Perhaps the title of this article should have been the
British Paradox? No other country in the
world has had more influence over modern wine than Britain. For those of you who are scratching your
head, let me explain.
Bordeaux
It all began in the late 12th century when Britain’s
King Henry married France’s Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor’s family was extremely wealthy and
her dowry included the entire Southwest of France, including Bordeaux and all
of its vineyards. Now that this entire
area was under British rule, Bordeaux wine was granted preferential tariffs by
the British monarchy and an export boom ensued.
For nearly a century, hundreds of ships traveling together in massive
fleets filled with wine began the journey north to London.
Many Brits moved to Bordeaux to manage their wine export
or shipping business. Chateaux such as
Lynch-Bages, Palmer, and Talbott reflect this British heritage. But, the 100 year war between France and
Britain brought it all to a halt. The
Southwest of France passed back into French hands in 1453.
Port
The British were hooked on red wine and after Bordeaux
reverted back to the French the Brits needed to look elsewhere for wines. The Brits sailed further south and discovered
the wines of Northern Portugal. Getting
these wines, however, back to London proved challenging as the wines often
arrived spoiled. To stabilize the wine, brandy was added and this fortified
wine became known as Port. Today in
Portugal many of these British families still have a firm hold in the wine
industry. Names such as Symington,
Grahams, and Taylor reflect Port’s close ties to Britain several hundred years
later.
Sherry,
Madeira & Marsala
The British were responsible for the invention of the
fortified wine industry. Not only did
they birth Port, but also Sherry, Madeira and Marsala. Fortifying these wines with brandy enabled
them to be shipped without spoilage to London.
Britain had an insatiable thirst for fortified wines, especially
Sherry. By the 19th century it
is estimated that Sherry accounted for 60% of wine sales within Britain.
Madeira was very fashionable with the British Royalty
who would voyage to the verdantly green “Garden Island” for a holiday of sunshine. With the nobility came British merchants who
set up wineries and shipping companies to bring a little slice of Madeira back
to Britain. The Brits monopolized the
Madeira wine industry for generations and still to this day have a strong
presence on the island.
The Brits sailed as far south as Sicily looking for
their next new wine. On the west coast
they found the town of Marsala. Having
had great success in fortifying Portugal’s and Madeira’s wine for the long,
arduous voyage back to London, they did the same with the table wine from
Marsala. Britain created Marsala as we
know it today.
Glass
Bottles
Our modern wine industry relies on glass bottles to
prevent spoilage of the wine due to oxygen exposure. While the Brits did not invent the glass wine
bottle, they were the first to figure out how to mass produce them. In 1821 a patent was issued to a chap from
Bristol for his machine to bottle wine in a glass. The rest is history.
Today, after centuries of influencing the development
of the modern wine industry, Britain is finally producing its own wines. While wine has been made for decades in
England, the worldwide wine stage is now taking notice of English wines,
especially the sparkling wines. These “fizz”
wines (as they are called) have out scored several well respected French
Champagnes in blind tastings and have been given very high scores by
international judges.
Wine-Knows is heading to England this summer but the
group is completely filled. There are
one or two openings, however, on the 2019 trip to the English countryside.
Cheerio!
