Charpentier 1682 Cote-Rotie

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
Marc-Antoine Charpentier was a composer in the era of Louis XIV. I recently attended a performance of his "Les Plaisirs de Versaille", a divertissement written for one of the regular evening gatherings in the Royal apartments.

In Scene 3, Comus (a god of feasts and banquets) is entreated to do something about Music and Conversation, who have been squabbling loudly for two scenes already. Comus attempts to pacify them by enticing them with treats. He first offers hot chocolate, a luxury good in that time, and then:

D'un vin délicieux de la Côte Rôtie
Qui ferait rire un Jérémie
J'ai des bouteilles à foisons.
Buvez-en, je vous y convie.
Si l'on a des chagrins, il faut qu'on les oublie
Et loin de troubler la raison
Ce jus divin la fortifie.

Of a delicious wine from Côte-Rôtie,
Which would make a stern prophet laugh,
I have bottles in abundance.
I invite you to drink up!
If you have sorrows,
It makes you forget them,
And far from upsetting reason,
This divine liquor strengthens it.

Alas, they are not to be reconciled so easily. Music scorns the wine and the jellies and marzipan that follow, while Conversation is getting buzzed on the sugar rush in the chocolate.

A nice translation here.
 
It’s interesting to speculate as to what a Côte-Rotie of that era would have been like. It’s an appealing fantasy to imagine a commune filled with budding Marius Gentazes but in that era they wouldn’t have destemmed or done a rigorous selection (I’d guess) and bottling would likely have been a lengthy process occurring over many months. Would they coferment with Viognier back then? I should probably consult my JLL tomes for historical info. We do know that in Jefferson’s time 100 years later, Hermitsge is the most highly regarded wine of the region.

Thanks for posting that, Jeff!

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Tristan Welles:
Pardon my ignorance, but would they have 'bottled' at all in 1680?
Click to expand...

Glass wine bottles first appeared in the 17th Century, but how widespread the adoption was I have no idea.

Mark Lipton

ETA: This sent me down the fascinating Internet rabbit hole of Sir Kenelm Digby
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Tristan Welles:
Pardon my ignorance, but would they have 'bottled' at all in 1680?
Click to expand...

Glass wine bottles first appeared in the 17th Century, but how widespread the adoption was I have no idea.

Mark Lipton

ETA: This sent me down the fascinating Internet rabbit hole of Sir Kenelm Digby
Click to expand...

Fascinating, thank you.
 
Part of the marvel of Digby's bottles is that they were strong enough to contain sparkling wine, which was becoming popular in England but was troublesome to keep and serve.

Sparkling wine was not popular in France, hence Dom Perignon's extensive labors to prevent the second fermentation, but it wasn't a problem because the French mostly used heavy ceramic vessels to store/serve wine. But the English liked to decant from cask into bottle before serving, and they suffered a lot of exploded bottles. Until Digby fixed it.
 
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