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I spent two weeks in France during December, mostly doing non-wine research on food and drink in the 18th century in the archives in Avignon, in the southern Rhône Valley.

But I had to eat, and that meant I had to drink wine, and so I spent two weeks in the local wine culture: buying wine to drink at home and drinking wine with meals out. And I did take two days to visit the Costières de Nîmes region, about 50 kilometres west of Avignon.

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The most striking thing is that I never saw a non-French wine anywhere – in grocery stores, in wine shops, or on restaurant wine lists. It’s not that way everywhere in France, but it certainly was in Avignon. Not that I’m complaining, as I like to stick to local wine when I’m travelling.

And if I had tired of Rhône wines (I didn’t), there were wines from other French regions on offer.

Overall, I didn’t have a dud glass, pitcher, or bottle of wine, even though I’d never heard of most of the producers (there are thousands in the region) and I was buying on spec – sometimes by the label. I picked up some bottles of Côtes du Rhône at my local outdoor market for about five Euros a bottle (under $8), and was quite impressed by the quality – even though they had awful labels.