The first Bordeaux wines were grown in the 1st Century A.D. the English started importing Bordeaux wines from the 12th century and named them "claret" because of their clear colour. During the 17th Century, the Dutchdeveloped the sweet white Bordeaux wines from Sauternes - giving the world the term 'sauterne'. Throw in some financial scandal, Royal marriages, the intervention of Emperor Napoleon and plenty of natural disasters - French Bordeaux wine has quite a history!

History of French Bordeaux wine

The first Bordeaux wines were grown in the 1st Century A.D., when a tribe of Celts, planted a grape variety that is the ancestor of today’s Cabernet vines. During the Roman occupation of St Emilion, the Romans established vineyards to cultivate wine for the soldiers. The next signifcant historical development occured in 1152, when Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry Plantagenet, the future King of England. This marked the start of important trade links between Bordeaux and England: the English exported food, textiles and metals while importing the French wines of Bordeaux. They named the Bordeaux wines “claret” because of their clear colour. The term Claret wine still appears on Bordeaux wine bottles today.

French wine Bordeaux popularity

In the 17th Century, Dutch importers start to buy large quantities of Claret wine to distil in their own warehouses. The Bordeaux wine producers also provide dry and sweet white wines for distillation. In the 18th Century, the Bordeaux wines enjoy enormous popularity with London high society. The wines are regarded as the highest quality French wines and Bordeaux wine is the first to appear in bottles sealed with cork.

19th Century French Bordeaux wine - Crisis and Prosperity

In the mid-19th Century, a terrible fungal disease attacks the Bordeaux vineyards. In 1857, it is discovered that sulphur treatment can stop the disease. After averting the peril of the disease, the Bordeaux wine region enters an era of prosperity. By the beginning of the 20th however, the Bordeaux wine region sees a new crisis, with fraudulent wine labeling causing a collapse in the price of Bordeaux wines. To prevent this, the Bordeaux wine region participates in creating a national quality control body. This organisation leads to strict conditions on the labelling of Bordeaux wine bottles. Key information to be displayed includes geographical area, grape variety, yield, degree of alcohol and method of vinification. For further information on Bordeaux wine classification please read our article Bordeaux wine classification.

Bordeaux vintage wines return

The 1970s witnessed a collapse in the market for Bordeaux wines, caused by both the influx of new wines from Australia and South Africa and the economic problems caused by the OPEC oil crisis. But the 1980s saw an upswing in Bordeaux wine demand. More great Bordeaux vintage wines are produced in the 1980s than any other in a single decade before. The celebrated US wine critic Robert M. Parker, viewed the 1982 Bordeaux vintage wines as "the most sumptuous Bordeaux vintage wines in decades". This once again marked the turning point for Bordeaux wine economically. The result was a broader appeal of Bordeaux wine and a slight change in the flavour of Bordeaux wine, with more presence of fruit than before.

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