Novelista Annie Burrows
writes historical romance for Harlequin Mills & Boon. This month she shares how research doesn't
stop, even when she's on holiday...
One
of the great things about being a writer of historical romance is that it gives
me the perfect excuse to visit the many historical sites of England - under the guise of
research.
But
even when I go abroad on holiday, I can't resist poking around in museums to
find out about the history of wherever I am.
This
year I went to Madeira, and took a look behind the scenes at Blandy's wine merchants. Not being in England, there were no scones, but
I managed to tempt my husband onto the tour by pointing out we got a tasting
session of the various wines at the end.
Our
tour guide told us that John Blandy (whose life could serve as an example of
how Regency men made their fortunes) was first posted to the island in 1807, as
part of the British garrison which was guarding the island from Napoleon. But there is also a letter to some wine
merchants of the day, giving another explanation:
‘Sirs! At the desire of our particular friend, Richard
Fuller Esq., Banker in this City, we beg leave to introduce Mr John Blandy who
visits your Island on account of ill health, and wishes
to obtain employment in a Counting House. We shall be obliged if you can
promote his views, and accordingly recommend him to your attention.’
The letter
is dated 23 December 1807
Well,
however the company started, Blandy's is now world famous as a producer of Madeira - which is a type of
fortified wine.
The
island of Madeira started supplying wine to
the New
World (or the United States as we like to call it
nowadays) almost as soon as it was discovered.
But the voyage across the tropics sometimes caused the wine to
"cook" in the barrels.
Although early customers complained this had spoiled the wine, and
returned it, the suppliers realized that in fact it preserved it. In its "cooked" state it would keep
almost indefinitely. Our tour guide told
us that an opened bottle would last eighteen months. (Not in our house it didn't!) It soon became very popular in America, particularly in the
hotter states where it was difficult to store wines in the cool conditions most
of them require. Madeira wine was the drink used to
toast the Declaration of Independence.
George Washington apparently drank a pint of Madeira at dinner daily. (Which made me feel less bad about getting through
our souvenir bottle in less than a fortnight).
Nowadays
the wine is not sent on a long voyage across the tropics to "cook"
it. Instead the process is done in the
winery itself. In fact the day we went
round, they were pumping wine from the massive holding casks into the smaller
oak barrels where it is naturally heated by the power of the sun. The air smelled so rich and fruity it was
like inhaling Christmas cake.
They've
also made some changes to the process of making the wine. The early growers of grapes used to be
scattered all over the island. They
would each have their own press, and would send the juice down the mountainside
in goatskins, carried on the backs of farm labourers.
When they set out, each goatskin would hold
about 40 litres of juice...but there was often hardly anything like that on
arrival as the thirsty labourers would drink it on the way down.
Hence
the expression "having a skinful"
Nowadays,
growers send grapes down the mountainside to be pressed at a central location.
(Annie's next book to be released in the UK is a short, spicy story in an anthology called "A Scandalous Regency Christmas" For more details, visit Annie's website )
