Any day now, Ireland's summer wine migrants will be taking the ferry to France - family belongings rationed to half a carrier bag each, leaving boot space for endless booty. Which regions are steeped in an easygoing holiday atmosphere with good wines on the side? Which producers stand out? Books answer those questions much better than a newspaper column ever could. Even so, a few pointers may come in handy. This week, let's take a quick trip around the Loire and the Rhone. Next week we'll travel further south to Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence.
First, a few general tips about French wine-buying. While supermarkets are fine (especially for that initial thrill of seeing bottles for about £1), you'll have more fun and discover much more exciting wines to bring home if you buy direct from one or two reputable producers. You'll track them down easily enough - jotting down the names of any wines you enjoy in restaurants, for instance; quizzing the staff in small, specialist wine shops or in the nearest Maison des Vins, where it may be possible to taste various bottles before asking for maps and contact numbers. It's always wise to telephone ahead and, when you do arrive at your chosen wine estates, mentioning you're Irish may well warm up the welcome.
Allez, en route! I've put the Loire at the top of the list because it's the region that probably sees more Irish wine shoppers than any other: some meandering in from coastal Brittany, some chateaux-sightseeing, some breaking the long trek home from the south. The extraordinary thing is that the vineyards flanking a single waterway produce so many different kinds of wine. So here, a bit of advance planning, relating to your tastebuds, is absolutely vital.
Plenty of people will head for the highest renditions of Sauvignon Blanc in the Upper Loire - in Sancerre, Pouilly and MenetouSalon, Sancerre's humbler neighbour. Some will stock up on inexpensive, tangy Muscadet (remember, the best stuff is labelled sur lie) in the Pays Nantais near the sea.
My own inclination would be to seek out some of the superb wines that come from territory in between these two extremes - wines which can be difficult to find in Ireland, and which will keep and develop beautifully, willpower permitting, for a few years.
I'm thinking about a whole galaxy of Chenin Blanc stars. Wines like Vouvray, which I think a lot of wine drinkers steer clear of, fearing it may be sweet. (The labelling of Vouvray is one of the great mysteries of the wine trade: there's often no indication of whether a particular bottle is dry - sec - or the substantially sweeter demi-sec, so you have to ask.)
Savennieres is another exquisite white wine - dry but with hints of honey, quince and candied peel counterbalanced by knifesharp, lemony acidity. It's one of France's great unsung bargains.
The sweet white wines from near Savennieres in Anjou-Saumur are terrific buys, too - Quarts-de-Chaume, Bonnezeaux and the long-life treasures of the Coteaux de l'Aubance and the Coteaux du Layon. And, although they can occasionally be green and mean, the Cabernet Franc-based red wines of the Loire would also be on my shopping list. Saumur-Champigny, Chinon and Bourgueil from a good source in a good year (see below) can be deliciously, refreshingly different - and not dear.
ON to that other majestic waterway, carving a line down from Lyon to the Med. The Northern Rhone, between Vienne and Valence, is the swanky bit in wine terms, with the Syrah grape providing the sensational red wines of Hermitage and CoteRotie, partnered by the heady Viognier-scented whites of Condrieu. Crozes-Hermitage, St-Joseph and Cornas - all more affordable - are here, too. For the wine worshipper, this region is a patch of heaven studded with saintly names - Guigal, Chave, Chapoutier, Jaboulet, Jasmin.
But most holidaymakers will want to drive further south, where the dauntingly steep slopes on either side of the river give way to more open country with sleepy little villages basking in the sun. The Southern Rhone has it all: scenery, weather, markets bursting with provencal produce, herb-scented air . . . and a plethora of tempting wines at prices that won't fill you with gloom.
Even if you decide not to buy them in quantity, do taste the white wines here - just to sample the distinctive flavours of local grapes such as Marsanne, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. As for the rich, perfumed reds, you could spend a lot longer than a fortnight unravelling the strands in blends that combine Grenache with Mourvedre, Carignan, Syrah and heaven knows what else. Some 13 different grape varieties are permitted in a single bottling of Chateauneuf-duPape - eight red and five white. What scope for study!
Chateauneuf, with its gaunt ruins, may be the centre of the action, but it could be the wine villages of the Cotes du Rhone that steal your heart: Rasteau, Cairanne, Vacqueyras, Seguret, Gigondas - sweet little towns of sand-coloured stone on outcrops of rock between the vineyards and the lofty, ragged summits of Les Dentelles de Montmirail. The wines range from straightforward and rustic to subtle, layered and intense enough to warrant purchase by the lorry-load. Careful, careful . . . it would be a crime not to squeeze in a case or two from the Loire on the way back.