Wine at the Feasts of Moscow Sovereigns in the 16th–17th Centuries

Abstract

The extent of wine in Muscovy, primarily in the palace economy, is considered. On the basis of a comparison of materials from Russian records management and notes of foreigners, the use of wine in the embassy ceremonies (primarily at the reception of the ambassadors of the King of England in 1664) and in the celebration of important events in the life of the Russian society elite is elucidated. The problem of centralized importation, internal trade, and storage of wine is touched upon. The varieties of alcoholic beverages common in Russia are studied separately. The author comes to the conclusion that there had been a fairly wide range of wine varieties in Russia, despite the fact that tastes did not fundamentally change and the wine menu had been relatively stable for many decades.

The history of material culture includes the history of gastronomy. Unfortunately, there are no full studies on the history of Russian gastronomy; researchers still base their judgments on the work of scientists from the second half of the 19th century, such as A. Tereshchenko, N.I. Kostomarov, I.E. Za-belin, and M.I. Pylyaev.¹

At the same time, the material on this issue is voluminous: documents of the tsar’s and patriarchal courts, embassy reports and memoirs of foreigners, monastic and private account books, and customs books. The first review of these sources was made as early as 1832 by P. Keppen.² Unfortunately, researchers have not paid attention to this publication, which was very informative and complete for its time. There is no lesser amount of archaeological and ethnographic research on this topic. Attempts to describe this information already in our time were made forty years ago,³ but the results can now be considered only as a preliminary sketch. Therefore, we are currently trying to start work on the preparation of materials⁴ that other researchers can use to fill such a significant gap in the history of Russian gastronomy, that is, in the history of art and material culture. One of these “bricks” of the future “building” is a real note. Obviously, our paper is only a “first touch” on the topic of grape wine consumption in Russia in the 12th–17th centuries and by no means claims to be complete.

On February 19, 1664, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich received the ambassador of the King of England Charles II, Charles Howard, Earl of Carlisle,⁵ and provided a feast in his honor in the Faceted Chamber. Researchers wrote about this embassy, but, as a rule, it is mentioned in connection with the gifts presented to the tsar and preserved to this day, and not because of any fairly detailed report on the reception procedure or description of the “menu” of the feast in the Faceted Chamber, which was mentioned by several researchers,⁶ but only Tereshchenko, who wrote his book 170 years ago, and Zabelin,⁷ who wrote about this 150 years ago, mentioned the composition of food and drink.⁸

The description of the reception of the Earl of the Carlisle seems to us quite interesting, a source that points out not only the diplomatic ceremony, but also the “tsar’s table”—the highest achievement of Russian cuisine of the 17th century. In addition, one of the participants of the embassy wrote memories of this trip,⁹ which makes it possible to see this event in a “binary” way.

On the topic of interest to us, in the “Ranks” we find two passages—about the official feast on February 19, 1664, and about the meeting of the tsar and ambassador on April 22, 1664, which mention the wines served to the tsar and ambassador. We describe both the wines themselves and some of the circumstances of their existence in real life (ceremonial use, storage, and trade of wine).

(1) The service ceremony.

Feast on February 19, 1664. Wine was served at the feast in a special order. L.A. Yuzefovich, studying the ceremonial drinking of wine by ambassadors,¹⁰ gave a somewhat confused description, from which it is difficult to understand what the very procedure for drinking the first “toasts” was. Let us try to describe this situation in a little more detail.

