The Renaissance was that period of societal re-birth that brought Europe out of the Dark Ages. Art, logic, and learning flourished. It all began to emerge very slowly. And it didn’t occur everywhere at the same time. This makes it hard to date its beginning. Historians disagree. But many set it at around 1300. Wine in the Renaissance improved in quality. Vineyards and winemaking also spread.
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Items listed by date: Wine in the Renaissance
1315
Beginning in 1315 and continuing until the late 1800s, the world experienced the Little Ice Age. This was a major change in climate. It was especially severe from about 1560 until 1660. The Little Ice Ages was very harmful to all agriculture, including viniculture. Wine became scarce and expensive.1
1330
A law was passed in England. It required all wine and beer to be sold at a reasonable price. It failed to indicate what a fair price was.2
1350
A French law required taverns to sell wine to anyone who requested it.3
1357
Florence passed a law prohibiting innkeepers from selling wine or other beverages to people who were poor.4
1395
Rules about winemaking in Burgundy were created by Duke Philip the Bold.5 This was to improve its quality He also ordered the destruction of all vineyards planted in Gamay. He believed the “disloyal plant makes a wine in great abundance but horrid in harshness”6 Excellent wine is now produced from Gamay. Perhaps the fault was the winemakers rather than the grape.
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1396
The Turks imposition of Muslim rule ended winemaking between 1396 and 1878 in what is now Bulgaria.7
Fifteenth Century
• Between the 1400s and the 1800s, wine played a major role in Spanish life. It was used as a beverage, for cooking, and as a food preservative. It was used as a medicine when mixed with herbal remedies.8
• England dominated the wine trade.9
• French cities provided free wine on Catholic feast days and during celebrations.10
1472
Winemaking in Nigeria almost certainly began long before the arrival of Europeans. Palm wine was an important beverage.11
1490
The English Navigation Act of 1490 increased wine imports from Bordeaux.12
1492
The Scottish Parliament made any adulteration of wine or beer a crime. It was punishable by death.13
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1494
Attempts to grow vines in the Americas began in Hispaniola.14
Sixteenth Century
• In the 16th and 17th centuries, hand-blown glass bottles became more affordable. They began to surpass ceramic vessels as the main way of storing and transporting wine.15
• Paraguay developed into a wine production region.16
1503
The king of Spain (Ferdinand II of Aragon) banned planting grape vines in Hispaniola.17
1522
The first European grape vines in the Americas were planted in Mexico by Hernan Cortes.18
1530s
Wine was considered a basic food in the wine producing areas of southern France. Yet not elsewhere in the country.19
1532
Vineyards were planted around Sao Paulo, Brazil, by the Portuguese.20
1534
Two European settlers, a priest and the founder of the town of Mendoza, planted the first vines in Argentina.21
1540s
Vineyards were established in Peru.22
1551
The first wine in Brazil was produced.23
1555
Vineyards had been planted in Chile and wine was produced as early as 1555.24
1556
• Argentina’s first vineyard was planted by Father Juan Cedran.25
• Wine was made from wild grapes by the Spaniards in what is now Florida.26
1568
• The first book in English devoted to the subject of wine was A Book of Wine.27
• Spanish Settlers planted a vineyard, believed to be with vinefera vines. It was on Parris Island, South Carolina. (Vinifera are European vines. They are not native to the Americas.)28
1584
Bolivian wine was first produced.29
1589
Henry III of France permitted wine sellers and owners of tavern and cabarets to form a guild.30
1595
The success of vineyards in Mexico led the King of Spain forbid new plantings or vineyard replacements there. He did that fearing his colony would become self-sufficient in wine. The prohibition lasted for 150 years and prevented the development of a commercial wine industry in Mexico.31
Seventeenth Century
The seventeenth century was a period of great expansion in trade and commerce. Wine was an important part of that.
