oldest wine bill

The oldest wine invoice in the form of a documented contract in Latin dates back to 18 November 1211 and involved members of the Greiffenclau family, who in later generations were the owners of Vollrads Castle (Rheingau, Germany). Emmircho and Heinrich Grifenclawa ceded their right to the tithe (Zehent) of the estates of St. Viktorstift in exchange for a lump sum of three bottles of wine (around 3,600 litres) per year. This wine was purchased by her brother Ruthard, who held the office of cathedral cellarer in Mainz, under an open-ended contract and donated to the donations fund of the canons of St Viktor for the salvation of the family.

älteste Weinrechnung

The invoice contains the names of the seller and the buyer, the type and quantity of goods, the date of the purchase contract and the names of the witnesses. The seal of the certifying Archbishop Siegfried II von Eppstein (1165-1230) on yellow-red silk cords concludes the contract. Even at that time, the contract still contains indispensable parameters. From the lack of information on prices, it can be concluded that there were different annual stipulations that could not be agreed in advance in a long-term business transaction. Even then, the price depended on quantity and quality. The original document is in the Mainz city archives. See also under Customs in viticulture and Records (superlatives in viticulture).

Source: R. Hepp, Gesellschaft für Geschichte des Weines - Schriften z. Weingeschichte 166
Font: by Schlossvollrads - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

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oldest wine bill

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