Wine is an integral part of gastronomy. What makes the difference between good cuisine and gourmet cuisine is the search for harmony between food and wine. Besides, don’t we naturally combine them with the Wine and Gastronomy Fair? For the French, and even among the younger generations, a gourmet meal without wine is not worthy of the name, wine being an integral part of the French way of life.
Indeed, wine is an integral part of the cultural and gastronomic heritage of France. So much so that the Senate even recognized it in 2014 when examining the draft law on agriculture: wine, a product of the vine, and wine-growing regions are part of the cultural, gastronomic and landscape heritage of France. In 2010, UNESCO classified the gastronomic meal of the French people as a World Heritage Site, giving an important place to wine and increasing public attention.
We are also witnessing today the development of wine and food tourism
The idea is to encourage leisure tourism based on the discovery of wine regions and their production, combining rural tourism and agritourism. In France, the most emblematic circuit is the wine route, like the wine route of Alsace, or other regions. The fact that one in five French people chooses a wine holiday destination and that two out of five foreigners visit France in particular for its wine and gastronomy (one in three comes specifically for this), explains the extent of the phenomenon.
A French journey that strengthens the link between gastronomy, tourism and production areas and allows French people and foreigners to discover different aspects of French gastronomy.
Lyon, capital of gastronomy
Nobody knows if it’s because it was the capital of the Gaul’s, but there’s no doubt that Lyon is unquestionably the capital of French gastronomy. It must be said that Lyon lacks nothing in terms of gastronomy. All you have to do is stay there for a weekend to see the abundance of tables, machos, bistros, brasseries, tasting taverns and starred restaurants. These cooks are at the origin of the gastronomic fame of Lyon.
After having worked for large families in Lyon, these Lyon mothers set up on their own, offering simple, popular and at the same time very refined catering, made up of regional specialties. Previously popular and working-class, the clientele is now made up of bosses and industrialists who come to slum and are looking for quality food. Menus are gentrifying and the cuisine of Lyon mothers is recognized by food critics. From the 1970s, the phenomenon ran out of steam, with new generations of chefs taking up the torch of gastronomy.