“Ranks” report: “How the Great Sovereign sat down at the table, and the okolnichy Fyodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev revealed the chashniks and stolniks, coming from the right side. And having stood in front of the Great Sovereign, he went near the pillar behind the rack, and behind him the chashniks, the stolniks, in gold, walked, two people in a row. And they were in the ranks under the Great Sovereign. At the sovereign’s table stood the royal carver prince Pyotr Semenovich Urusov, the stolnik Dmitrii, Nikita’s son, Naumov. The wine was provided by the stolnik Prince Yuria, Prince Mikhailov’s son, Odoevskii. The drink was poured by the stolnik, Prince Ivan, Prince Borisov’s son, Troekurov. Chashniks carried drink before the Great Sovereign.” [There were 27 people: Prince M.A. Golitsyn, Prince Yu.I. Romodanovskoi, I.V. Bu-turlin, G.N. Sobakin, Prince N.S. Urusov, P.I. Ma-tyushkin, V.Ya. Golokhvastov, Prince A.I. Buynosov-Rostovskii, Prince S.I. Tatev, L.I. Saltykov, Prince A.A. Lykov, I.L. Saltykov, Prince S.A. Khovanskii, Prince Yu.P. Trubetskoi, I.V. Sheremetev, Prince M.Yu. Dolgorukovo, Prince V.V. Golitsyn, Prince I.I. Khovanskii, Prince P.I. Prozorovskii, Prince Y.S. Urusov, Prince P.I. Khovanskii, Prince F.S. Urusov, Prince A.I. Khovanskii, Prince V.D. Dolgorukovo, Prince V.P. Prozorovskii, and V.M. Eropkin.–D.P.]¹¹ “Drinks in front of the boyars were carried by the stolniks [six people: Ya.T. Sobakin, I.I. Boborykin, S.F. Tolochanov, Prince V.A. Sontsov-Zasekin, Prince S.P. Volkonskii, and F.I. Vypovskii—D.P.], solicitors [21 people: P.I. Protopopov, S.O. Anichkov, B.Ya. Solovtsov, A.P. Elizarov, N.F. Yushkov, Ya.A. Khrushchov, F.V. Beklemishev, I.A. Ignatiev, I.B. Pleshcheev, Prince O.P. Myshetskoi, I.V. Zybin, E.M. Pronchishchev, G.I. Kamynin, Prince B.V. Gor-chakov, S.E. Olmazov, Prince A.D. Gorchakov, I.S. Khitrovo, B.M. Kvashnin, S.S. Ovtsyn, I.V. Vo-lynskoi, I.P. Obraztsov—D.P.].¹² “Drinks in front of the ambassadors were carried by the stolniks [two people: Prince I.P. Kozlovskii, I.I. Zasetskoi—D.P.] and solicitors [27 people: I.K. Kuzmin, S.P. Aksakov, B.F. Polibin, I.E. Chelyustki, A.Ya. Begichev, Prince E.I. Gagarin, Prince Yu.G. Volkonskoi, B.A. Novosiltsov, I.P. Obrastsov, A.M. Blokhin, I.F. Yushkov, I.I. Izvolskoi, T.A. Khomyakov, E.S. Yazykov, G.V. No-vosiltsov, S.D. Borisov, G.N. Myasoedov, F.G. Za-setskoi, M.I. Turgenev, B.I. Protopopov, V.M. Khvostov, N.I. Obrastsov, I.D. Zherebtsov, L.A. Tikhmenev, T.M. Beklemishev, Prince S.G. Ukhtomskoi, Z.Z. Tolmachev—D.P.]. The clerks, in gold [Fyodor Mikhailov and Ivan Kharlamov—D.P.], stood at the rack [food rack, with drinks—D.P.]; at the rack there were court people, in gold were putny kluychniks [F.A. Bokhin, S.A. Malovo, A.T. Likhachev—D.P.], charochnik [M.T. Likhachev—D.P.], solicitors [I.F. Barkov, M.P. Lykov, L.P. Lykov, I.I. Patrekeev, I.V. Gerasimov—D.P.], vekoshniks [I.O. Likhachev, O.N. Desyatovo—D.P.]. At the feast the Great Sovereign drank a wine-cup to the brotherly love of Charles, King of England, twice.¹³ “The wine-cup was served by the stolnik Prince Ivan, Prince Borisov’s son, Troekurov, a jasper Bratina Сup, and another crystal wine-cup. Prince Ivan Troekurov announced to the ambassador that the Great Sovereign deigned to drink a wine-cup in honor of the king’s health; and the ambassador made obeisance to the Great Sovereign and left the table. After that, the Great Sovereign presented with wine-cups the boyars, and okolnichies, and the Duma clerk, and the nobles who ate at the table, and the ambassador, and his son, and the king’s nobles, and the embassy people. The ambassador drank the third cup to the health of the Great Sovereign, leaving the table; and the boyars at that time went out. The Great Sovereign drank from a crystal wine-cup to his sovereign health.”¹⁴ “And drinks were poured into the wine-cups, Fryaska wine: Romanea, Rhenskii, Bastre, in three cups [after the wine, two more servings of red and white mead were served in ladles—D.P.]. And when the ambassador left the Chamber after the feast, and, by order of the Great Sovereign, he, the ambassador, was escorted. And on the same date, after the feast, the following was sent to the embassy court to treat the ambassador and the embassy people: a bucket of Romanea and a bucket of Rhenskii.”¹⁵

The notes of foreigners contain a lot of information about the use of wine at the embassy ceremonies in the 17th century.

