French wine for export is certainly controlled to the point that refinement of technique and experimentation are no longer seen, which may be why so many of their master winemakers seem so eager to leave France and take employment just about anyplace that has promise.

Every now and then you run across a news article about some village in France where the local vinter has cutting his yearly production with something or never bothered to check the quality of the water. French wines run the gamut of total crap to almost as good as the best American wines that cost 1/3 as much. Of course, you could always just hop the borders into Germany, Italy and Spain and get better stuff (on average) for less money and certainly less attitude.