Haut-Médoc

The legislative division Médoc / Haut-Médoc dates from 1935. This division, consecrated by a very long usage, is due to the situation of these regions: one towards the top or upstream, the other towards the bottom or downstream of the Gironde. Indeed, downstream from the river, in a significant part of the (lower) Médoc, particularly in certain communes around Lesparre, one finds higher ridges than those of the Haut-Médoc.

In fact, if the Haut-Médoc benefits from an older and perhaps better established reputation than the Médoc, this is due to the fact that, closer to Bordeaux, its wine-growing land was developed as early as the 18th century and that the owners and business circles knew how to take advantage of it.

This region, known as Haut-Médoc, stretches for about 60 kilometers, on the left bank of the Garonne and Gironde rivers, north of Bordeaux. Within this territory, we find, in addition to the six communal appellations - Margaux, Moulis, Listrac-Médoc, Saint-Julien, Pauillac, and Saint-Estèphe - remarkable wine-growing sites. These are mainly composed of very permeable Garonne gravel hilltops, resting on varied subsoils, made up of more or less coarse gravel, pure or ferruginous sand - alios - or even limestone or clay