The Methuen Treaty and the port wine trade

The Methuen Treaty of 1703 let Portuguese wine into England at lower duty than French wine, in return for open access for English woollens. British merchants settled in Porto and shipped fortified wine from the Douro, aged in lodges across the river at Vila Nova de Gaia. In 1756 the Marquis of Pombal had the vineyards mapped and marked with granite posts, creating one of the first regulated wine regions.