One expert noted that it was in ‘the interest of all claret consumers’ to invest ‘in good wines of a superior growth’. By 1890, that began to change as French vintners suffered the ravages caused by the arrival of the phylloxera bug, which spurred the trend toward personal investment at the higher end. In the first half of the century, although the middle class bought much larger quantities at one time, most left wine investing to the merchants. Investing & phylloxeraĮde & Son grocer, wine & beer merchant, probably in Epsom, Surrey, c.1890. It was even argued among theologians that ‘the wine that is a mocker is not the organ of divine, but rather of daemonic power’. The movement demanded ‘an end to the disgraceful and pernicious system of wine adulteration’. Natural wine advocates clamoured that unfortunately the public remained ignorant of ‘the qualities of wine as it should be’. In fact, ‘no true connoisseur’ would drink it. Purity being a ‘chief requisite’, wine should not ‘be contaminated by adulteration of any kind’ lest it lose ‘the delicate vinous flavour which is its peculiar excellence’. The movement had two targets: Port and Sherry, ‘adulterated’ by the addition of brandy, burnt sugar and concentrated must, as well as those blended wines appealing to British taste. Natural wine proponents defined it as ‘the term applied to the product which contains no other matter than the grape’, which may sound surprisingly familiar today. By 1865, provocatively titled books such as Wine: The advantages of pure natural wine, and its special qualities for the Promotion of Health and Social Enjoyment appeared. In the early 19th century, references to natural wine noted its desirable qualities, but most consumers remained ignorant. Such commercial practices, although driven by demand, resulted in a backlash: the ‘natural wine’ craze. ‘To give odour to the wine, they take two drams of orris-root in powder put into a fine rag, and let it hang about fifteen days in the cask.’ Such practices had long been the case. Less respectable alterations occurred as well. He observed that ‘the wines shipped for England are not pure when compared with those which remain at Bordeaux… The operation consists in mixing a certain quantity of fine strong wines of the south, which give fire to the claret’. A Bordeaux broker stated: ‘To give the Bordeaux wines some resemblance to those wines of Spain and Portugal which are used in England – to render them of the taste preferred in that kingdom from the effect of long habit – the greatest part of our wine merchants are obliged to work them.’ That meant blending, ‘a particular operation’. By the 1820s, English (though not Scottish) taste had turned decisively toward Port and Spanish vino, leaving vin de Bordeaux struggling to gain market share. The contemporary British market demanded mostly blended wines. ‘The vintage, in Médoc, near Bordeaux’ – specifically at Château Lafite Rothschild in 1854. Women with wine knowledge became apropos. By 1865, the optimistically titled book Wine, as it is Drank in England: And as it Should Be, Pure, Wholesome and Refreshing remarked that ‘happily, the practice of soaking, “after the ladies have left the room”, is nearly extinct’. In finer homes, while women could participate in ‘the pleasures of the table’ with the ‘gentlemen’, after supper, ‘when the bottles, filled with Madeira, Burgundy, claret, or Port wine, begin to circulate briskly’ the ladies had to ‘retire to their own apartments’, explained the 1800 Lady’s Magazine. Indeed, women and wine did not go together at the century’s commencement. Women, the argument went, now ‘indulge in secret drinking’, which could easily demoralise ‘great numbers of them’. An evil lurked behind ‘obtaining wine at such innocent-looking places as grocers’ shops’. ‘It is alleged by teetotallers, and by many others’ that bottled wine so easily for sale on grocers’ shelves ‘greatly encourages intemperance’. ‘This retail sale of wine is opposed,’ noted one commentary, ‘by the wine merchants and by the publicans’ afraid of losing business, but not only that. In fact, the latest fad of allowing grocers to sell individual bottles of wine provoked great controversy in 1870s Britain. Shopping involved visiting ‘the baker, the grocer, the wine merchant over the way’, according to the 1861 Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers. Popping into the equivalent of Tesco or Sainsbury’s to buy a few bottles alongside some bread and cheese wasn’t so easy. September releases 2022: full score table.Rhône 2021 score table: top white wines.March releases on the Place de Bordeaux 2023.
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