Did Empress Josephine Spread Bordeaux?
Did Empress Josephine Spread Bordeaux? Saturday December 19, 2009 Modern historians are, as a rule, suspicious about any theory that argues one individual made a change by themselves. Culture seems to be one area where it’s accepted that people can, by fame and example, have a lasting effect, and I saw an interesting article in the Independent newspaper with that theme. It argues that the French aristocracy had preferred wines from Burgundy until the wife of Napoleon, Empress Josephine, patronised wines from Bordeaux. The makers of Bordeaux were cut off from British trade thanks to Napoleon and seeking to break into French markets, but only managed to thanks to the Empress adopting them. An inventory of her cellar from 1814 survives, revealing she had 13,000 bottles, half of which were Bordeaux. More about: ???–>Comments (0)See All Posts
Modern historians are, as a rule, suspicious about any theory that argues one individual made a change by themselves. Culture seems to be one area where it’s accepted that people can, by fame and example, have a lasting effect, and I saw an interesting article in the Independent newspaper with that theme. It argues that the French aristocracy had preferred wines from Burgundy until the wife of Napoleon, Empress Josephine, patronised wines from Bordeaux. The makers of Bordeaux were cut off from British trade thanks to Napoleon and seeking to break into French markets, but only managed to thanks to the Empress adopting them. An inventory of her cellar from 1814 survives, revealing she had 13,000 bottles, half of which were Bordeaux. Comments (0)See All Posts
