History of Bordeaux wine

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Château La Tour in Bordeaux

tributaries, the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers play a pivotal role in the history and success of this region.[1]

Roman times

Bordeaux wine production seems to have begun sometime after 43 AD, during the Roman occupation of

longboats along the coast. These disruptions continued into the 5th century to the period of Frankish rule.[4]

Middle Ages

Although domestically popular, French wine was seldom exported, as the areas covered by vineyards and the volume of wine produced was low. In the 12th century however, the popularity of Bordeaux wines increased dramatically following the marriage of

claret was exported in exchange for other goods.[5] Upon the ascension of their son, Richard, to the English throne Bordeaux became the base for Richard's French operations.[6]

As the popularity of Bordeaux wine increased, the

Grande Coutume export tax to England from the Aquitaine region.[7] In the 13th and 14th century, a code of business practices called the police des vins emerged to give Bordeaux wine a distinct trade advantage over its neighboring regions.[8]

The citizenry of Bordeaux worked diligently to promote and foster their relationship with the English market. In 1205, King Alfonso VIII of Castile laid claim to Aquitaine and put Bordeaux under siege. The village was able to withstand the attack and King John rewarded the Bourgeois with orders for wine in excess of 120 tons. In 1224, King Louis VIII of France attempted to purge the English from French soil and was halted in his advance in the town of Bordeaux. In the aftermath Bordeaux received privileged access to the English market through London, and their exports to the market soon dwarfed the production from other French wine making regions.[7]

During the 13th century, the

marshland.[9] At the turn of the 14th century, the town of Libourne was vying for dominance in the area, exporting 11,000 tons of wine to London from the 1308 vintage. A year earlier, this area fulfilled an order for 1,152,000 bottles to be used for the celebration of Edward II's wedding.[10] The wine of this time period was highly alcoholic and fruity but did not age well, often spoiling a year after the vintage was released.[11] The export of Bordeaux was effectively halted by the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War between France and England in 1337 followed by the outbreak of the Black Death which ravaged the area. By the end of the conflict in 1453 France had repossessed the province, thus taking control of wine production in the region.[5]

As part of the

Huguenot rebels in their fight against Catholic France in La Rochelle
, Scots trading vessels were not only permitted to enter the Gironde, but they were escorted safely to the port of Bordeaux by the French navy for their own protection from Huguenot privateers.

Second golden era

Harbour at Bordeaux, Édouard Manet, 1871

In the seventeenth century,

privateers. Wine historian, Hugh Johnson, speculates that this was an arranged affair between the Bordeaux chateaux, the privateers and the London auction houses to get around the war time politics of the period.[14]

In 1725, the spread of vineyards throughout Bordeaux was so vast that it was divided into specific areas so that the consumer could tell exactly where each wine was from. The collection of districts was known as the Vignoble de Bordeaux, and bottles were labeled with both the region and the area from which they originated. During this period, Nicolas-Alexandre, marquis de Ségur rose to prominence as the "Prince of Vignes" due to his ownership of some of Bordeaux's most prestigious estates and Pierre de Rauzan laid the foundation for Château Rauzan-Ségla, Château Rauzan-Gassies, Château Pichon Longueville Baron, and Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande.[15]

In 1855, a classification system was set up that ranked the top chateaus of the Médoc according to their market price.[13]

Phylloxera epidemic

Main article: Great French Wine Blight

From 1875 to 1892 almost all Bordeaux vineyards were ruined by

Semillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle—became Bordeaux's leading grapes.[16]

Economic uncertainty

Due to the lucrative nature of this business, other areas in France began growing their own wines and labeling them as Bordeaux products. As profits in the

Institut National des Appellations d'Origine was created for this purpose.[5]

In the twentieth century, the

World Wars, Great Depression and 1970s oils crisis also had a detrimental effect on the industry.[16]

20th century

Bordeaux wine displayed for sale locally in France.

In 1936, the government responded to the appeals from the winemakers and stated that all regions in France had to name their wines by the place in which they had been produced. Labeled with the

AOC approved stamp, products were officially confirmed to be from the region that it stated. This law later extended to other goods such as cheese, poultry and vegetables.[5]

The economic problems in the 1970s, in the wake of the

Robert M. Parker Jr. reviewed the 1982 Bordeaux vintage as the most sumptuous vintage in decades. This was a turning point for Bordeaux wine economically, and represented the beginning of an American domination of the reviewing of wine, especially Bordeaux.[18] The result was a broader appeal of Bordeaux wine where the presence of fruit became a much more important factor than previously.[19]

This critical selection of grapes also resulted in many chateaux introducing

second wines,[19] so not to waste good but not optimum quality grapes. It was also the introduction of the en primeur concept where traders alongside critics are invited to Bordeaux six months after harvest, to sample the new wine.[20]

Bordeaux used to have a significant production of white wines, with Entre-deux-Mers, a primarily white wine area. Unlike the style of dry white Bordeaux favoured today, with almost 100% Sauvignon Blanc and a heavy influence of new oak, the traditional Entre-deux-Mers whites had a high proportion of Semillion and were made in either old oak barrels or steel tanks. Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, these vineyards were converted to red wine production (of Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Supérieur AOC), and the production of white wine has decreased ever since. Today production of white wine has shrunk to about one tenth of Bordeaux's total production, with 11.0% of the vineyard surface in 2007 used for white wines (7.8% for dry, 3.2% for sweet).[21]

References

  1. ISBN 1-56305-434-5
  2. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  3. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  4. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Official Bordeaux website". April 18, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  6. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  8. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  9. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  10. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  11. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  12. ^ "BBC". 2014-09-09.
  13. ^
    ISBN 1-74048-050-3
  14. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  15. ISBN 0-671-68702-6
  16. ^
    ISBN 1-74048-050-3
  17. ISBN 978-1-84000-980-4
    .
  18. ^ Stephen Brook, The Complete Bordeaux – The Wines – The Châteaux – The People p. 30-31. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. 2007
  19. ^ a b Stephen Brook, The Complete Bordeaux – The Wines – The Châteaux – The People p. 31. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. 2007
  20. ^ Stephen Brook, The Complete Bordeaux – The Wines – The Châteaux – The People p. 31-32. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. 2007
  21. ^ CIVB: Production Archived 2012-03-22 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on December 18, 2009
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