Philosophers, popes and poets rhapsodised over the “Divine Nectar” Wines whose history is as old as civilisation itself. Winemaking in Bordeaux – the largest and oldest vineyard on earth – dates back to the 1st century when gauls planted grape vines on the banks of Garonne.
 The 4th Century poet Decimus Magnus Ausonius wrote of winemaking in St-Emilion, where the foundations of his villa, Chateau Ausone, Stand. Bordeaux was part of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s dowry when she wed Henry II in the 12th century. Claret-drinking increased dramatically with great quantities of wine barrels being shipped to England. In the 17th Century, the Dutch became the biggest importers of Bordeaux wines. Their Vignerons drained the marshes, prolonged fermentation and ageing, and grew more vineyards along the graves and the Medoc. Vineyards continued to spread such that a collection of “communes” the Vignoble de Bordeaux was formed. Wines began to be labelled properly, according to the region and the area in which they were grown. Emperor Napoleon III used the 1855 Exposition universelle de Paris to showcase France at her best. He ordered a classification of the best Bordeaux wines; Brokers devised a taxonomy based on the prices that the greatest wines fetched over the previous hundred years, creating the 1855 Bordeaux wine official classification. Today, as some 2,000 years ago, Bordeaux remains the most important fine wine region in the world |
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