Whilst Château Haut-Brion was the first Premier Cru to be mentioned in historical literature, it was a decision by the land owners of Margaux to abandon cereal growing in favour of grapes in 1572 that played the most important role in the complete restructuring of the Médoc. The first record of a bottle of Château Margaux being sold at auction was in the London Gazette in 1705. Château Margaux’s roots date back eight centuries. The Margaux site was originally used as a fortress, constructed close to the Gironde river to protect against invasion. With a wealth of soldiers to feed in the fortress, they were encouraged to plant grains in the surrounding fields but they soon found that due to the particular gravel soils, large parts of the land were not feasible for grain production and so instead opted to plant grapes.
