History of French wine of Aquitaine and the future King Henry II of England brought a large portion of southwest France under English rule. When Henry's son John inherited the English crown, he sought to curry favor among the Gascons by bestowing upon them many privileges-the most notable of which was an exemption among Bordeaux merchants from the Grand Coutume export tax. With this exemption and favored treatment in London, Bordeaux wine became the cheapest wine in the London market and gained immense popularity among the English, who call it claret. For over the next 300 years much of Gascony, particular Bordeaux, benefited by
Alsace wine Alsace) is an approximately road, crossing the main wine producing areas of the region. From north to south, the following 67 communes crossed by the "Route" are: Alsace wine Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (in French: "Vin d'Alsace") (German: "Weinbau in Elsass") is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white wine. Because of its Germanic influence, it is the only "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" region in France to produce mostly varietal wines, typically from similar grape varieties to those used in German wine. Along with Austria and Germany, it produces some of the most noted dry Rieslings