Couvent des Jacobins

The Couvent des Jacobins was built in the 13th century in the very heart of Saint-Émilion.
It was the subject of a donation made to the religious Frères Prêcheurs Jacobins, F.P.J., a donation confirmed in 1389 by the Duke of Lancaster, lieutenant general of Guyenne and son of King Edward III of England.
These monks cultivated, right beside the ramparts that encircled Saint-Émilion, a remarkably well-exposed vineyard, whose wines, even at that time, were particularly appreciated, both in the region and in England.
Tradition has it that the wines of the Couvent des Jacobins were chosen, in the 14th and 15th centuries, by the governors of Guyenne to be served at the festivities that marked coronations and great royal celebrations in London.
The years passed. The wines of the Couvent des Jacobins, submitted each year in the 16th and 17th centuries to the judgement of the Jurade, were recognised among the most characteristic of the Saint-Émilion region.
In the 18th century, the monks abandoned the Couvent des Jacobins, which then belonged to various notable families.
For a thousand years, then, this Saint-Émilion land has been lovingly cultivated by serfs, monks and peasants, devoted to the quality of this exceptional growth. The Joinaud-Borde family, owner for more than a century (1902) of the Couvent des Jacobins, continues the great tradition of the noble winegrowers of old.