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
Graves (wine region) Pessac-Léognan. This has had the effect of devaluing the name and price of wines simply labeled with the Graves appellation. As with Médoc, Cabernet Sauvignon is the predominant grape, but a somewhat greater proportion of Merlot is typically used in the blend, with smaller amounts of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The dry white wines are a blend of Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon. A well-known sweet white dessert wine is made in the commune of Sauternes, which is located in the southeast corner of the Graves region. The Graves subregion contains the following "Appellations d'origine contrôlées" (AOCs). Graves AOC