THE VINEYARDS OF THE WORLD. 15 



existed for centuries past and still flourish ; 

 the wines they produce, however, are not 

 entitled to the name of Bordeaux because 

 they are shipped from that port. They 

 were known in England in mediaeval times 

 as red, white, or claret wines from Guienne, 

 Gascony or Languedoc. The appellation 

 " Claret " was originally used to designate 

 the style and not the origin of the wine, but 

 as practically the whole of the light red 

 wines consumed in England came primarily 

 from Bordeaux, the meaning of the name 

 Claret became gradually restricted first to 

 those red and white wines shipped from 

 Bordeaux and later to the Bordeaux wines 

 proper, or the produce of the Gironde. 

 Custom having endowed the name of Claret 

 with a strictly limited geographical meaning, 

 it should not be used in conjunction with 

 any other geographical appellation ; it is 

 as illogical to speak of California Claret, 



