History of Bordeaux wine History of Bordeaux wine The history of Bordeaux wine spans almost 2000 years to Roman times when the first vineyards were planted. In the Middle Ages, the marriage of Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine opened the Bordeaux region to the English market and eventually to the world's stage. The Gironde estuary and its tributaries, the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers play a pivotal role in the history and success of this region. Bordeaux wine production seems to have begun sometime after 43 AD, during the Roman occupation of Gaul, when the Romans established vineyards to cultivate wine for the
Bordeaux wine regions first “Vitis Biturica”. The appellation has a range of gravel, alluvium, clay and limestone soils. The wine from Côtes-de-Bourg is mostly red made from a combination of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc grapes. There is only a small amount of white wine made from Ugni blanc and Colombard grapes. There are around 200 Chateaux producers in the appellation including Chateau Bujan, Chateau Roc de Cambes, Chateau Nodoz, Chateau Fougas Maldoror, Chateau Falfas, Chateau Civrac, Chateau Tayac, Macay, Chateau Rousette, Chateau Haut Maco, Chateau Guiraud. "Entre-deux-mers" (literally, between two seas) is a dry white wine made in Bordeaux. The