[2] Of Haut-Médoc's fifteen wine-producing communes, eight are located along the waterfront of Garonne and Gironde: Blanquefort, Parempuyre, Ludon, Macau, Arcins, Lamarque, Cussac and Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne.

In the 17th century, Dutch merchants began an ambitious drainage project to convert the marshland into a usable vineyard area.

Using technology that was advanced for that time, the Dutch were able to convert enough marshland to allow large estates to form all along the Gironde.

[4] The area covers approximately 4,600 hectares of declared vineyards, constituting 28.5% of the Médoc total, annually producing on average 255,000 hectolitres of wine.

[2][5] Of the permitted grape varieties of Haut-Médoc, 52% of the viticultural area is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, with additional cultivation of Merlot, Petit Verdot and to a small degree Malbec (locally called "Cot").