Wine fraud wine from Spain, Rhone or the Languedoc to blend and stretch out their wine which they sold to the English as claret. While this practice would be frowned upon today by Bordeaux authorities, the French wine writer André Jullien noted that some merchants believed this practice was necessary in order for the claret to be agreeable with English tastes—a practice he describes as ""travail à l'anglaise"". Reporter Doutrelant reported the comments of "a government inspector on the illegal use of sugar to boost the alcoholic content of Beaujolais-Villages: 'If the law had been enforced in 1973 and 1974, at least
Graves (wine region) Pessac, Talence, Léognan, Martillac, Saint-Morillon, and Portets. The name Graves derives from its intensely gravelly soil. The soil is the result of glaciers from the Ice Age, which also left white quartz deposits that can still be found in the soil of some of the top winemaking estates. The Graves is considered the birthplace of claret. Graves wine production for export dates back to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry II, King of England, creating a flourishing trade between both countries: wine versus coal and iron. In the Middle Ages, the wines that were first exported to England were produced