with wine. And it's one we can all enjoy.