I just got a bottle of Gerard Bertrand Pinot Noir from the Vin De Pays Languedoc region of France and I am very pleased. It's a $15 bottle and has lots of fruit up front. The nose has a bit of vanilla and its pretty well structured. Its nowhere complex but not thin and watery either. It has the color and body of a California pinot, a bit more robust than anything you would find in New Zealand, well that I have. There is a bit of bite and some tannin but not overwhelming. You would think it would be old world all the way but its a bit more polished, not as rustic as I was expecting.

On the bottle its labeled Red Table Wine, I always find this description misleading. Whenever I think of table wine I think of Carlos Rossi or something else served in a jug.

If you feel you are in over your head when it comes to French wine, just take a deep breath and pick one region. It can be the Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beauljolais, Languedoc or Cote Du Rhone. These are all major areas and labeling differs in each region.

When looking at Bordeaux you need to remember Left Bank or Right Bank, the left is more Cab and the right is more Merlot. At that point, pick an area like Medoc or Saint Emilion. Dont worry about Chateaus, you won't be able to afford any of the major ones anyways.

Each region has its own way of labeling and classifying its wine, it may be pretentious but its the French.

The Languedoc will label the grape on the bottle, most French will not since they expect you to know what you are drinking. This region tends to focus on making good wines but not expecting you to have a PHD to understand them.