THE VINEYARDS OF THE WORLD. 21 



are of great beauty and archeological 

 interest. 



6. PALUS. The Palus wines are those 

 produced by vineyards planted in rich 

 alluvial soil either close to the banks of the 

 Gironde, the Garonne, and the Dordogne, 

 on islands in these rivers or in the plains. 

 These vineyards give usually abundant 

 crops but the quality of the wine made 

 therefrom is distinctly inferior to the pro- 

 duce of any of the other Vineyards of the 



Gironde. 



Cognac. 



Cognac is the name of a small town, on 

 the river Charente, in the heart of a wine- 

 growing district which produces the finest 

 Brandies in the World. As far back as 

 the reign of King John, and for many 

 centuries after, the wines of Saintonge, 

 Aunis and Angoumois were shipped to 

 England as Rochelle wines and sold at 



