Wine from the United Kingdom Normans, with over 40 vineyards in England mentioned in the Domesday Book, although much of what was being produced was for making communion wine for the Eucharist. From the Middle Ages, the English market was the main customer of clarets from Bordeaux, France, helped by the Plantagenet kingdom, which included England and large provinces in France. In the 18th century, the Methuen Treaty of 1703 imposed high duties on French wine. This led to the English becoming a main consumer of sweet fortified wines like sherry, port wine, and Madeira wine from Spain and Portugal. Fortified wine became popular because
White wine balance different from red wine from which the tannic structure is removed. The balance is no longer based only on alcohol and acidity: this is the factor that explains the difficulty of making a white wine. For sweet and fortified white wines the presence of sugar adds a parameter to balance the alcohol and acidity. Maturing in the barrel gives wine a wooded touch and tannins from the oak give it structure. The strongest wines, as in some grand crus of Sauternes (Château d'Yquem for example) even support ageing in new wood. Ever since glass containers have existed, specialised glasses