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In favour of French wine being used by chefs occasionally, from several regions (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

provinces

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'several regions' is the definition.
'provinces' can be an answer for 'regions' (province is a kind of region). I am not certain of the 'several' bit.

'in favour of french wine being used by chefs occasionally' is the wordplay.
'in favour of' becomes 'pro' (being pro a particular cause).
'french wine' becomes 'vin' ('wine' in French).
'being used by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'occasionally' indicates alternate letters (letters taken at regular intervals or occasions).
The alternating letters of 'chefs' are 'ces'.
'pro'+'vin'+'ces'='PROVINCES'

'from' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for provinces that I've seen before include "Regions" , "Geographical areas - four in Ireland" , "Constituent parts of, eg, Canada or South Africa" , "Subdivisions of a region" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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