>> The primitive Aquitaine from which the name of Guyenne is derived was originally populated by Celts involved in the transit of tin from England. Governed by the Romans since the conquest of Gaulle by Caesar, the province was nicknamed “the small Rome” due to the wealth and prosperity brought very early by the culture of the vine. Pruning knives dating back from the first centuries were excavated in the Libourne area.
Some Bordeaux wines were already renowned throughout the Empire. In the 4th century the famous poet Ausone, landowner in Bordeaux celebrates his region as his “homeland famous for Bacchus, its rivers and its great men”.

Then populated by the Visigoths, Aquitaine joined the Franc kingdom after the defeat of their king Alaric II in 507 against Clovis.The massive arrival of the Gascons coming up from south of the Pyrenees in the last part of the 6th century favoured the Arab invasion and undermined the Franc kings authority finally restored by Charlemagne.

>> The Dukes of Aquitaine ruled the region from the 9th to 14th century. The first of the dynasty, William 1st, The Pious, founded the Abbey of Cluny in 910 AD. At the end of the 12th century it counts up to 1038 subsidiaries spread throughout the Occident, which makes it the first real example of a global company.
The daughter of William X, Alienor became Duchess of Aquitaine at her father’s death. She married Louis VII king of France whom she divorced to remarry in 1152 Henry II Plantagenêt, king of England She brought Aquitaine in dowry to the English Kingdom.
Freedom of trade favoured by the English rule generated considerable exportation of wine, reaching 102,724 barrels in the season 1308-1309. This is the largest trade in volume of any kind in all medieval Christendom.

>> Some two centuries after the joining of Aquitaine to the English crown, Edward III of England great son of Philippe Le Bel, disputes the French crown to Philippe VI de Valois finally sacred king of France in 1328. This triggered the One Hundred Years war which ended in 1453 with the battle of Castillon. Aquitaine is definitively annexed to France under Charles VII.
All these troubles were obviously detrimental to business: Bordeaux wine exports collapsed to merely 4,052 barrels in the trade season 1438-1439.