How do you make an educated choice?

The Bottlenotes text makes an interesting observation about the way Americans classify wine vs. the way Europeans classify wine; Americans are varietal-centric while Europeans are region-centric. This might seem like a small nuance of the two regions, but for me, it induces near panic. While pinot noir from Sonoma will taste different than pinot noir from Oregon, I can count on it being a medium body red wine. On the flip side, I know next to nothing about French wine so when I encounter a wine list with predominantly French wine, I already know that the likelihood of me picking a good bottle without some major help from the waiter/somm is almost zero. When the wines are organized by region (not varietal), I am completely beholden to the waiter to tell me what kind of wines I'm looking at. Without prior knowledge a region's name doesn't give me any cue as to what the wine might be like? Does Languedoc make light reds or heavy reds? Even if the wines are organized by varietal and then by region, does a pinot noir in France have a similar taste profile to a pinot noir from Sonoma? (the answer is definitely "no") As a result, if I want to be an educated consumer what is the best way to learn about French wine regions so that I can select something I like?