Drinking fermented beverages has been, across most cultures and continents, and throughout history, a common way of staying healthy (as water was often contaminated) and a way of enjoying oneself, with or without company. Drinking habits have changed over the years, tastes and fashions have elevated the alcohol levels in wine and beer, governments have tried to suppress drinking throughout many cultures, and religions have given their strong opinions about it, influencing people since the dawn of religion.

What we sometimes don’t realize is that our way of looking at drinking wine or beer has been shaped by the knowledge and perspective we have today. Drinking alcoholic beverages was often not only a way to enjoy an evening but also a way to survive surgery, as morphine or sedatives were not available. Between concerts, drinking was inevitable for Liszt, who, even as a child, needed rest on his way to the next city where he had to perform the following day. The coaches, the state of the roads, and the dreadful weather during the winter seasons made him indulge early in alcohol in order to get some rest or sleep. Traveling, which still is exhausting and often frustrating, was described in 1777 by Mozart when he wrote to his mother:

“We were covered in dust, the roads were terrible, and the food at the inn was not fit for a dog!”

 Burgundy Wine

Certain wines have a particular aura around them, and still do. Burgundy wine is one of those wines that carries this aura. It is surrounded by long-standing myths. It was supposed to be perfected by Benedictine and Cistercian monks, considered the purest drink, and regarded as a ‘health tonic.’ Of course, with 19th-century nationalism in fashion, these ideas were regarded as ‘drinks for thought.’

Not only is it still considered one of the finest wines being made worldwide, but for composers in the 19th century, especially in France, it was also considered the symbol of sophistication and artistic culture.

 Burgundy and Composers

With food and wine not often mentioned in the biographies, memoirs, or letters of composers, it is not easy to find a common thread other than the usual trends of society in certain epochs. One thing that did get my attention was that burgundy was more frequently named than other wine varieties. This caught my attention to dig a bit deeper inside the composer’s love for this specific type of wine. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve some mentions that are worth sharing.

Ludwig von Beethoven

Beethoven, who enjoyed indulging in wine like Schubert, was described in an anecdote by his friend Karl Holz:

“One evening, Beethoven was in excellent spirits, and after a few glasses of Burgundy, he played some of his greatest pieces with unparalleled energy. He insisted that we drink to the success of his new compositions, always to the tune of Burgundy!”

Max Bruch

Max Bruch’s mother, who let Bruch go to France as a child, told him:

“You must drink a couple of glasses of Burgundy every day, my dear Max! It will strengthen you and keep you in good health.”

Even though in another letter, she acknowledged that certain consequences were inevitable when drinking:

“You are still too young to drink Burgundy, my dear Max! It is a strong and noble wine, and I fear it would not suit your health. Later, when you are older and have earned it through hard work, you may enjoy such pleasures. For now, focus on your music and keep your mind clear.”

Hector Berlioz

Berlioz wrote in a letter to his mother on June 17, 1830:

“The Burgundy wine here is so much better than the Bordeaux; I am savoring it every evening as I write and think of you all.”

Richard Wagner

Wagner was known to have a love for wine, particularly French wine, and there is a peculiar note by his biographer Ernst Fritz Schmid about how fond Wagner was of his Burgundy wine, in relation to his music.

“In Paris, Wagner would often invite his close circle of friends to drink Burgundy, stating that only this wine could truly match the grandeur of his operas. He once claimed that a glass of fine Burgundy was as complex and deep as the characters in his music.”

 Johannes Brahms

Like some anecdotes of Franz Liszt, Brahms’ behaviour shows what I think was a very normal evening among the musical titans of the 19th century, of whom we sometimes forget that they were also human (!):

“Brahms, after a good glass of Burgundy, sat down at the piano and played with even more passion. His humor was infectious, and everyone at the table followed with laughter. It seemed Burgundy gave him a special kind of energy.”

Claude Debussy

Debussy’s love for fine food and wine has been relatively well documented (not as well as Rossini’s, but much better than most), and supposedly, his cutlets in white wine were ‘mouth-watering.’ His favorite drink was Champagne (especially in combination with oysters), but as we can see from the anecdote below, he didn’t mind a fine red wine either. Debussy, who was a Wagner enthusiast, is known to have hosted many evenings at his house discussing arts and music in particular. In an anecdote by his friend Paul Dukas, he talks about Debussy’s love for Burgundy wine:

“At a dinner with Debussy, the wine flowed freely. He preferred a glass of Burgundy to accompany his discussions about music and art, remarking that no other wine could complement the atmosphere of a conversation about Wagner and the Impressionists like Burgundy could.”