Oceans of Wine: Madeira and the Emergence of American Trade and Taste

by David Hancock

This innovative book examines how, between 1640 and 1815, the Portuguese Madeira wine trade shaped the Atlantic world and American society. David Hancock painstakingly reconstructs the lives of producers, distributors, and consumers, as well as the economic and social structures created by globalizing commerce, to reveal an intricate interplay between individuals and market forces. Wine lovers and Madeira enthusiasts will enjoy Oceans of Wine, as will historians interested in food, colonial trade, and the history of the Atlantic region.

 

Using voluminous archives pertaining to wine, many of them previously unexamined, Hancock offers a dramatic new perspective on the economic and social development of the Atlantic world by challenging traditional interpretations that have identified states and empires as the driving force behind trade. He demonstrates convincingly just how decentralized the early modern commercial system was, as well as how self-organized, a system that emerged from the actions of market participants working across imperial lines. The networks they formed began as commercial structures and expanded into social and political systems that were conduits not only for wine but also for ideas about reform, revolution, and independence.

Genres: History, Economics, Nonfiction, Wine

680 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[AskNezka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally detailed history of the agriculture, market, economy, trade, and use of madeira wine.

[Fábio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro que leva nos a viajar pelo o vinho e a organização do mundo Atlântico 1640-1815.
Um verdadeiro manual com informação precisa.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hancock's emphasis on decentralization of empire, the porousness of empire, and the importance of Madeira/wine in defining American gentility is spot on. Additionally, his focus on all sides (production, distribution, and consumption) of Madeira and how no actors in the process were passive However, I do not fully buy his argument that the state or environment were "backseat" actors to the actual people involved as it continually seems like state actions (such as the taxing of Madeira in the mid-1700s or the reality of almost constant war between empires from 1730-1763 that heavily impacted Atlantic trade) or environmental realities (a rainy or dry season that killed the crop) are the main reasons producers and distributors took any action to change their processes. Also, while producers/distributors may have started change, Hancock (without fully stating it) continually emphasizes how it was consumers and their specific tastes and demands that took over the trade and dictated how it operated. Thus, while Hancock emphasizes a more egalitarian network of all actors, I still see a hierarchy of actors. Lastly, Hancock only limitedly answers some basic questions. Perhaps the biggest one that he never answers is "What happened to Madeira?" If Madeira was such a huge part of Anglo-American culture in the 18th century, why has it almost disappeared from the American consciousness today? (Hancock only provides limited hints as to why) Also, if Madeira was such a part of gentile/elite culture, can it really be called "American?" Madeira, as stated in an act by the Continental Congress, was a luxury, an item prohibited from import during the Revolution. The connection of it to luxuriousness (and all the political implications of this) as opposed to the widespread consumption of alcohol deserves further explanation. Did the political/cultural meaning of Madeira change over time? Which brings me back to how change occurred through the actions of producers/consumers, but because of larger political/state events. The Revolution obviously had an enormous impact on the trade and meanings of Madeira, yet it only briefly makes scattered appearances in the book.

In sum--- Hancock makes some great points. His discussion of material objects and the cultural meanings of wine consumption is fascinating. The idea of a shared cultural language through material objects and the performance(s) of wine drinking is also spot on. His commitment to focus equally on all sides of the trade is also significant. However, while agreeing that none of the actors in the process were passive, I still believe in a hierarchy of actors--even if that hierarchy morphed over time and did not play out the same way in all parts of the Atlantic.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A truly detailed analysis of the international Madeira trade in the early modern era. Hancock does a great job of showing how all aspects of this trade influenced the emergence of the Atlantic World.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. Would rather of read a global history.