I always like to see the word “France” on my wine rack as I enjoy the country’s wine very much. I began looking into the Bordeaux region (that lies between the Atlantic and St Julian river estuary) and found there was a long history to the region.
The vineyards in Bordeaux, France were planted during the Roman Empire, over two thousand years ago. You’d think by now the soil would be completely worn out. The expert hands of generational winemakers have managed to keep the region producing world quality wine for centuries. The Romans grew the wine for the soldiers but after the collapse of the empire, the area was frequently ransacked by Rome’s many enemies.
It took almost 500 years to get things totally back on track after visits from Goths, Visigoths and Vandals. It wasn’t until the 12th century that Bordeaux wine was anything other than a domestic product. After the marriage of King Henry II to the French Duchess of Aquitaine, Bordeaux wine became an export product and a way of trading between the two England and France.
By the 13th century, there was an established Bordeaux wine business code of practice and export continued to expand. As the demand expanded so did the number of acres dedicated to viticulture. As the 14th century rolled around competition between towns and villages in the Bordeaux region reached new heights with all the different wineries competing to be a part of the export market. Plague and the 100 Years War put an end to exports for quite some time.
Things were going well until the 16th and 17th centuries when war and politics attempted to destroy the import and export wine trade between Britain and France once again. There was a little carefully planned “piracy” that allowed Bordeaux wines to reach London auction houses and their wealthier buyers.
There were so many vineyards in Bordeaux by 1725 that the area was separated and marked for visitors, buyers and growers alike, into distinct regions and varietals. In 1875 an outbreak of grape killing Phylloxera destroyed much of the Bordeaux region harvest. It lasted until 1892. The grape varietals that were rescued from destruction by grafting their vines with American stock vines were those the region continues to produce: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Muscadelle, Sauvignon blanc and Semillon.
This is such a condensed version of my research. Its amazing for me to see how much there is to one small portion of viticulture history. As a history nerd myself, I love to connect the present with the past. The next time I take a Bordeaux wine off the wine rack, you can be sure I’ll be thinking of roman soldiers, war, politics, plague and of course how American plants saved the French wine industry.
Think it was a win win situation personally.
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