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Satirical images of diners in restaurants from 1814-1815
I openly admit I enjoy 19th century French and English satirical images that are related in some fashion to wine. As I briefly touched on in my previously post, the rise of restaurants began in Paris during the late 18th century. This led to a series of satirical images of the English eating in French restaurants and vice vera. The two images featured in this post yield some insight into wine service some two centuries ago. In the first satire, two English soldiers are acting impolite at their table, behavior which is not missed by the French at their table. Amongst the three standing bottles of wine and a fourth which is spilling on the ground, is a glas of wine in a tumbler.
In the second image, a large English soldier is sitting at a table loaded with food and wine in the restaurant Véry Frères. The soldier is full from eating two plates of food and drinking two bottles of wine. He is unable to continue eating his meal. The soldier looks at a beggar in the window, remarking to himself how lucky the beggar is to feel hungry. In this image the soldier drinks wine from a stemmed glass. In both images, the wine bottles shapes vary. One bottle is even lightly stoppered by a long cylindrical cork.[1] “Les Français ils vont dire que vou être pas poli, Mylord! Pah! les Français? vous s’havez bien qu’ils n’entendent pas le anglais” by Anonymous. 1814-1815. Museum #1989,1104.62. The British Museum.
[2] “Suprême bon ton / L’envie réciproque”. Plancher. 1815. Museum #1861,1012.399. The British Museum.
“[Y]ou have it in your power, before you place your order, to ascertain the expense”: The wine lists of La Grande Taverne de Londres from 1795 and 1803
Antoine Beauvilliers was a former chef of the Court of Provence who opened up La Grande Taverne de Londres in 1782 or 1786, the first prominent fine restaurant in Paris, and subsequently published the cooker book L’Art du Cuisinier in 1814. Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote in Physiologie du goût (1825) that for more than 15 years Beauvilliers was the most famous restaurateur in Paris. He was the first to combine an elegant dining room, smart waiters, superior cooking, and a choice wine cellar. As it was a fine restaurant, there were hundreds of dishes to select from. Beauvilliers’ wine cellar, to which he kept the key in his pocket, kept pace by offering several dozen selections.
The bill of fare or menu was printed on a single sheet the size of a double folio. Francis William Blagdon, an English journalist, remarked it was “the size of an English newspaper”. The modern concept of a restaurant dates to the late 18th century in Paris so the novelty of both the restaurant and the menus are apparent amongst travelers during this period. The menus, with wine list, were reproduced at least two times in English in 1795 and 1803. That makes these restaurant wine lists the earliest that I know of. As a comparison, the New York Public Library’s menu holdings begin in the 1850s.

Courier and Evening Gazette (London, England), Wednesday, August 5, 1795; Issue 944. 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers.
In researching the 18th century history of Cote-Rotie and Hermitage I thought it interesting that the 1795 menu includes the former wine but not the later. The 1803 menu includes both. In this version both red Cote-Rotie and red Hermitage are priced the same. The white Hermitage, regarded as superior to the red, is more expensive.
Other additions include the specific wines of Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour. Whereas Clos Vougeot was of an average price in 1795, it becomes the second most expensive wine in 1803 and the only wine with a specific vintage being 1788. The selection of these wines is interesting because this is a time when most wine was typically sold in cask to be bottled later. Chateau Lafite begin bottling some of their wine with the 1797 vintage and James Madison was ordering Clos Vougeot by the bottle in 1811. I wonder if Beauvilliers bought these wines in bottle. I should add that if you desired to drink from several bottles of wine, you would only be charged for a half bottle of each if the level did not drop below the moeity.
“I am very well satisfyed with the Cote Rotie”: A brief look at Cote-Rotie and Hermitage in the late 18th century
Thomas Jefferson visited Cote Rotie and Hermitage during his tour of Southern France in 1787.[1] He wrote in detail about the vineyards, the best estates, and of course prices. New first quality Cote Rotie sold for 150lt per piece whereas new first quality Hermitage sold for 225lt. If the Hermitage was old the price increased to 300lt. The increase in price reflects not only quality but also, perhaps, additional powers. A year earlier in 1786, Abigail Adams 2nd, daughter of John Adams and Abigail Adams, wrote to her brother John Quincy Adams about three gentleman who joined her for Sunday dinner.[2] One was suffering from a “disagreeable situation of the mind” which he called the “blue devils”. She reported that he felt much better after drinking Hermitage and Madeira with their dinner.
