<P> During the 13th century, the Graves was the principal wine region of Bordeaux . While there were some vines growing in the Entre - Deux - Mers, Saint - Émilion and Blaye, the Médoc during this period was virtually a barren marshland . At the turn of the 14th century, the town of Libourne was vying for dominance in the area, exporting 11,000 tons of wine to London from the 1308 vintage . A year earlier, this area fulfilled an order for 1,152,000 bottles to be used for the celebration of Edward II's wedding . The wine of this time period was highly alcoholic and fruity but did not age well, often spoiling a year after the vintage was released . The export of Bordeaux was effectively halted by the outbreak of The Hundred Years' War between France and England in 1337 followed by the outbreak of the Black Death which ravaged the area . By the end of the conflict in 1453 France had repossessed the province, thus taking control of wine production in the region . </P> <P> As part of the Auld Alliance, Scots merchants were granted by the French a privileged position in the trade of claret, a position which continued largely unchanged with the cession of the military alliance between France and Scotland with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh . Even when the by then Protestant kingdoms of England and Scotland, both ruled by the same Stuart king by this point, were trying to militarily aid the Huguenot rebels in their fight against Catholic France in La Rochelle, Scots trading vessels were not only permitted to enter the Gironde, but they were escorted safely to the port of Bordeaux by the French navy for their own protection from Huguenot privateers . </P> <P> In the seventeenth century, Dutch traders began to drain the marshland around the Médoc and encouraged the planting of vineyards . The Dutch would also open new distribution channels to the Bourgeosis which helped usher in a second era of prosperity . At the turn of the 18th century, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out which made navigation along the French coast line and the English channel very risky . Additionally, the tensions between English and French governments halted all "official" trade between Bordeaux and the London market . Despite the government sanction, bottles of prized Bordeaux wines began showing up in large quantities at auction houses in London, Bristol, and Plymouth as the captured bounty of privateers . Wine historian, Hugh Johnson, speculates that this was an arranged affair between the Bordeaux chateaux, the privateers and the London auction houses to get around the war time politics of the period . </P> <P> In 1725, the spread of vineyards throughout Bordeaux was so vast that it was divided into specific areas so that the consumer could tell exactly where each wine was from . The collection of districts was known as the Vignoble de Bordeaux, and bottles were labeled with both the region and the area from which they originated . During this period, Nicolas - Alexandre, marquis de Ségur rose to prominence as the "Prince of Vignes" due to his ownership of some of Bordeaux's most prestigious estates and Pierre de Rauzan laid the foundation for Château Rauzan - Ségla, Château Rauzan - Gassies, Château Pichon Longueville Baron, and Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande . </P>

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