Here is the evidence for 1600–1601: “Then the Emperor [Boris Godunov–D.P.] sent each separately a bowl or cup with some Spanish wine, with the same words and ceremonies as before; each one takes it, bows, and then sits down, and so on to each one individually.¹⁶

In other cases, the procedure for drinking a grace-cup is described as follows: “The tsar drank the health of his royal majesty: the ambassadors, at his request, had to get up from their seats, go to the throne, and then, having taken a full wine-cup from the tsar’s hands, drain it.”¹⁷

It says in a travel diary for 1655, “At half launch, the tsar called all the envoys, boyars, and princes to him, and, rising from his seat, with his head open and with a large wineglass in his hand, proclaimed a toast for the emperor, saying: “I drink to the health of my dearest brother Ferdinand III. I wish him health, longevity, and continuation between us, as well as between our ancestors, brotherly love and friendship, so that with our common forces we will destroy the common enemies of the holy Catholic faith.” Having said this, the tsar drained his wineglass….”¹⁸

Here is how A. Meyerberg describes a reception in 1662: “Then he stood up and, standing on the step of the throne, attached to it in the form of a foot, put on his cap and scepter, took from the one who served a large crystal bowl filled with mead, and, turning to me, proclaimed the health of his dear brother, his sacred majesty Caesar, expressing his desire in the following words: “Bless, God, us, the great sovereigns, to be able to overcome all our enemies” and drank the wine-cup in three doses. Then, taking the cap, he sat down and gave me from his hands a large silver bowl of wine and also to my friend and three of our officials, whom, having received permission to do so, we brought with us. When these bowls were drained, he offered us in the same order and in the same way five more bowls one after the other; he himself, however, did not drink any more. We drank them in successive order, according to the ranks: for his health, then for the firstborn son, the youngest son and all his family, and for the good success of a happy world. Hearing this last wish, the tsar said: “It was a great thing!”¹⁹

There is a story about the journey of Polish ambassadors in 1667. “The main manager of the feast was Bogdan Khitrov, who served as the palace marshal. He approached the ambassadors with a statement that the tsar wanted to drink to the health of the Polish king and for this he asked them to come closer to the throne, which they did. The Grand Duke, standing up, congratulated the ambassadors with many words on the beginning of friendly relations between him and his royal majesty together with the republic, wishing the Polish king and his state every well-being, and drank the crystal wine-cup to the bottom, and after that with his own hand served another full wine-cup to the ambassadors and their dignitaries.”²⁰

And here are the words of J. Reitenfels about a reception in the early 1670s: “The Tsar … offered each of them wine-cups of foaming wine and even drank the wine himself in honor and for the health of their sovereign, his friend ….”²¹

We note the “crystal bowl” mentioned in the “Ranks” and the reports of the ambassadors.²² Apparently, it was a special wineglass (?), which had a strictly ceremonial purpose. The fact that this vessel was “large” and had the shape of a “wineglass” we know from the reports of A. Meyerberg and S. Nemoevskii. We know of only one such vessel that has survived to this day. This is the so-called “crystal goblet of False Dmitry I.”²³ There is a legend that the boyar Khvorostinin presented this goblet to False Dmitry I on the day of his marriage to Marina Mnishek in 1606.²⁴

(i) Meeting of the tsar and the ambassador on April 22, 1664. “The Grand Sovereign, the Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich … indicated to the ambassador of the King of England, Charles Howard, to be in the front chamber of the Sovereign…. The ambassador of secret affairs said his whole speech, by order of his Royal Majesty, for the Great Sovereign, His Tsar Majesty, and the Great Sovereign, having listened, instructed the Duma clerk Almaz Ivanov to say that he, the Great Sovereign, instructed him to prepare an answer to the ambassador by the boyars and Duma’s people who were in his charge. And after that, the Great Sovereign ordered the spalnik bring a wine-cup with his sovereign’s drink. And Bogdan Matveyevich Khitrovo, an okolnichy and armorer, walked in front of the wine-cup. And spalniks carried goblets with Romanea behind the wine-cup. And the Great Sovereign, taking the wine-cup and getting up, deigned to speak of love and pleasantness and drink to the King’s health. After that, the Great Sovereign granted a goblet with Romanea to the ambassador, and after the ambassador he granted the Rhenskii in goblets to the boyars and ordered them to drink the King’s health. After that he granted the ambassador a goblet of Rhenskii. And the Tsar’s Majesty did not deign to favor the ambassador with mead, because it turned out to be too late and the ambassador wished to be let go. The ambassador walked out of the chamber, and the Great Sovereign ordered the boyars to accompany the ambassador with a few people.”²⁵

As we can see, the ceremony of the second meeting had a “reduced” form, both in terms of the place of the meeting (“front” (chamber?)), and in form (not a feast, but only drinking beverages, moreover, only wine in goblets, without the traditional next serving of mead), which the source explains by the late time of the ceremony of this last meeting of the ambassador and the tsar.

(2) An assortment of wines from the Sitenny Court of the tsar’s cuisine.

The Ranks, apparently, fix two categories of drinks—what was served to the tsar and the ambassador and the general consumption, according to the records from the palaces, came out at the table of the Great Sovereign, and the boyars, and the England ambassador and his official and ambassadorial people. We consider the information given in the documents and try to comment on them. A certain difficulty in determining the specific range of wines is some uncertainty in the wine terminology of the late 16th and 17th centuries. This problem is typical not only for Russian sources, but also for Europe as a whole.

