As far as at the beginning of the 17. Century had wine the preference, the single healthy and to a certain point durable beverage. Drinking water was very dangerous at least in the cities. Beer if brewed without hop, spoiled quickly. There were neither spirits nor caffeine-containing beverages.
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It is hard to imagine nowadays what quantities of wine people in Europe drank at that time. In fact everyone must have been constantly intoxicated. Quality evaluation prior to 1700 are not very reliable. Except for the Shakespearean description most evaluations refer to royal recommendations or miracle cures, less to the taste and characteristics of the wine.
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In the 17. century everything changed - first, through chocolate from Central America, then through coffee from Arabia and finally through tea from China. At the same time the Dutchmen developed the art of distilling. The beer became durable by using hops and in big cities clean water was provided via tubes like with the ancient Romans.
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If wine-growing had not come up with new ideas, it would have had to face a disaster. It is not a coincidence that we can trace back most wines, that are regarded as classics today, to the second half of the 17th century. Admittedly, everything would have been impossible, if the glass wine bottle had not been invented at the right time.
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| Since the ancient Roman times, wine had spent its whole life in the barrel. Bottles or rather jugs, usually from earthenware or leather, were only used to bring it on the table. At the beginning of the 17th century, innovations enabled to produce stronger and cheaper bottles. Approximately the same time an unknown brilliant brain combined the bottle, the cork and the corkscrew. |
It was discovered little by little that wine lasted much longer in a corked bottle than in a barrel, in which it could "start off" again anytime after tapping. Furthermore, it developed differently - it opened a "bouquet." This way the "vin de garde" was born and with it the chance to obtain double or even three times the price for long living wine.
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