In the long and fascinating history of wine, Renaissance allows us to get to know the most refined connoisseurs of this noble nectar: Lorenzo il Magnifico ((who dedicated a poem to Bacchus and Ariadne), Michelangelo (who, in the Sistine Chapel, painted Noah's famous drunkenness), Luca Singorelli (who agreed to fresco Orvieto's cathedral provided that in the contract, beside his remuneration, 'two tankards of good wine' would be added), Caravaggio (who painted "Young Bacchus" in which grapes are exalted in a luxurious representation), Monsignor Giovanni Della Casa (who in his "Book of Good Manners" also inserted a section dedicated to toasting), and many others.

Of course, the reasons for oenology development after the Middle Ages were mainly of economic and social nature. In between the end of late Middle Ages and Renaissance, the development of a "bourgeois" viticulture begins: all the social ranks which grew rich through handicraft and trade, start investing their financial resources in viticulture.  As a matter of fact, this activity turns out to be economically profitable for many different reasons: first of all, the demographic increase, the concentration of people in urban areas, and then bigger economic resources in the hands of a wider range of population. All this is the cause why more and more people regularly start buying and using wine. Besides, a more safe and stable situation in the countryside and the diffusion of sharecropping, together with other forms of land sharing, favour the stabilization of farmers in the territory, enabling cultivation of arboreal species which need long biological cycles -such as grapes- together with huge financial investments, and frequent and careful treatments.

During Renaissance, viticulture is also encouraged by the development of a wide production of books dedicated to vine. These books are characterized by a new "esprit" (already existing in embryonic stage in "Liber Commodorum Ruralium", written by Petrus de Crescentiis in 1308-1309), which then finds its maximum expression in the works of  Bacci, Porta, Alamanni, Soderini, Del Riccio and Micheli, all of them experts in the field. In fact, in these works we can notice how observation and description of natural phenomenon is enriched by reason, according to a new philosophical concept which tends (after the Medieval longing for God) to recuperate a human terrestrial dimension. Now, man aims at fulfilling himself, without neglecting the value of his body and of his personal needs. At the same time, the germ of experimental research starts growing and ampelography is born (i.e. a real vine identity card which in great details describes all its characteristics). This science is destined to become one of the fundamental basis of modern viticulture.

Instead, from a cultural point of view, the establishment of Seigniories and Principalities in North-Western Italy finds its counterpart also in alimentary habits and, as a consequence, it leads to the desire for a "way-of-drink" different from what has been long consolidated as a custom, on the table of both rich and poor people. Every social class, without any distinction, starts longing for a prestigious wine with higher qualities. Up to now, Vernaccia has been widely spread among people. This wine is remembered by Dante, Salimbene de Adam, Boccaccio and Sacchetti; it is so widespread and famous that everywhere you see it growing in the fields, and very often, when a wine is vaguely good, people use to call it "Vernaccia" anyway, even if it's made of different grapes.

Both the rich and the poor drink above all young wines, because preservation and ageing are still unknown, and storage techniques applied so far have produced poor results.  Anyway, what distinguishes common people's "bottle" from the one used by the Lords, is still the quality and variety of the substances it contains. Craftsmen, lower middle-class people and artists have to be content with local wines, while Lords' and Church Princes' cellars are supplied with products also coming from other geographical regions.

Anyway, the "fashion" of drinking quality wines still has a long way to go before establishing as a habit, and "Vernaccia" will remain for a long time as part of alimentary traditions in the provinces and in areas far from bigger cities. The only exception is among Venetians and Genoese. Especially the former, have at their disposal better products coming from their properties located in the Hellenic territories, starting with Malvasia, whose name originates from a Greek town called Monemvasia. In fact, at the end of 15th century, according to their refined taste, a meal should start with "pignocata" (a cake made of honey syrup, sugar and pine-seeds) and "Malvasia grande", i.e. a strong sweet wine.

Very soon, wine will become one of the main actors during the luxurious banquets at the Este court, rich with elaborated dishes, excellent drinks and splendid settings. These feats will become real shows, with an elaborated and extremely sophisticated ornamental apparatus. In fact, many of the most famous Renaissance artists venture themselves  on the scenography of these events, only think of "thematic parties", real celebrations of classical Greek and Latin tradition. The most memorable example is that of the wedding of Alfonso II to Barbara of Austria, in 1565.

(To be continued)

(Pitures: above, Caravaggio "Bacchus"; below, Caravaggio "Sick Bacchus")