The Englishman Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) was Secretary of State in the English Naval Office, President of the Royal Society and a Member of the English House of Commons. However, he became best known for his extensive diaries (Diary and Correspondence), which he kept between 1660 and 1669. These are a revealing cultural-historical picture of everyday life during the Restoration period under King Charles II (1630-1685). (1630-1685). In addition to everyday, very personal activities such as his relationships, Pepys also commented on the significant and turbulent events of his nation. Among other things, he reported in detail on the Great Plague of 1665 or the Great Fire of London the following year. In doing so, he used a kind of stenographic secret writing that could only be deciphered in 1825. These diaries comprise over 3,100 pages, which Pepys himself had bound in six volumes and added to his library.
In addition to his numerous escapades, there is also a lot of space devoted to the subject of wine and one learns a lot about the wine styles of the time and their designations. An entry from 10 April 1663 reads: "I have just tasted a French wine called Ho-Bryan, which has the best and most extraordinary taste I have ever met with". What was meant was a wine from the then already famous Château Haut-Brion. Again and again he vowed not to drink any more wine (alcohol), but just as often he overturned this resolution. By the age of 60, he had built up a well-stocked wine cellar, including the then popular Claret, a Canary (Canary Islands), a Tent (red wine from the Spanish city of Cadiz), a Sack (a term for fortified, Spanish wines), a Malaga and unspecified white wines. Pepys clearly had a particular fondness for Spanish wines.
Portrait: By John Hayls, Public domain, Link
Ex Libris: By Unknown author - Bonhams, Public Domain, Link
Monument: By People's Voice (CEST) - own photo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
