This growth came from the mutation of the vineyards of "Aunis", which had operated since the 16th century, to the production of brandy: "The slump of "Aunis" wine caused by strong competition from "Bordeaux" wine gave rise to the first distillations, learned from the Dutch. The Netherlands and the Baltic countries were the first lasting buyers of "vin brûlé" ("Mulled wine" or "Brandewijn" in Dutch) from "Aunis". If vineyard production was important, it grew most often at the expense of other products: "The land around maritime activities stimulate production, supported by capital from a well-off society (from the bourgeoisie of La Rochelle) that marks the landscape footprint of these speculative activities. These speculative activities develop around the vine which, at the pace of growth of the trade in spirits, born during the 16th century, settled on all suitable land to accommodate it, sometimes to the detriment of other food-producing areas".