Vendee and Poitou are two areas of western France rarely spoken about in modern-day wine circles. Together they neatly fill the gap between the much better-known wine regions of the Loire Valley (to the north) and Cognac (to the south).
There is no Vendee-Poitou wine region per se. Vendee is an administrative departement located immediately south of the Pays Nantais (home of Muscadet). The area it covers was the western half of the former Poitou province, which centered around the town of Poitiers (a city of some historical importance, located due south of Chinon).
Thanks to its moderate, Atlantic-influenced climate, Poitou was a more reliable source of wine than the more continental climates of Burgundy and Champagne. As such, in the early Middle Ages it was the wine region of choice for several countries to the north: the modern-day U.K., Belgium, The Netherlands and parts of Scandinavia. Poitous' success with these markets was strongly tied to the flux of war and politics. Its main port town, La Rochelle, switched between English and French rule several times during the Middle Ages. During the periods of English rule (1154-1224 under Henry II and 1360-1372), the area's wine exports developed well. When La Rochelle returned to French rule, the English were forced to develop the viticultural potential of another growing wine region, Bordeaux.
This relatively large area reaches from the Atlantic coast for 150 miles (240km) inland, corresponding roughly to the administrative departments of Vendee, Deux Sevres and Vienne. It is home to just a handful of wine appellations, which explains why the area is so rarely mentioned as a wine region. The area's most significant wine appellations are the Fiefs Vendeens and Haut-Poitou AOC titles.
