Hedonism and claret

摘要

The birth of the cult of fine wine can be dated precisely. On April 10th 1663, Samuel Pepys, diarist and man-about-London, noted that he had enjoyed "a sort of French wine called Ho Bryan that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with".rnHe drank what is now called Chateau Haut Brion at the Royall Oak Tavern in the heart of London, one of many such establishments that had sprung up after the return from exile of King Charles II three years earlier and which offered such new delicacies as tea, coffee and classy wines. The hedonistic atmo-rnsphere of the times was responsible for the introduction not only of "Ho Bryan" and the other great wines of Bordeaux, but also of port from the Douro Valley in Portugal, the sparkling wines of Champagne and the brandy from a little town called Cognac, north of Bordeaux.