Like pain au levain, pain de campagne is leavened with a natural starter. Look for a darker crumb and a little more heft than breads made with mostly white flour. The crumb should have lots of big, irregularly shaped holes that come from a wet dough, lengthy fermentation, and gentle handling. Winter wheat flour and a starter are key Identifying authentic examples of good handmade bread can be confusing because some bakeries, in the name of creativity, play fast and loose with traditional terms. More common than blatant misnamings are breads that are the correct shapes but use the same dough for several supposedly very different breads.
Taste is subjective, of course, but there are objective standards that can be applied to bread.
Dough from winter wheat flour will ferment more readily, giving bread with better texture and better flavor. Oven conditions make a difference The essentials for good artisan bread aren't a wood fire and European bricks. Good artisan bread requires the following. Radiant heat rather than convection. While convection is great for evenly browned pastry, radiant heat results in the color gradations and variations that are a part of what give artisan bread its visual appeal and complex flavors.