The Norman minstrel lived in the 13th century. Among other things, he wrote the famous poem "La bataille des vins" (The Battle of the Wines) around 1223. This takes place at the court of the French king Philippe-Auguste (1165-1223), who wants to find out the best wine. As a lover of white wines, he has a total of 70 wines brought in to be tasted. Most of them are French wines from Beaune, Chablis, Champagne, Alsace, Provence, Saint-Émilion, Saint-Pourçain, Sancerre and Savigny, which are still very famous today. But there are also some from Spain and Cyprus, as well as from the Moselle. The judge is an English clergyman who first excommunicates all wines that are too acidic or detrimental to health. These are mainly wines from the north of France, such as Argences, Beauvais, Rennes and Tours, where a lot of wine was grown due to the warmer climate at the time.
Then the wines themselves have their say and whimsically extol their special merits. The wines from the south claim victory because of their alcoholic strength, but those from the more northerly regions say that although they are not as strong, they taste delicate: " We are tasty and delicate. We do not cause a storm in the hearts, in the bodies, in the eyes and in the heads". Lastly, the king gives a title to all good wines. Surprisingly, a Cypriot wine is crowned the winner and dubbed "Pope". Henri d'Andeli concludes by explaining the positive therapeutic effect of drinking good wines. This could prevent all diseases until the day of death. See also under Awards, as well as Wine Speech and Wine Rating.
Document: Henri d'Andeli XIIIe siècle - La bataille des vins, Domaine public, Lien
