History
The Graves is considered the birthplace of claret. Graves wine production for export dates back to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry II, King of England, creating a flourishing trade between both countries: wine versus coal and iron. In the Middle Ages, the wines that were first exported to England were produced in this area. At that time, the Médoc subregion north of the city Bordeaux still consisted of marshland unsuitable for viticulture, while Graves were naturally better-drained.
Château Pape Clément, founded at the turn of the 14th century by the future Pope Clement V, was the first named chateaux in all of Bordeaux. In 1663, Samuel Pepys' mention of Château Haut-Brion was the first recorded mention of French claret in London.
After Médoc was drained by the Dutch in mid-17th century, Médoc gradually took over the role as the source of the most prized Bordeaux wines. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, only one Graves property, Château Haut-Brion, one of the four original First growths, was included among the red wines, with all the rest being Médoc properties. All the sweet wines of the 1855 classification were from Sauternes, which is a part of Graves.
A classification of Graves wine was carried out in 1953 for its red wine producers. Dry white wines were included in an updated 1959 classification. In 1987, the part of Graves containing most of the producers of its most expensive wines, closest to the city Bordeaux itself, created a separate AOC under the name Pessac-Léognan. This has had the effect of devaluing the name and price of wines simply labeled with the Graves appellation.
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