In the first category, we see that during toasts (three toasts, the first two were raised by the tsar himself, and he drank from two different bowls, a jasper Bratina cup and a crystal bowl), “The Great Sovereign drank a bowl to brotherly love of Charles, King of England, twice,” and the third toast was served: “And drinks were poured into the bowls, Fryaska wine: Romanea, Rhenskii, and Bastre, in three cups.”²⁶

“And according to the records from the palaces, it turned out at the table the Great Sovereign, and the boyars, and the English ambassador and his official and ambassadorial people were served the following:

Fryanskii Wines of the sovereign’s articles: Romanea, Bastre, Rhenskii, Alkan, Malmazya, Kinareya, Church, French wines were for a third; for the boyars and for the tables: five buckets of the best Romanea, ten buckets of Romanea pod toyu and Alkan, and a bucket of French wine; there were two buckets of Church wine for half of them.

On the same date, after the feast, the following was sent to the embassy court to treat the ambassador and embassy people: a bucket of Romanea and a bucket of Rhenskii….”²⁷

Thus, we see that the following wines were served at the feast: “Romanea” (“the best Romanea” and “Romanea pod tem”), “Bastre,” “Alkan,” “Rhenskii,” “Malmazya,” “Kinareya,” “Church wine,” and “French” wine.

We have the happy opportunity to compare the “wine list” of the reception of the Earl of Carlisle in 1664 with a similar document for the feasts of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the ambassador of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by S.K. Benevskii in 1667: “And on the table in the outfit there were drinks for the Great Sovereign: 1st serving: Romanea, Bastre, Rhenskii, per goblet; 2nd serving: Malmazya, Muskatel, Alkane, also per goblet; 3rd serving: Kinareya, French wine, Church wine, also per goblet…. In total, for the Great Sovereign: Romanea, Bastre, Rhensky, Malmazeya, Musketel, Alkane, Kinareya, French wine, Church wine, six goblets of each…. For the boyars, and for the okolnichies, and for Duma people, and for ambassadors, and for royal nobles: five buckets of the best Romanea, and the boyars one also, five buckets of Bastra, two buckets of Rhenskii, five buckets of Alkana, four buckets of French wine, three buckets of Church wine…. And there were drinks at the tables, for the Great Sovereign in the first serving: Romanea, Bastre, Rhenskii, per goblet; the second serving Malmazeya, Musketeli, and Alkane, also per goblet; and the third serving: Kinareya, French Church wine, also per goblet…. In total, drink turned out for the Great Sovereign: Romanea, Bastre, Rhenskii, Malmazeya, Muskatel, Alkana, Kinareya, French wine, and Church wine, in six goblets. For the boyars, for the okolnichies, for the Duma people, for the ambassadors, and for the royal nobles … five buckets of the best Romanea, five buckets of Romanea pod toya, two buckets of Bastre, five buckets of Rhenskii, five buckets of Alkana, four buckets of French wine, and three buckets of Church wine. After the feast, the sovereign’s share was sent to the embassy courtyard by the stolnik with Nikita Sheremetev: three buckets of Romanea, Rhenskii, and Alkan.”²⁸

Here we see the same assortment of wines, only “Muskatel” has been added. It seems that we can assume that for the middle of the seventeeth century this set of wines represents the “basic standard” of palace gastronomy. It seems that sometimes this “basic assortment” was given almost by force. According to Nikolaas Witsen, talking about the embassy in 1664–1665, “Before sitting down, the ambassador asked that he not be given mead or Spanish wine, but only Russian and French wine, which he was promised. But when they sat down, they did not keep their word, justifying themselves by the fact that ‘such are our customs.’ In short, we again had to get drunk indecently against our will: we drank full ladles of Spanish wine….”²⁹

Wine from the tsar’s cellars was used not only for ambassadors and their retinues. We know about sending wines in the period 1669–1673 to the tsar’s favorites A.L. Ordin-Nashchokin and Andrei Savinovich, Metropolitan Paisius, and some palace employees on the occasion of their children’s wedding: “to Afanasy Lavrentievich, sent to him with Yurii: Ramanea and Rhenskii, ten buckets, three buckets of Alkane, twelve buckets of Church wine on the 22nd of July. On the same date, by decree of the great sovereign, a record was sent to the Order of the Grand Palace, and it was ordered to send it to Archpriest Andrei Savinovich of the Annunciation for the wedding of the issuance of his daughter … Romanea and Rhenskii…. On March, the 4th day, by decree of the great sovereign, the following was given to the Metropolitan of Gaza Paisius: … two buckets of Church wine from Sitny Palace. On August, the 18th day … on the same date, the sovereign’s salary was given to the confessor Andrei Savinovich for his name-day: from the Palaces: from Sitny Palace, two buckets of Alkan … Ramanea. On the 29th day of January, by decree of the great sovereign, it was ordered to give the sovereign’s salary from the Optekarskii yard of the sovereign’s workshop chambers to deacon Fyodor Kazanets for Novgorod parcels … a bucket of Romanea…. On the 1st day of June, a sovereign decree was sent to the Optekarskii yard, ordered to give Meletius to the black deacon in the order half a bucket of Rhenskii and a bucket of Romanea. On the 11th of July, a sovereign decree was sent to the Optekarskii yard, ordered to give the sovereign’s salary to the Order of Secret Affairs, to the clerk Artemy Stepanov for the wedding, that he gives his daughter in marriage … Ramanea and Rhenskii.”³⁰

Here the set is somewhat smaller than in the embassy serving: “Romanea,” “Rhenskii,” “Alkan,” and “Church wine.”