• The Dutch dominated the wine trade.32
• The Dutch created major innovations in wine production. One the fortification of wine to preserve it longer than a year. Another was the use of sulphur to sanitize wine barrels. A third was the late harvesting of grapes.33
• Sparkling wine was first produced. It occurred in England where still wine from Champagne was stored in cellars over the winter and underwent a secondary fermentation. It was called “brisk champagne.” The French considered bubbles in wine to be a defect to be avoided.3 But the English preferred them. (Contrary to popular belief, Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling wine. That is a myth apparently based on a publicity campaign by the Dom Perignon company. This occurred during the late 1800s and early 1900s.) To take advantage of its popularity, around 1668, Perignon used stronger bottles, developed a stronger system to cork them, and began blending the wine. But another century would pass before sparkling Champagne became widely popular.34 Yet this was a major development in wine in the Renaissance.
• Winemaking began in what is now New Mexico.35
1602
• Severely bad weather in Europe caused a shortage of wine. A plague in parts of Europe may have been caused by people having to drink less sanitary liquids.36
• There were 187 vineyards in Peru. There were reports of anywhere from 1,768,000 to 2,000,000 total vines.37
1610
Vineyards were planted by English settlers in the colony of Virginia.38
1614
Spain banned the export of Peruvian wine to Panama to protect its own export market.39
1615
Spain banned the export of Peruvian wine to Guatemala. Again, this was to protect its own export market.40
1618
The most profitable business in Rotterdam was the wine trade.41
1619
• The colony of Virginia passed a law requiring every landholder to plant and maintain ten vines each year. The intent was to promote knowledge and experience in raising vines by land owners.42
• Eight vine growers, mostly Frenchmen, arrived in Virginia.43
1621
• At least 10,000 vines were planted in Virginia. The next year every land owner received a manual on cultivating vines and making wine.44
• The first European grape vines (Vitis vinefera) were planted in New Hampshire by Ambrose Gibbons at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. They did not flourish and he was pessimistic about their prospects. “The vines that were planted will come to nothing. They prosper not in the ground where they were set, but them that grow naturally are very good of divers sorts.”45
Cir. 1633
The modern wine bottle was invented by Sir Kenelm Digby of England. “For the first time since the fall of Rome, Europe had the technology to age wine.”46
1638.
The first vineyards in Delaware were planted by Swedish immigrants.47
1642
• The first guided tasting was held in Brazil. The purpose was to raise wine quality standards uniformly throughout the country.48
• The Dutch planted the first vineyard in New Amsterdam, now known as New York.49
1655
The first vineyard in South Africa was planted by the Dutch.50
1659
Grapes from the 1655 vineyard planting were first pressed in the autumn of 1659.51
1660
The most popular wine in Scotland and England was red wine from Bordeaux. They called (and still do) Claret.52
1662
Maryland Governor Charles Calvert planted a 240 acre (97 hectare) vineyard and three years later planted 100 acres (40 hectares) more.53
1663
The first brand-name wine (wine sold as the product of a specific estate in France) was produced since ancient Egypt.54
1678
The Portuguese discovered that if enough brandy is added to wine before the end of fermentation, the fermentation stops. This leaves some of the natural sugar in the wine.55
1680
The first drawings of yeast cells and descriptions were made. They were in letters to the Royal Society of London.56
1685
The importation of French wine was prohibited by King Charles II. That’s when Britain and France went to war.57
1687
The end of the Peruvian wine-boom occurred when the entire southern coast of the country was hit by a devastating earthquake. It destroyed both cities and the wine infrastructure.58
1693
William and Mary set heavy duties to discourage French wine trade. But they set light duties to encourage Portuguese wine trade.59
We’ve seen some of the developments of wine in the Renaissance. We now turn to major events in wine in the 18th Century.
Resources: History of Wine in the Renaissance
Wine
Endnotes: Wine in the Renaissance
1. Fagan, B. The Little Ice Age. NY: Basic.
2. Bickerdyke, J. The Curiosities of Ale and Beer. London: Spring, p. 106.
3. Dion, R. Histoire de las Vigne et du Vin en France des origines au XIXe Siecle. Paris: Roger, p. 487.
4. Staley, E. The Guilds of Florence. NY: Benjamin Blom, p. 371.
5. Taber, G. Judgment of Paris. NY: Scribner, p. 26.
6. Lichine, A. Wines of France. NY: Knopf, p. 67.
7. Stevenson, T. The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia. London: DK, p. 412.
8. Gamella, J. Spain. In: Heath, D., (ed.) International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood. Pp. 254-269. P. 257.
