Up until the 18th century, a number of coinciding factors encouraged the development of the vineyards: King Henry III of England, seduced by the benefits of this nectar, facilitated the wine trade and enthusiastically encouraged the planting of new vines to the detriment of other crops.
Entire plots of land were devoted to growing vineyards because of the flourishing exports to England and later to the Netherlands and Belgium. At the same time, river trading expanded massively. Given the difficulty of other means of transportation, barges, ploughing the river Dordogne, played a key role in the development of winegrowing too.
The first sweet white wines such as Saussignac, Montravel and Monbazillac appeared in the 17th century. Today, however, winegrowers are producing excellent red, white and rosé wines too! For the most part, these wines are made from the same grape varieties as those used in neighbouring Bordeaux.