(3) Supplying Sitenny yard with wines.

It is obvious that all the wines in Russia were imported. There are no written sources for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries about it. It is interesting to compare the list we compiled with documents showing which wines were purchased by the tsar’s yard for consumption. In 1636, the following were purchased for the tsar’s yard in Arkhangelsk: Romanea, Red Bastre, White French wine, Alkane, Church red wine, “Peter Simon” wine (“Pedro Jimenez”): “In the current, 144th, year, on the 4th day of October, voivode Grigory Pleshcheev and sexton Timofei Pchelin wrote to the sovereign tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich of all Russia, from Dvina, that they bought Fryanskii wines and spicy herbs in the city of Arkhangelsk from the customs head, Mikhailo Neupokoev and comrades for sovereign use, and how many things were bought and sent to him a record, and in the record they wrote: We bought for the sovereign’s household: 25 full barrels of Romanea; 2 full barrels of Red Bastre; 8 full barrels of white French wine; 2 full barrels of Alkane; 15 semi-filled barrels of red Church wine; three full barrels of Peter Simon. In total for the Fryaskii wines and for spicy potions and for dishes, money was given in the amount of 1825 rubles and four altyns with a half-denga, and those wines and spicy potions and dishes were released from the city of Archangelsk with a solicitor, with Avram Semichov, and with tax-collectors.”³¹

In the previous year, the following was brought: Romanea, Alkane, French wine, “Spanish drinks,” red Church wine: “In the past, 143rd, year, on the 1st day of August, and on the 28th day of August, and in the present, 144th, year, on the 4th day of October, voivode Grigory Pleshcheev and sexton Timofei Pchelin wrote to the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich of all Russia, from the Dvina, that in the past, 143rd, year, in July from the 3rd to the 13th days, 11 Galan lands ships and English ship came to the city of Arkhangelsk. In July, from the 14th day until August, the 1st day, came seven Galan lands ships, four English ships, five ships from the city of Ambukh, a Danish ship from the city of Bergun, to Hollander, to Davyd Mikholaev. In August, from the 5th to 31st days, there came 15 Galan lands ships, and the Lyubskii lands ship, and two English ships. In total, from July, the 3rd day to August, the 31st day, 47 ships came to the city of Arkhangelsk from different lands, and on them they brought in patterned goods … Fryaskii wines: 165 full barrels of Romanes; 22 full barrels of Alkane; 37 full barrels and nine semi-full barrels of French wine; 11 full barrels and eight half-full barrels of Spanish drinks; and 79 semi-pregnant barrels of Red Church wine….”³²

In 1649, in Arkhangelsk, for the tsar’s yard, it was required to purchase the following: “the best Romanea, the best red Bastre, white Bastre, the best Alkane, Alkane “pod tem,” Rhenskii simple, white Muskatel, red Muskatel, Marmazeya, Kenareya … five full barrels of the best Romanea; three full barrels of the best red Bastre; three full barrels of white Bastre; a full barrel of the best Alkan; two full barrels of alkane “pod tem”; two full barrels of Rhenskii simple; three full barrels of white Muskatel; three full barrels of red Muskatel; two full barrels of Marmazeya; and two full barrels of Kanareya.”³³

It is possible that the supply of the Sitenny Yard could have been carried out in other ways, not only in the form of centralized wholesale purchases, but by private contacts or donations. Thus, for example, we know that an ambassador of the General States presented the tsar and sold some wines to the Sitenny Yard (“Tsar’s cellar”): “eight green-glass bottles. They are all filled with the best Frontignac wine… The marshal and fan-Asperin were also presented with a gift of one anker of the best Frontignac wine, 1/2 aam of the best old Rhine wine, one oxgooft of sect, one oxgooft of Alicante wine, and one oxgooft of French wine were sent to the state chancellor and boyar Artemon Sergeevich, where they received a treat with a similar testimony of friendship and affection for His Excellency [Ambassadorial Gifts to the tsar – D.P.]…. On Sunday, June 21, in the morning, His Excellency received 2000 rubles or ducats in repayment for the wine that his magnificence had delivered to the manager of the cellar of his majesty the tsar.”³⁴

As can be seen, the set of wines reflected in the documents describing the state-owned purchase of wines, in general, corresponds to the reports of the Sitenny Yard shown in the “Ranks.” It seems appropriate to us to cite here the fragmentary information from various sources that tell about the wine trade and the use of wine in Russia in the 17th century.

