Wine history lesson 3: Bring on the French wine!
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
The Norman Conquest of Britain almost 1,000 years ago paved the way for French wine to take over the English-speaking world
Who knew that 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest of England, also meant the beginning of the French wine conquest of the English-speaking world?
But that’s apparently what happened:
Although the Normans had some success with wine production in England, English wine was still considered inferior to French wine. Fortunately, if the grapes were rated as being not ripe enough for wine they could be turned into verjuice, a sharp vinegar which featured heavily in medieval cuisine.
Vinegar, indeed.
In this, wine drinking increased in Britain after the Norman conquest, becoming the alcohol of choice for the nobility and the upper classes through the Middle Ages. Dare we call it an early version of premiumization?
In fact, English history is replete with evidence of the influence of French wine. That includes Henry II’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitane in the 12th century, which gave him control of Bordeaux – then as now a prized wine region. And the growth of the port business 250 years ago had as much to do with the series of wars between France and England in the 18th and early 19th centuries as it did with port.
And Britain’s enthusiasm for French wine eventually showed up in its colonies, and especially the 13 that would become the United States. Thomas Jefferson’s French wine geekiness is an established part of U.S. wine lore, and his repeated failures to grow European-style grapes like chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon in early 19th century Virginia is equally as celebrated. Because, of course, if he had succeeded, who would have needed California?
More wine history lessons:
• A brief history of wine
• Maynard Amerine on quality, price, and value
• Wine business history: The more things change, the more they stay the same
Illustration, from the Bayeux Tapestry, is in the public domain