This episode is titled: The Story of Sack Wine in Early Modern Europe.
Imagine walking into the lively taverns and candlelit theaters of early modern Europe, where one drink stood out among both the fashionable and the literary: sack. Think of Sir John Falstaff, the unforgettable character from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part II, delivering his famous speech. With great enthusiasm, he says that if he had a thousand sons, the first lesson he would teach—the most important of all—would be to avoid weak, watery drinks and instead dedicate themselves to sack.
Falstaff’s love for sack was not just a joke; it reflected a real trend that spread through England and beyond in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sack was a fortified white wine—rich, strong, and often sweet—similar to what we now call sherry or white port. The origin of the name “sack” is still debated. According to several dictionaries cited by Wikipedia, some believe it comes from the French word “sec,” meaning “dry,” though this explanation has certain linguistic uncertainties.
Others suggest it may derive from the Spanish word “sacar,” which means “to withdraw,” referring to the process of drawing wine from a solera. Some historians suggest that the name “sack” comes from the Spanish verb “sacar,” which means “to withdraw,” possibly in reference to drawing wine from barrels for export. The wine itself was traditionally produced in the vineyards of Spain and Portugal.
In Spain, the Canary Islands became a major producer after colonization in the 1400s, and regions such as Málaga, Jerez, and Andalusia also produced well-known types. Portugal also played a part, with wines from the north and center of the country, and especially from Madeira. Merchants labeled their shipments by where they came from—” Canary sack,” “Malaga sack,” “Madeira,” or “Jerez”—and these names appeared in trade records from London to Dublin.
The trade was massive, especially to the British Isles. According to Jerez-Xeres-Sherry, in 1517, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, Don Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán, granted extended privileges to English merchants operating in Sanlúcar, many of whom were facing difficulties with the Inquisition. Later, in the 1530s, English merchants formed the Spanish Company to facilitate trade, exporting cloth and importing sack wine. So intertwined were the goods that some wines earned the cheeky nickname “bastard”—a nod to the English cloth measure and the back. Even war did not stop people from wanting to sack. During the Anglo-Spanish conflict from 1585 to 1604, smugglers risked crossing the Channel to keep the wine coming when official trade was blocked. Official trade faltered.
One of the most memorable moments was Sir Francis Drake’s bold raid on Cádiz in 1587, when he set out to “singe the King of Spain’s beard.” During the attack, Drake’s men took about 2,900 pipes, or butts, of sack, with each holding around 600 liters. This added up to more than a million liters of wine taken as loot. Back in England, drinking this captured wine became a patriotic gesture, a playful way to celebrate victory while enjoying the spoils.
Sack became a big part of English culture. On the London stage, it was often mentioned. Ben Jonson praised “a pure rich cup of Canary wine” in his poetry, and later writers, such as John Dryden, who was appointed poet laureate in 1670, according to Samuel Johnson, even accepted barrels of sack as payment. But Shakespeare was its biggest fan. Falstaff talks about the amazing effects of sack: it clears the mind, sharpens wit, warms the blood, and gives courage. “Skill in the weapon is nothing without sack,” he says, and his friends joke about how much he loves it. Audiences in the late 1590s would have recognized sack everywhere, seeing it as a symbol of English energy.
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