Sources of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries talk about one set of wines. If Sigismund Herberstein only talks about “Malvasia” and “Greek wine,”³⁵ then the earliest surviving register of imported wines, dating from after 1572 to 1610 show us the following varieties of wine: Alkat, Bastre, Konarskii, Red, Muskatel, Rhenskii, Romanea, and Spanish.³⁶

The Novgorod customs documents of the 1610s mention the following wines: “Alkan” (“Alcant,” “Alikanch”), “the Spanish wine Bastre,” “Kovitovo wine,” “Cognac” (“Cognac,” “Koyanskoe”) wine, “Red wine,” “Red drinking wine,” “Krilgelia.” “Pardie (?) wine,” “Rhenskii wine,” “Fryanskii wine” (“Vranskoe wine”, “Fryaskoe wine”), and “Spanish wine.”³⁷ The ambassadors of Lübeck note: “the bailiff came to us, accompanied by a noble nobleman and a crowd of servants with a tsar’s treat, consisting of the following dishes and drinks … and a fair amount of Romane, Malvasia, Alicante, Bastre, Rhine wine, and other Spanish and overseas wines of various varieties, which we had never seen or tasted before.³⁸

The Novotrade charter of 1666 (1667?) lists wines: Alkan, Bastre, Malmazeya, Muskatel, Romanea, Rhenskii, and Church wine.³⁹

I.G. Kielburger in the years 1672–1674 spoke of imported wines: “Spanish wine,” “Peter-Seamen” (Pedro Ximénez), Malvasia, Tint, “Muscat wine,” Sect, Alicante, “Bastert wine” (white?), “the same (Basterto) red,” “French white wine,” “French red wine,” “a good French white wine,” and “(good) French red wine.”⁴⁰

Wine could also be purchased in free sale at the auction. It was there, apparently, that the noble “Muscovites” purchased wine. “At their feasts and parties, Muscovites consume plenty of food and drinks, so they are often ordered to serve up to 30 and 40 dishes…. They do the same with drinks and try to have different kinds of them, namely, Rhine, Ugric, white and red, French wine, ‘Pedro Jimenez,’ and Malvasia.”⁴¹ “The most noble individuals, along with good beer, also serve Spanish, Rhenskii, and French wine at a feast.”⁴²

These statements are illustrated well by the inventory of M.I. Tatishchev, who was killed in service in Novgorod in 1609: “A bucket with a third of Romanes … the price is 25 altyn. Half a bucket of Rhenskii, price 15 altyn. For half a bucket of Alkhanu, the price is half a ruble.”⁴³

Many foreigners describe the wine trade in Moscow, which took place at the market. “The area mentioned above is so vast that it is sufficient for the commercial premises of the entire city. There vintners sell all sorts of wines, especially Romanea (that is what they call Moselle); then pepper, i.e., Spanish; then Rhenskii, Fryanskii, and others.⁴⁴ “Opposite the rows are wine cellars built of brick and stone, cold in summer and warm in winter.”⁴⁵ “This market adjoins another one, located in a semicircle, stretching for almost half a million, where shops for various goods are arranged in such way that each individual product, whatever it is, is put up for sale only in the place designated for it; …in the third section are foreign wines, and up to two hundred cellars are located in a row under the ground.⁴⁶ “About wine cellars, in the bazaar or large market in front of the Kremlin, there are many wine cellars standing nearby, which are partly owned by the treasury, and mostly by private people. But only Spanish and French wines are sold in them. As soon as you enter the cellar, various samples in bottles are immediately served to you, and the ones you choose, they are bargained for. The measure is called “galyonoka,” “half and quarter galyonoka,” (they) are made of tinned copper without a lid, very nasty and look like chamber pots. “Galyonok” is almost equal to the Swedish “stoop.” For an appetizer, you can have bread, raisins, or almonds.”⁴⁷

Wine was brought mainly by the Dutch and the British. Before the time of Peter the Great, we do not know anything about the import of Italian wines by Italians.⁴⁸ “Wine is imported from Holland, England, and other countries in such quantities that they consider it unnecessary to plant vineyards.”⁴⁹ It is characteristic that the Syrian deacon Paul of Aleppo described French or Spanish wines as “English” ones: “There were various vodkas and English wines in silver gilded bowls.”⁵⁰

(4) Storage of wines in the Kremlin.

