Vinistory

The Bordeaux wine map, 50 BC – today

Nine eras of the Bordeaux vineyard on one interactive map: regions and their wines, trade routes, and the key places of two thousand years of history.

Roman Era (50 BC – 476)

The Bituriges Vivisci, a Celtic tribe who founded Burdigala (Bordeaux), develop the Biturica grape before the Roman conquest. Romans expand and formalize viticulture. Poet Ausonius celebrates wines of the Garonne. Trade via river to Rome.

  • -50 — Roman conquest of Gaul. The Bituriges Vivisci already cultivate the Biturica grape around Burdigala. Romans expand viticulture.
  • 43 — Earliest estimated vineyard plantings in Bordeaux
  • 71 — Pliny the Elder records first evidence of Bordeaux vineyards
  • 310 — Ausonius born; will write extensively about Bordeaux wines and his estates (Saint-Émilion area)
  • 476 — Fall of Western Roman Empire

Dark Ages / Monastic Period (476 – 1152)

Five centuries of invasions nearly destroy Bordeaux vineyards. Monks preserve vine stock. Charlemagne builds fortress at Fronsac (769). Vikings raid the region. Slow recovery from 10th century.

  • 507 — Clovis defeats Visigoths at Vouillé, takes Bordeaux
  • 769 — Charlemagne builds fortress 'Franciacus' on tertre de Fronsac. Reportedly develops metal-hooped barrels for wine transport.
  • 849 — Viking chief Hastings sacks Fronsac
  • 1137 — Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Louis VII at Cathédrale Saint-André, Bordeaux

Angevin Empire / High Medieval (1152 – 1337)

Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage to Henry Plantagenet opens the English market. Bordeaux becomes England's wine supplier. Peak exports exceed 100,000 tuns. Police des vins establishes protectionist system. The golden age of clairet.

  • 1152 — Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry Plantagenet (future Henry II of England). Bordeaux and Aquitaine pass under English control.
  • 1154 — Henry becomes King Henry II of England. Angevin Empire established.
  • 1205 — Alfonso VIII of Castile besieges Bordeaux. City holds. King John rewards bourgeois with wine orders of 120+ tons.
  • 1214 — Bordeaux obtains exemption from all customs duties on wines from its bourgeois vineyards.
  • 1224 — La Rochelle falls to French. Bordeaux gains monopoly on English wine trade.
  • 1241 — Bordeaux attempts to block Haut-Pays wines from reaching port before Saint Martin's Day (Nov 11). Birth of the police des vins.
  • 1270 — Libourne founded as bastide town by Roger de Leybourne. Becomes Right Bank commercial port.
  • 1302 — First documented Bordeaux wine exports to England from Saint-Émilion (for King Edward I).
  • 1307 — Order placed for 1,152,000 bottles for Edward II's wedding celebration.
  • 1308 — Record harvest: 102,724 tuns (~850,000 hl) shipped from Bordeaux. 11,000 tuns shipped from Libourne alone. Peak of medieval wine trade.

Hundred Years' War (1337 – 1453)

Devastating war between France and England. Trade collapses. Black Death (1348) compounds destruction. Bordeaux falls to France at Battle of Castillon (1453). English merchants lose privileges.

  • 1337 — Philip VI confiscates Aquitaine. Hundred Years' War begins. Exports collapse from 74,053 tuns to 16,577 in first year.
  • 1346 — English victory at Battle of Crécy.
  • 1348 — Black Death reaches Bordeaux. Wine fleet reduced to 74 ships. Exports drop to 5,923 tuns — lowest recorded for the century.
  • 1360 — Period of peace. Exports briefly recover to ~43,869 tuns.
  • 1406 — Severe frost + French invasion strikes Bourg and Blaye. Wine imports to England drop.
  • 1415 — English victory at Agincourt.
  • 1437 — Spanish mercenary Rodrigo de Villandrando raids to the walls of Bordeaux.
  • 1453 — Battle of Castillon. Bordeaux falls to France. End of 300 years of English rule. English merchants must stop at Soulac for safe-conduct pass, surrender weapons at Blaye, limited to one month in Bordeaux.

French Recovery / Pre-Dutch (1453 – 1600)

Bordeaux under French control. Trade slowly recovers under Louis XI. Chartrons district established for foreign merchants. New customers: Dutch, Hanseatic, Breton. French kings maintain old trade privileges.

  • 1453 — Bordeaux under French rule. English merchants restricted.
  • 1461 — Louis XI allows resumption of wine trade. Chartrons (Chartreux) district granted to foreign merchants.
  • 1500 — Dutch, Hanseatic, and Breton merchants become increasingly prominent in Bordeaux trade.