There is little written about this period in the history of Cote-Rotie and Hermitage. John Livingstone-Learmonth writes in The Wines of the Northern Rhone (2005) that documented Cote-Rotie history jumps from the 16th to the mid-nineteenth century! However, there is more written about Hermitage perhaps because the wines were better regarded and by 1765 the main vineyard owners were aristocratic or noble families. During this period Hermitage was shipped to Burgundy and Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, the Hermitage wine was used in blending but it was also exported primarily to England.
After visiting Cote-Rotie and Hermitage in 1787, Baroness Elizabeth Craven sent bottles of Hermitage back to England via Marseilles.[3] She wrote that the best Cote-Rotie came from Mr. de la Condamine. This sentiment was shared that very same year by Thomas Jefferson who mentions him first in his list of seven best producers. Baroness Craven continues that the “grapes being almost broiled by the sun” produced a wine “of a red and strong kind – reckoned very fine”. But it was not to her taste. It was the Hermitage that she enjoyed, particularly the white which she found “so much better than the red”. Priced at 3 livres per bottle she had it shipped home.
Some of the Cote-Rotie and Hermitage which left Bordeaux made it to the American shores before Thomas Jefferson ever set foot in the region. We know this because Charles Carroll of Annapolis wrote his son Charles Carroll of Carrollton about sending some wine on March 20, 1772.[4] In this letter Charles Carroll of Annapolis requested that his clerk William Deards send 10 or 12 dozen bottles of “Cask Wine th[a]t came from France”. Of this he wanted 3 or 4 dozen each of Cote Rotie and Burgundy. Charles Carroll of Annapolis was sure to clarify that “Let Him take Care not to send Hermitage insted of Cote-Rotie, you like the Hermitage, I am very well satisfyed with the Cote Rotie”.
We do not yet know where the Cote-Rotie and Hermitage was sourced from. We do know that in 1774 and perhaps in 1773, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was ordering Claret by the hogshead from the firm of Lawton and Browne in Cork, Ireland. It is possible they were the source since Cote Rotie and Hermitage were also shipped from Bordeaux.
For those who did not order these wines by the cask, white Hermitage, red Hermitage, and Cote-Rotie were available by the bottle from merchants along the east coast of America. Some of this wine came straight from Bordeaux and even from Cap-Francois in the French colony Saint-Domingue which is now Haiti. My favorite advertisement occurred for one period in 1774 when you could buy “Best Bourdeaux Claret, in Hermitage Bottles.”
[1] “Notes of a Tour into the Southern Parts of France, &c., 3 March–10 June 1787,” Founders Online,National Archives, last modified July 12, 2016, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-11-02-0389. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 11,1 January–6 August 1787, ed. Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955, pp. 415–464.]
[2] “Abigail Adams 2d to John Quincy Adams, 9 February 1786,” Founders Online,National Archives, last modified July 12, 2016, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-07-02-0010. [Original source:The Adams Papers, Adams Family Correspondence, vol. 7, January 1786 – February 1787, ed. C. James Taylor, Margaret A. Hogan, Celeste Walker, Anne Decker Cecere, Gregg L. Lint, Hobson Woodward, and Mary T. Claffey. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005, pp. 33–46.]
[3] Craven, Elizabeth. A journey through the Crimea to Constantinople. 1787. Hathi Trust Digital Library.
[4] “Extracts From The Carroll Papers”, Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 19. 1919.
“coming in as freely as they did before 1914”: An early post-WW2 bottle of German wine once sold in America
The triple punch of World War I, World War II, and Prohibition cut off American wine lovers from German wines for nearly 40 years. The first significant German wine imports into America did not appear until five years after the end of World War II in 1950. This is not surprising given the need to rebuild the transportation infrastructure not only within Europe but also between Europe and America.
