Wine 101: The Fashion of Wine: Falernian to Claret
We’re kicking off a new series about the fashion of wine: how trends have changed throughout history and the intersection of wine and pop culture. As many stories about the history of wine begin, we’re launching our exploration in Europe.
Throughout the majority of the Middle Ages, thin white wines were all the rage in northern Europe. Considering literature around wine wasn’t widely circulated — and the majority of the population was illiterate — at the time, the royals, politicians, and other members of the bourgeoisie were the ones to set the trends, and they were drinking thin whites with abandon. But that started to change in the 13th century when Henri d’Andely wrote the poem “La Bataille des Vins,” in which he recalls a wine tasting conducted by King Philip Augustus of France. In the end, Augustus declares a sweet wine from Cyprus as the winner of the tasting, and age-worthy white wines from the Mediterranean containing lots of residual sugar were considered in vogue.
The popularity lasted for centuries, but by the 16th century, the tides started to change once more. On this episode of “Wine 101,” we’ll discuss how European tastes shifted away from full-bodied Falernian whites and toward red wines from Bordeaux — specifically Claret. Tune in for more.
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“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big old shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. Big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.
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