9. Esteicher, S. Wine from Neolithic Times to the 21st Century. NY: Algora, p. 66. (Good coverage of wine in the Renaissance.)
10. Dion, p. 61.
11. Oshodin, O. Nigeria. In: Heath. Pp. 213-223. P. 216.
12. James, M. Studies in Medieval Wine Trade. Oxford: Clarendon, p. 53.
13. Cherrington, E. (ed.) Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem. Westerville, OH: Amer Issue, 1925-1930. Vol. 1, p. 406.
14. Mishkin, D. The American Colonial Wine Industry. Ph.D. Diss, U IL.
15. Smith, F. The Archeology of Alcohol and Drinking. U Press of FL, p. 16.
16. Huertas Vallejos, L. Historia de la produccion de vinos y piscos en el Peru. Rev Uni, 9, 44-61.
17. Mishkin, ibid.
18. Esteicher, p. 103.
19. Le Roy L. The Peasants of Languedoc. U IL Press, pp. 43 and 102.
20. Veseth, M. The BRICs. Wine Econ., Dec 17, 2010. Guide to Wine from Argentina. Total Wine & More.
21. del Pozo, J. Historia del Vino Chileno: Desde 1850 Hasta Hoy. Santiago de Chile: Ed Un.
22. Cardenas, E. Chile. In: Heath. Pp. 31-41. P. 32.
23. Ten Must-Know Facts.
24. History of Wine in Argentina. TryVino website.
25. Stevenson, p. 521.
26. The Global Wine Industry.
27. Barber, N., et al. A History of the American Wine Industry. Lubbock: TX Wine Market Res Inst., p. 12.
28. Early Wine Production in Bolivia. Bolivian Wines website.
29. Austin, G. Alcohol in Western Society from Antiquity to 1800. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, p. 182. (Good for wine in the Renaissance.)
30. Wine History. Professional Friends of Wine.
31. Esteicher, p. 70.
32. Idem, pp. 69-71.
33. Younger, W. Gods, Men, and Wine. London: Michael Joseph, pp.345-346. Doxat, J. The World of Drinks and Drinking. NY: Drake, p. 54. Seward, D.. Monks and Wine. London: Mitchell Beazley, pp. 139-143. Very good for wine in the Renaissance.
34. Stevenson, p. 528.
35. Esteicher, p. 8.
36. Huertas Vallejos, ibid.
37. Barber, pp. 13-14.
38. Huertas Vallejos, ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Zumthor, P. Daily Life in Rembrandt’s Holland. NY: Macmillan, p.174.
41. Barber, p. 14.
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Stevenson, p. 520.
45. Gately, I. Drink. NY: Gotham, p. 137.
45. Stevenson, p. 519.
46. Ibid.
47. Barber, p. 17.
48. Wines of Brazil.
49. Barber, p. 19.
50. Esteicher, pp. 116-117.
51. Ibid.
52 Lundigan, C. “To the King o’er the Water” Scotland and Claret, c. 1660-1763. In: Holt, M., (ed.) Alcohol. Oxford: Berg, pp. 163-184, p. 164.
53. Stevenson, ibid.
54. Esteicher, p. 67.
55. Idem, p. 82.
56. Wine History.
57. Charters, S. Wine and Society. Woburn, MA: Butterworth, p. 288.
58.Cortas Olivares, H. El origen, produccion y comercio del pisco Chileno: 1546-1931, Rev Uni, 20, 42-81.
59. Ford, G. Wines, Brews, & Spirits. Seattle, WA: Gene Ford, p. 17.
Notes: History of Wine in the Renaissance
At this point, you know much more about wine in the Renaissance than most people. So kudos!
Do you know of events of wine in Renaissance that should be added? If so, please contact hansondj [at sign] potsdam [dot] edu/. And thank you for your help!