Under the Marshall Plan, European countries saw a period of rapid growth from 1948 through 1952. Trade agreements were reached such as that between the Allied High Commissioners for Germany and France in 1950. These agreements naturally involved wine as one of many products. By Christmas 1950, not only were Rhine and Mosel wines plentiful in West German stores but so were the wines of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and Chile.
That same year, during August 1950, West Germany showcased wine, amongst other goods, at the first International Trade Fair in Chicago for the Marshall Plan countries. Some 35,000 people attended the Fair through which European merchants established trade partnerships. There was even a German Wine Tasting Ceremony of 24 wines for some 100 tasters. New trade partnerships soon bore fruit for by the end of 1950, Central Liquor Store of Washington, DC, was selling a selection of German wines including 1947 Liebfraumilch Madonna, Spatlese at $2.39 per 24oz.
You can imagine my surprise then when Vladimir Srdic of Novi Sad, Serbia, sent me pictures of 1950 Otto Caracciola, Piesporter imported by Dreyfus, Ashby & Co for the Central Liquor Store.
The Caracciola family were wine merchants and hotel operators since the mid 19th century. For further history and historic images related to the Caracciola family please read the section Otto Caracciola und der Apollinaris-Keller on the Rhein Wine Bruderschaft website. This particular bottle of 1950 Caracciola represents an early selection from the resumption of German wine imports.
Macy’s held their first all-German wine tasting in 1953. Jane Nickerson of The New York Times noted the wines were “coming in as freely as they did before 1914”. She felt that Macy’s in particular was acting “as if to make up for time lost.” The following year Frank Schoonmaker was importing German wine exported by Deinhard & Co of Coblenz. It was during the fall of 1954 that Central Liquor first sold the 1950 Caracciola vintage imported by Dreyfus, Ashby & Co of New York City. These selections of Liebfraumilch, Hohannisberg, Niersteiner, Domtal, and Moselblumchen were consistently amongst the least expensive wines. They were priced at $0.89 per 24oz compared to 1950 Huegen Piesporter Goldtropchen at $1.49. Central Liquor continued to sell the Caracciola wines through the end of 1957. It is not clear whether Dreyfus, Ashby & Co stopped importing the Caracciola wines or the market for inexpensive German wine in Washington, DC, dried up.
This wine bottle bears no indication of vineyard nor grape. With no other designation than Piesporter, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, it is possible this is not a Riesling based wine rather one from Muller-Thurgau or Elbling. Both Andre Simon and Frank Schoonmaker wrote that the wines of Piesport were amongst the very best of the Mosel. However, there was a fair amount of inexpensive Piesporter exported out with Frank Schoonmaker going so far as to write in The Wines of Germany (1956) that more was sold than produced. With this in mind he felt it was “particularly important” to insist on estate bottled wines with a specific vineyard name, the label indicating Original-Abfullung, and a producer’s name. Of the 1950 vintage, Frank Schoonmaker felt it was a very good year for the Mosel wines but by the mid 1950s they were already past prime. Michael Broadbent echoed this sentiment noting that most wines of this vintage had been drunk up by the middle part of the decade.
You might be wondering, as did I, how a bottle of wine imported into New York City then sold in Washington, DC, came into the hands of Vladimir in Serbia. It turns out a friend of his lived in New York for a long time. When he moved back to Serbia he brought with him interesting bottles of wine and liquor including the one featured in today’s post. Many thanks to Vladimir for letting me include his images in this post.
Century old images of Bodegas Santa Ana in Argentina
In 1910, the weekly Argentine magazine Caras y Caretas published extensive photographs and summarized descriptions of major Argentine wineries. The photographs focus in on buildings, rooms, barrels, and machinery rather than harvesting and wine making. One featured winery is Bodegas Santa Ana of Mendoza. It was founded in 1891 by Senor Kalless and Senor Tirasso and is still in operation today. The winery initially produced 35,000 bottles of Bordeaux style wine such as Medoc and Sauternes but also Pinot Noir and even Champagne. I have selected five images for your pleasure.