Wines for the tsar’s yard were stored in the Kremlin, in the Sitenny yard (palace): “The Sitenny yard is named because the drink is kept here; drink … and about where that drink is sent, and therefore the distribution is written below: by an ambassador, an envoy, and a messenger, and ambassadorial people, by the day, by decree; and Romanea, and Rhine, and French wines, and other overseas drinks are distributed, to whom it is indicated, daily and weekly. What is said about the tsar’s expenses, and that it is impossible to describe. In that yard there are more than 30 drinking cellars, except for the cellar with foreign drinks. In all those cellars, all kinds of drinks are on ice, and that ice accumulates from year to year, from the month of March until the same time, without use.⁵¹ Most likely, Peter Petrey wrote about the tsar’s cellars, talking about the sacking of the Kremlin: “When the city burned down … Nobody wanted to drink beer, mead, or vodka, but only Rhine, French, Ugric, Malvasia, and various whole wines, all without admixture; plenty of food was found in the cellars.”⁵²

“The pantries of the tsar’s palace are full of everything, that only Amalthea will provide to pour out of her cornucopia for the luxury of mortals, and the wine cellars are not only with many barrels of Cretan, Spanish, French, Rhine, and Astrakhan wines, but also barrels of beer, various meads, and vodka, and in the summer they are always filled with heaps of ice. All this makes up an important item in the account of the expenses of the tsar’s consumables. The wines they order in large quantities come from Spain, France, Germany, and Greece, and they rarely drink Astrakhan wine.”⁵³

According to I.E. Zabelin, “The Fryazhskii cellar was located under the dining room and the Reply chamber, near the Annunciation Cathedral, which is why the inner porch of these chambers was also called the Fryazhskii porch. The windows of this cellar overlooked the Lower Embankment Garden. In it, in three spacious rooms, Fryazhskii drinks were preserved: Alkane, Tentin, Sec, Romanea, Kinarea, Marmazeya, and Mushkatel, red and white Bastre, Rhenskii, Church, etc.”⁵⁴ Unfortunately, the researcher did not indicate from which source he took this list. A little lower he writes: “According to the inventory of 1702, in the Sitny Palace, which was in charge of the preparation, storage, and sale of drinks “about the sovereign’s everyday life.” there were 125 barrels of Rhenskii and 229 barrels of Church wine.”⁵⁵

It is quite clear that the assortment of wine servings at the feast for the Earl of Carlisle, in general, corresponded to the assortment of wines, which at the end of the sixteenth century and in the seventeenth century they drank at the yard and in the houses of the nobility. Let us only note the absence at the feasts for the English and Polish ambassadors of “Hungarian” (“Ugrian”) and the wine “Pedro Jimenos,” mentioned in other sources. “Ugrian” wine in the tsar’s cellar is recorded in the report on the visit of the imperial ambassador Abraham Burggraf in 1597: “And what was sent to the ambassador from the Sovereign’s table of food and drink, and that is a record. From the Sitenny palace: a goblet of Romanea, a goblet of Rhenskii, a goblet of Muskatel, a goblet of white French wine, a goblet of Bastre, a goblet of Alkana, a goblet of Marmazeya, and a goblet of Ugorskii wine.”⁵⁶ The fact that “Pedro Jimenez” was at Sitenny Yard, we know not only from documents for the purchase of wines in Arkhangelsk, but also from the embassy report of the Polish embassy in 1678, for which this wine was served at the embassy yard in the form of “fodder”: “wine and moreover, different things, served to the table according to price and taste: firstly, Rhine, secondly, Moselle, Petrciment, and French (something like wine of this name), thirdly. Finally, Spanish wine was served, and while changing the types of wine and observing the order of other drinks, the kravchies raised such loud cries and whistles that the ambassadors and everyone else who was at the table had to be silent in surprise.⁵⁷

(5) Varieties of wines.

(1) The best Romanea, Romanea “pod toyu.”

We know two varieties of Romanea from several sources: “When it was cleared from the table, he sent each of us a large wineglass of strong Romanea, which we were supposed to drink.… The aforementioned stolnik came to Duke Hans…, he brought with him to Duke Hans from the tsar … two varieties of strong Romanea and wine…. On October 21, the mentioned stolnik was again with Duke Hans…. He brought … two varieties of Romanea.⁵⁸ “The record, how much for the sovereign’s everyday life needs is to buy Fryaskii wines and spicy herbs and dish and rod tin from the Arkhangelsk city” shows three types of Romanea: “five full barrels of the best Romanea, six full barrels of Romanea pod toyu, and nine full barrels of poord Romanea.”⁵⁹ Perhaps the “best” Romanea had the names “boyar” (“For boyars, and for okolnichies, and for the Duma people, and for ambassadors, and for royal nobles: two mugs of aniseed vodka from Romanea, cinnamon also, eight mugs of boyar vodka, five buckets of the best Romanea, boyar one, too”) [highlighted by us—D.P.].⁶⁰ Apparently, only two varieties of Romanea were served at the tsar’s feast, and only the third, the “bad” one, was used for “internal consumption” by court servants.

