European Wine on the Eve of the Railways

Wine was an integral part of the population’s diet in much of southern Europe. In France on the eve of the railways, there were reportedly over one and a half million growers in a population of thirty-five million. High transport costs, taxation, and poor quality all reduced market size, and most wines were consumed close to the place of production. Volatile markets also forced most growers to combine viticulture with other economic activities. Alongside the production of cheap table wines, a small but highly dynamic sector existed that specialized in fine wines to be sold as luxury items in foreign markets. In particular, from the late seventeenth century foreign merchants and local growers combined to create a wide range of new drinks, primarily for the British market, and in the 1850s wine still accounted for about half of all Portugal’s exports, a quarter of Spain’s, and one-fifteenth of France’s.1 The process of creating wine followed a well-determined sequence: grapes were produced in the vineyard; crushed, fermented, and sometimes matured in the winery; and blended (and perhaps matured further) in the merchant’s cellar; finally, the wine was drunk in a public place or at home. This chapter looks at the major decisions that economic agents faced when carrying out these activities. It examines the nature of wine and the economics of grape and wine production, market organization, and the development of fine wines for export before 1840.