The Domaine de la Salvetat of Haut-Pays of South West

Discovering the wine region of Haut-Pays

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.