Antique Bordeaux wine maps, Medoc, 1949

Les Vins de Bordeaux – Médoc is one of the most celebrated wine maps from the distinguished Atlas de La France Vinicole, a mid-twentieth-century cartographic series devoted to the great vineyard regions of France. Created by Louis Larmat in 1949, the map documents the prestigious wine-growing territory of the Médoc, one of the world’s most renowned red wine regions. The composition carefully illustrates the narrow peninsula stretching north from Bordeaux between the Gironde Estuary and the Atlantic coast. Within this landscape, Larmat identifies the celebrated appellations and communes that define Médoc wine culture, including Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, and Saint-Estèphe. Roads, vineyard zones, waterways, and village names are rendered with exceptional clarity, emphasizing the geographic precision essential to Bordeaux wine classification. Produced shortly after World War II, the map reflects renewed international fascination with French wine heritage and terroir. Larmat’s atlas was designed not only as a decorative object but also as an educational and professional reference for merchants, collectors, sommeliers, and wine enthusiasts. Visually, the work combines refined typography, harmonious color divisions, and elegant cartographic linework. The vintage aesthetic gives the map enduring appeal as both historical documentation and decorative art. Its balance of scientific organization and artistic presentation exemplifies the sophistication of French wine cartography during the mid-century period.