History of Bordeaux wine became the base for Richard's French operations. As the popularity of Bordeaux wine increased, the vineyards expanded to accommodate the demands from abroad. Henry and Aliénor youngest son, John was in favor of promoting the wine industry, and to increase it further, abolished the "Grande Coutume" export tax to England from the Aquitaine region. 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. The citizenry of Bordeaux worked diligently to promote and foster their relationship with the English market. In
Bordeaux wine regions Bordeaux and includes the four famous communes of St-Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien and Margaux. It is about 60 km north to south, and about 10 km wide, with around 10,600 hectares under vines and a production of about 50 million litres per year. All the wine made here is red. The northern or down-stream part was formerly known as the "Bas-Médoc" (lower Médoc), but is now simply (but confusingly) labeled as "Médoc". This region is some 34 km long, by 10 km wide, stretching from the mouth of the Gironde to St-Estèphe, and includes some 5800 hectares of vines, producing