Dutch Era / Birth of Modern Bordeaux (1600 – 1700)

The transformative century. Dutch drain the Médoc. New vinification techniques produce darker, age-worthy wines ('New French Claret'). Glass bottles and cork enable aging. Haut-Brion emerges as first identifiable château. The end of clairet as the dominant style.

  • 1600 — Dutch engineers begin draining Médoc marshes. Malbec planted as dominant variety.
  • 1650 — Lafite, Latour, Margaux estates planted in newly drained Médoc.
  • 1663 — Samuel Pepys records tasting 'Ho Bryan' (Haut-Brion) at Royall Oak Tavern — first identified château wine. Cost 3x normal clairet.
  • 1663 — Duke of Richelieu (great-nephew of Cardinal) acquires Fronsac duchy. Builds theatre to entertain Louis XIV's court. Fronsac wines served at Versailles.
  • 1680 — Dutch introduce sulfuring of barrels (allumettes hollandaises) for wine preservation.
  • 1690 — Cork stoppers and glass bottles begin replacing barrels for fine wine storage, enabling aging for the first time.

18th Century / Colonial Prosperity (1700 – 1800)

Bordeaux becomes France's leading port via colonial trade. Irish merchants (Lynch, Lawton, Barton) become prominent négociants. Fronsac at peak prestige. Turgot abolishes Haut-Pays restrictions (1776). Thomas Jefferson visits (1787).

  • 1700 — War of Spanish Succession begins. Official trade halted. Wine reaches London via pirates/privateers.
  • 1725 — Bordeaux vineyards formally divided into specific sub-areas for consumer identification.
  • 1750 — Fronsac wines sell at higher prices than Saint-Émilion and Pomerol.
  • 1776 — Turgot abolishes Bordeaux's medieval trade privileges (police des vins). Haut-Pays wines can now ship freely. End of 500+ years of protectionism.
  • 1787 — Thomas Jefferson visits Bordeaux. Notes existing quality hierarchy among estates.
  • 1789 — French Revolution. Some estates confiscated but wine industry survives.

19th Century / Classification & Phylloxera (1800 – 1900)

1855 Classification cements Médoc supremacy. Phylloxera devastates all vineyards (1875-1892). Replanting on American rootstock selects for fewer varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon replaces Malbec. Carmenère nearly disappears. Fronsac begins long decline.

  • 1855 — Classification of Bordeaux wines for Imperial Exhibition. Médoc estates ranked into five Growths. Haut-Brion sole non-Médoc inclusion.
  • 1860 — Pre-phylloxera: 30+ red varieties planted in Right Bank. Carmenère, Malbec, Cabernet Franc prolific in Médoc.
  • 1875 — Phylloxera reaches Bordeaux. Beginning of catastrophic vineyard destruction.
  • 1892 — Phylloxera devastation essentially complete. Replanting on American rootstock begins.
  • 1895 — Cabernet Sauvignon replaces Malbec as dominant Médoc grape. Carmenère abandoned (survives in Chile). Varietal palette reduced from 30+ to ~6.

20th–21st Century / Modern Era (1900 – today)

AOC system established (1936). Entre-Deux-Mers converts from white to red (1960s-70s). Bordeaux Clairet revived as AOC from 1970s but remains tiny. Fronsac renaissance from 1990s. New varieties authorized (2020). Wine lake crisis.

  • 1936 — AOC system established. Bordeaux Clairet decree dated November 14, 1936.
  • 1937 — Fronsac AOC and Canon-Fronsac AOC officially recognized.
  • 1960 — Entre-Deux-Mers begins mass conversion from white to red wine production.
  • 1970 — Several dozen producers resume production of Clairet, reviving the medieval style.
  • 1987 — Pessac-Léognan AOC created, separated from broader Graves.
  • 1994 — Carmenère rediscovered in Chile (had been misidentified as Merlot since 1850s).
  • 1997 — UC Davis confirms Cabernet Sauvignon = Cabernet Franc × Sauvignon Blanc (17th century cross). Published in Nature Genetics.
  • 2000 — Jean-Pierre Moueix sells four Fronsac properties. New investors begin Fronsac renaissance.
  • 2020 — CIVB authorizes new grape varieties: Arinarnoa, Castets, Marselan, Touriga Nacional (red); Alvarinho, Liliorila (white) — up to 10% of blend.
  • 2023 — Bordeaux Clairet: ~541 hectares dedicated, possibly declining to ~50 ha amid vineyard grubbing programs. Production ~52,000 hl from 925 ha entitled.

Historical geography compiled from the scholarly literature (see Sources); boundaries are indicative, drawn for readability at this scale. Basemap © OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles, OpenStreetMap contributors.