The Monbazillac region began to be cleared around 1080 by the monks of Saint-Martin Abbey. In the Middle Ages, vineyards were planted on the hillsides north of the town of Bergerac. The Hundred Years' War having devastated these plots, the town's notables decided to cultivate the southern slopes: on September 4, 1495, the Vinée Sud was created, the distant ancestor of the Monbazillac AOC. Very quickly, the local white wines enjoyed growing success in France, then throughout Europe. The reforms of the Edict of Nantes (1685) further amplified this phenomenon: Protestants from Bergerac found refuge in the Netherlands, then the epicenter of international trade. Naturally, they spread the wines of their homeland.