Romanea, probably, could be both red and white: “And for this, there was Spanish money to buy 600 barrels of Spanish Alkatu, Romanea, and red and white wine [highlighted by us—D.P.], and Bastre, at 11 ducats per barrel, and all those wines for Spanish money of 6600 ducats, and Russian money of 3267 rubles….”⁶¹ There is a mention of “spicy Romanea”: “17 full barrels of Romanea spicy (30 rubles for a barrel).”⁶²

What exactly the Russian sources mean by the name “Romanea” is not entirely clear. The situation is not clarified by the mention of it in the stories of foreigners. “They do not plant grapes, but they call the wine “Romania.” It is rare and brought from abroad. It is kept only by the prince himself, who himself distributes it among the episcopates throughout Muscovy for Holy Communion.”⁶³ Richard James translates the word “Romanea” as “Sacke,” “Romania, sacke.” B.A. Larin, it seems to us, was mistaken when he translated it as “Spanish (dry) wine–Romania,”⁶⁴ because at the beginning of the seventeenth century, it was sweet wine.

B. Tanner calls “Romanea” the “Moselle” wine: “Wine merchants sell all sorts of wines there, especially Romanea (that’s what they call Moselle).”⁶⁵ Most likely, Tanner drank white wine and mixed something up. Almost all modern Moselle wines are white.

“Having no local wine, they usually use imported wine, but only at solemn feasts and during divine services. The sweetish Cretan wine is especially highly valued among them, but it is used only for medical needs or for the purpose of showing off a special princely luxury.”⁶⁶

“The first thing the butlers gave us to drink was Cretan wine, of wonderful red color and excellent taste.”⁶⁷

(2) “Bastre.”

“The Spanish wine Bastre has three types.”⁶⁸

(3) “Rhenskii.”

It is obvious that by “Rhenskii” is meant “Rhine wine.” This wine, apparently, was quite widespread (how appropriate is such an expression for such a huge country as Russia in the seventeenth century) and was actively traded: “and a loaded barrel of Rhenskii drink,”⁶⁹ “revealed Miron Ivanov from Kadashev according to Pustorzhev’s extract 12 barrels of Rhenskii.”⁷⁰ During the year, 47.5 barrels of Rhine wine were uncovered in this customs house.

“Rhenskii” was apparently the cheapest type of wine among the range of wines sold in Russia.

“Torgovaisli somnoi vina rinschoia tzo karabli begaiutt.

Wultu mytt my koepslagen mytt wyne dar de schepe vp segelen.”

[Are you trading with me the Rhenskii wine, that ships run around?

Will you make a bargain with me in [the Rhine] wine with which the ships are coming?] ⁷¹

From a slightly later source (1723), it is known about “Rhenskii sweet” and “Rhenskii order” (lunch at the monastery of Tsarina Praskovya Feodorovna on June 14, 1723, and lunch at the monastery of members of the Holy Synod on December 29, 1723)⁷² “among noble people, of all drinks, Spanish wine is more respected; Rhine wine is not very popular with them.”⁷³

(4) Alkan

“The envoy ordered that three large glasses filled with Alicante wine, Rhine wine, and mead be placed in front of the ambassador.”⁷⁴

(5) Malmazya. Malvasiya–Malvasia.

Initially, Malvasia was the name given to wine produced in the Pelloponnese in the XIII–XV centuries and which the Venetians exported from the Byzantine Moneumasia. It was sweet wine.⁷⁵

(6) Kinareya.

“Kinareya” must be wine brought from the Canary Islands. “A dozen people, each carrying a silver vessel, about three shopins each, with wines of different varieties, but mostly with strong wines from Spain, from the Canaries, and from other places.”⁷⁶

(7) “Church wine” (“French Church wine”).

Richard James writes about this wine in the following way: “Vino sarxovna – claret vine quo solo in sacris utintur, sed cum de 10 Anno Arxangeli combureretur dixit quidam mercatorum se popis ipsorum contra festum Nativitis paraturum potum Euxaristixum.” “Red wine which is only used for communion, but in the year 10 [= 1610] everything burned in Arkhangelsk, and one of the merchants suggested to his priests that he would prepare a sacrament drink for the Christmas holiday.”⁷⁷

(8) French wine. “French White wine.”

It is interesting that in the dictionary of the beginning of the eighteenth century we also find the same set of wines: “Malmazeya” (Alkan), “Alakant wine,” “Rhenskii wine,” “French wine,” “Spanish wine,” “White wine,” and “Red church wine.”⁷⁸

We have tried to show that during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries both at the tsar’s table and in everyday life, approximately the same, but still quite varied set of wines was used. At the same time, neither the set of varieties nor the menu changed fundamentally over the centuries. Thus, the fashion for drinking wine was relatively stable.