Perceptions of Provenance

Abstract

During the reign of Louis XIV, influences arising from the Galenic and iatrochemical medical traditions collided with changing notions of Frenchness to shape understandings of the healthfulness and quality of a wine in relation to its provenance. Specific locations were believed to impart particular qualities to the people, plants, animals, and waters that originated there. Thus, wines from a particular locale would be marked by the properties of that place, and were thought capable of transmitting their characteristics to a drinker. Some land was seen as inherently suited for producing superior wines, and proponents of wines from particular regions often grounded their arguments on the basis of the proclaimed health benefits. However, this was a period of tension between French and regional identities, and the promotion of prestigious wines from specific regions, like Champagne or Burgundy, can be interpreted as an impediment to the goal of Louis XIV and his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert to equate Frenchness with quality and distinction.