The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II of England brought Aquitaine into the Plantagenet Empire. A flourishing wine market developed from the port of Bordeaux. The winegrowers of Bordeaux obtained the Bordeaux privilege from King Henry III of England in 12416: wines from the high country could not enter the port of Bordeaux before Christmas6. By then, navigation was more difficult and many ships had already left loaded.
This privilege allowed the Bordeaux winegrowers to sell their production. The King of France became the suzerain of Bordeaux after the battle of Castillon in 1453. To gain the respect of his New subjects, he renewed the privilege. It was finally Louis XVI who settled the conflict more than five centuries later in 17736, by setting up a mediation between the wine growers.
Mauzac is a grape variety, black or white (the white one is better known), originating from the South-West. It is mainly cultivated in the vineyards of Gaillac and Limoux (where it is called blanquette), on about 5,000 hectares. mauzac has medium-sized bunches, composed of berries whose colour can vary from green to red depending on the maturity of the grapes. This grape variety likes limestone and clay-limestone soils, and it is here that it is most productive. Its white wines are fat, with little acidity and marked by aromas of ripe apple, pear, honey, quince, vanilla and violet, typical of the great sweet wines of Gaillac. mauzac also produces the famous Blanquette-de-Limoux in rural method. In this region, Mauzac is competing with Sauvignon, Chenin and Chardonnay, especially for sparkling wines which are more similar to Champagne. It is also used in some appellations such as Entre-deux-Mers, Sainte-Foy-Bordeaux, Côtes-de-Duras, Vins-de-Lavilledieu...
white wines from the region of Haut-Pays go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or shellfish such as recipes of pizza cone, spaghetti with tuna (real italian recipe) or curried mouclade à la charentaise.
On the nose in the region of Haut-Pays often reveals types of flavors of citrus, citrus fruit or tree fruit and sometimes also flavors of earth, oak.
