Re: value, the vast, vast majority of what I buy is red Bord and white Bord and Burg. Obviously there are no values in the big name appellations but I find plenty of value in Bord Sup and districts no one cares about and also in Macon, Chablis and other low-end (or low-priced) white Burg regions. Values as in, really excellent (91 points!) bottles for $15 and perfectly fine daily drinkers for $12 and under, even $10 and under. I'm currently working through a second case of 2007 Bord-Sup that I got for $6 a bottle. Impossible to replicate that anywhere else. A second current case of a different 2004, for which I paid around $14/bottle, drinks like a $35 California Cab. Sometimes I think even $50.
The only other country which has so much to offer on the low end is Italy. I just know France better and generally prefer the styles. I tend to buy Italian wine only for drinking with Italian style food and my cooking style is basically French. I like quite a few CA wines but few are values, the best you can do is "worth the money." There are no values in CA for a daily drinker red IME and for whites decent stulf starts at $12. Plenty of white Bord sub $10 that is A-OK (though no white Burg).
I don't know a great deal about the rest of France but I also find values in low-end red Rhone and white Loire. Madiran is a favorite lately too. In the summer I drink Provence Rose, same price points, same level of satisfaction. In fact, the only wine in France that is consistently NOT a value is red Burg where at best you get what you paid for.
So, IMO, France absolutely is THE home of wine values on planet earth.
