harvested earlier and the wines to be of a stronger alcohol level. Many Bordeaux wine merchants saw the wines of the "High Country" as a threat to their economic interest and during the 13th & 14th century a set of codes, known as the police des vins, were established which regulated the use of the port of Bordeaux for wine trading. The police des vins stated that no wine could be traded out of Bordeaux until the majority of Bordelais wine had already been sold. This had a devastating effect on the wine industry of the High Country with barrels of wines being stranded at Bordeaux warehouses for several weeks or months before they could be sold at much lower prices due to that year's market already being saturated with wine. In many years another vintage would actually take place before the "High Country" wines were sold. Appellations in South West France South West France includes the following Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) and Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS) designations. Dordogne/Bergerac, subregion Bergerac AOC Côtes de Duras AOC Côtes de Montravel AOC Haut-Montravel AOC Monbazillac AOC Montravel AOC Pécharmant AOC Rosette AOC Saussignac AOC Garonne subregion Brulhois AOC Buzet AOC Cahors AOC Côtes de Duras AOC Côtes du Marmandais AOC Fronton AOC Gaillac AOC Marcillac AOC Coteaux du Quercy VDQS Côtes de Millau VDQS Saint-Sardos VDQS Vins de Lavilledieu VDQS Vins d'Entraygues et du Fel VDQS Vins d'Estaing VDQS Gascony and Pyrenean subregions Gascony lands are close to the Adour river, Béarn and Basque lands are closer to the Pyrenees Gascony lands Saint-Mont VDQS Tursan VDQS Gascony and Béarn lands Madiran AOC Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh AOC Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec AOC Béarn lands Béarn AOC Jurançon AOC Basque Country land Irouléguy AOC Common grape varieties The following grape varieties are commonly found in at least one sub-region or appellation of South West France. Abouriou Arrouya noir Arrufiac Baco blanc Bouchalès Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon Clairette blanche Colombard Courbu Duras Fer Folle blanche Gros Manseng Jurançon Len de l'El Malbec Merlot Muscadelle Négrette Petit Manseng Portugias bleu Raffiat de Moncade Sauvignon blanc Sémillon Tannat Ugni blanc See also French wine References External links Official website of the South West France wine organisation CIVSO, which covers the Garonne and Gascony subregions Wine Tours In South West France, covering local grape varieties and regions such as Brulhois and Armagnac South West France wines