Consumption of Wine in England

The retailer of wine had also many royal and municipal ordi nances to comply with. Not only were the maximum retail prices fixed, but further, wines of different kinds were not allowed to be kept in the same cellar; the consumer had the right to see his wine drawn from the cask; the Vintners' Company in London and Municipal authorities in the provinces, had the right to enter the premises of any taverner, and demand to test the wines stored therein and condemn them to be destroyed if they thought fit.

A Penny a Gallon.

Prices, however, remained sufficiently low during five hundred years for wine to be within the reach of a very large number of people throughout the land, the wine trade of England being prosperous.

From 12th century records we learn that the average price of wine in England was then a penny per gallon. The lowest rate at which we find wine quoted is under one halfpenny per gallon, in 1159, in London, and the highest is twopence per gallon, in 1174, for "French" and "Moselle" wines.

During the 13th century, "wine," "Gascon" wine, as most wines shipped from Bordeaux were usually called, and wines of "Anjou," "Auxerre," "Oleron," "France," "La Reole," "Moselle," were sold in all parts of the country at an average price of about twopence per gallon.

During the 14th century, the average price of "Gascon" wine, the wine which then formed probably ninety per cent of the total wine imports, rose to about threepence halfpenny per gallon. The lowest recorded was twopence-farthing in 1343, at Berwick-on-Tweed, and the highest, fourpence-farthing, in London 1338. Poitou and Rochelle wines cost rather less than Gascon and there was a rate of three halfpence a gallon charged in London in 1303, for "old wine," which meant perhaps "too old," i.e., defective wine.

On the other hand, Vernage, a sweet wine from Italy, was sold at 2s. per gallon, at Durham, in 1335, and Crete wine at 4s. in 1360. Rhine wine was sold at is. 2d. per gallon, in 1340, at Dur ham, at sixpence halfpenny, in 1367, and elevenpence, in 1380, at King's Lynn.

Changes in Taste and Fashion.

The chief feature of this century is the decline in the consumption of "Gascon" or beverage wine, and the increased popularity of a large variety of sweet, or at any rate sweeter wines from Spain, Portugal, Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, such as Bastard, Tyre, Romeney, Malmsey, Osey, Vernage and Hippocras. Irrespective of the "assize" or official maximum prices of all such wines, their cost varied greatly according to their quality, style, scarcity and popularity; thus whilst Malmsey cost but tenpence per gallon at Norwich in 1424, Osey is. at Warwick in 1405, and at Cam

bridge, in 1414, Vernage cost 2S. 8d. per gallon at Warwick in 1405, and Hippocras 3s. 4d. at Cambridge in 1488.

During the i6th century, references to "Gascon" wine are much less numerous. This wine was still imported on a large scale, but, was more commonly known under the name of "claret," the price of which rose steadily from eightpence per gallon in 1510, to 2s. 8d. in 1592. The price of Rhenish wine also rose during the same period from Is. per gallon, in 1508, to 3s. 4d. in The sweet wines of all kinds, Malmseys, Muscadells and Musca dine, Romeney, Fimoy, Hippocras, etc., continued to be largely imported and were sold at prices varying from tenpence per gallon to as much as 8s. (for Hippocras) in 1587. During the i6th century a notable event was the introduction and the immedi ate popularity of Sack, the price of which rose from tenpence per gallon in 1533, to 4s. 8d. in 1598. The cheapest wines of all during the i6th century were those shipped to England from La Rochelle, mostly thin white wines from Poitou and Angoumois, but their price rose very much during the latter part of the century.

During the 17th century, French wines practically ceased to be imported and the taste for beverage wines, for the pure and natural juice of the grape, gradually died out throughout the country. Sweet wines retained their popularity, strong wines heralded strong waters, cordials made their appearance, and ardent spirits began to be imported from abroad, distilled at home and consumed in all parts of the land.

When William of Orange ascended the English Throne, his arch enemy Louis XIV was at the zenith of his glory. When Queen Anne succeeded William III, her Government knew that any measure likely to cause serious prejudice to the French was sure to be immensely popular. They accordingly sought to ruin one of the most important and prosperous branches of France's trade, the trade in wines, by admitting the wines of Portugal in England on payment of £7 per tun, whilst the wines,of France were to pay L55 per tun. This was the object of the famous Methuen Treaty signed in 1703. The consumption of French wines de clined so rapidly, that the proportion of Portuguese wines con sumed in England increased from 4o per cent of the total, at the close of the 17th century, to 72 per cent, at the close of the 18th century.