Wine

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Wine is an alcoholic beverage, which is made from fermented fruit juice,[1][2] usually grapes. Wine is a very popular beverage amonsgt the nobility. Many different and unique vintages can be found in the Known World, with some vintages being vastly superior to others.

About

Wine is very popular amongst the nobility, whereas the smallfolk prefer beer or ale. Wine is kept in casks and served in flagons. It can be watered down when preferable,[3][4][5][6] e.g. when served to children.[7]

Wine is also used in healthcare. Boiling wine can be used to disinfect wounds prior to binding them up, either bey pouring it directly into the wound,[8] or by using silks drenched in boiling wine.[9]

Claw Isle's castle is reputedly stocked with more wines that a man could drink in a hundred years.[10] The manse of Pentoshi magister Illyrio Mopatis contains a cellar with enough wine to keep a man drunk for a hundred years.[11]

Known Vintages

Westeros

King Robert Baratheon's wine cellar - © FFG

In Westeros, most of the wines are produced in the south. The Arbor is famed for its wines.[12] The Arbor produces both sweet[13] and dry red wines,[2] as well as white wines, the most well-known of which is also called "Arbor gold".[14][15][16][11][17] The private stock of Lord Runceford Redwyne, Lord of the Arbor, contains strongwine which had a dark purple colour, and which is languorous and heady on the tongue.[11] Other places in the Reach produce wines as well. Highgarden produces hippocras,[18] and sweet reds are produced elsewhere as well.[11] The Dornish, however, might refer to red wines from the Arbor as "red water".[19] The Dornish produce their own wines, often called "Dornish reds".[11] Dornish wines are generally sour,[20] though they occasionally can be more rich of taste.[21][2][8] Strongwines from Dorne are as dark as blood, with a sweet taste.[22] At least circa 211 AC, Lord Ambrose Butterwell was said to have the best wines north of the Arbor.[9] On Quiet Isle in the riverlands, small, tart grapes grow from which the brothers of the Quiet Isle make drinkable wines.[5]

At the Wall, the brothers of the Night's Watch drink hot mulled wine, spiced with cloves and nutmeg.[23]

Essos

Many of the cities found across the narrow sea produce their own brands of wine. Amongst the Free Cities, sweet red wines are produced in Lys and Volantis.[2] Lys also produces white wines, whereas the Tyroshi produce pear brandy.[2] The nectars of Myr are pale green,[2][11] though they also produce firewines which can be used to aid digestion.[24] The wines of Selhorys are pale green as well,[17], while the Pentoshi produce pale ambers.[11] Andalish wines taste sour.[2]


The wine from Slaver's Bay is thin and pale.[25] Ghiscari wine is made with small, pale, yellow grapes,[6] and is widely considered to be an inferior vintage,[6][26] which leavse a metallic aftertaste.[6] Other wines, like apricot wine can be important.[27]

The Unsullied from Astapor drink the Wine of Courage, which numbs them.[28]

Further east, other wines can be found. In Qarth, dreamwine is flavored with strange spices.[25] The warlocks of Qarth drink the shade of the evening, a thick, blue wine made from inky blue leaves found near the House of the Undying.[29] While at first this wine tastes terrible,[29][30] it becomes better the more a person drinks.[29] If enough shade of the evening is consumed, the drinker's lips turn blue as well.[31][32]

Unknown vintages can be found in Yi Ti and Asshai.[11] From the Jade Sea come golden vintages, which is said to taste so fine that all other wines taste like vinegar.[33]

Miscellaneous

Other wines found in the known world are firewine,[2] pepperwine,[2] blackberry wine, which is sweet and very cloying,[24] honeyed wine,persimmon wine from Slaver's Bay[34] and smokeberry browns.[2][24]

History

During the Dance of the Dragons, the Caltrops intended to murder Ulf the White by poisoning his wine. When Ulf became suspicious of Ser Hobert Hightower, Hightower agreed to drink from the same wine as Ulf. Both died from the poisoned wine.[35]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

King Robert Baratheon in his cups - © FFG

Lord Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, is murdered by his own wife, Lady Lysa Tully, who poisoned Jon's wine with the Tears of Lys.[36][37]

Ser Jorah Mormont saves Princess Daenerys Targaryen from an attempted poisoning, by stopping her from drinking poisoneous wine.[2]

King Robert I Baratheon is mortally wounded by fighting a boar in the Kingswood,[38] after he had drunken fortified wine, which was three times as strong as usual.[39]

A Clash of Kings

In order to temporarily eliminate his sister, Cersei Lannister, for a few days, Tyrion Lannister eventually resorts to poisoning her wine.[13]

Daenerys Targaryen visits the Pureborn of Qarth. While the Pureborn are notorious for offering poisoned wine to those they consider dangerous, she is not even offered a cup of water.[33]

A Storm of Swords

King Joffrey I Baratheon is killed at his own wedding feast by drinking poisoned wine.[40][41] His uncle, Tyrion Lannister, is arrested for the crime.[40][19]

A Dance with Dragons

When travelling towards Meereen in secret, Prince Quentyn Martell and his companions, Gerris Drinkwater and Archibald Yronwood pretend to be merchants, looking to sell their Dornish wine.[26]

The giant Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun takes a gigantic liking to wine when permanently coming south of the Wall, after first tasting it at Castle Black.[citation needed]

During his journey through Essos, Tyrion Lannister learns that Lord Varys swapped Prince Aegon Targaryen with an infant whose features resembled Aegon close enough, preventing Aegon from being killed during the Sack of King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion. According to Prince Aegon, Lord Varys had purchased the child who had died in his stead by trading him for a jug of Arbor gold.[17]

Winesinks, Taverns, and Inns

Winesinks, taverns, and inns are all popular places to drink wine (and other alcoholic beverages) both in Westeros and across the Narrow Sea.

Westeros:

Essos and beyond:

Quotes

The world is full of wine.[11]

Tyrion Lannister


... there were always dangers when men were in their cups, and a king should never be unguarded...[42]

- Catelyn Stark


I mean to sail to Westeros and drink the wine of vengeance from the skull of the Usurper.[33]

- Daenerys Targaryen


You see the wonders than can be worked with lies and Arbor gold?[43]

- Lord Petyr Baelish, to Sansa Stark


Japes are one way to keep the fear away. Wine's another.[44]

Tyrion Lannister, to Penny

External Links

The Wine Grapes of Westeros

References and Notes

  1. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 60, Sansa VI.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 54, Daenerys VI.
  3. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 75, Samwell IV.
  4. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 9, Brienne II.
  5. 5.0 5.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 13, The Soiled Knight.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2, Daenerys I.
  7. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 29, Arya V.
  8. 8.0 8.1 The Hedge Knight.
  9. 9.0 9.1 The Mystery Knight.
  10. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 36, Davos IV.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 1, Tyrion I.
  12. The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach.
  13. 13.0 13.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 25, Tyrion VI.
  14. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 19, Tyrion III.
  15. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 28, Sansa III.
  16. A Feast for Crows, Prologue.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 22, Tyrion VI.
  18. Bad parameter 1: "" is not a recognized work
  19. 19.0 19.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 66, Tyrion IX.
  20. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 17, Cersei IV.
  21. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 8, Tyrion II.
  22. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 38, The Watcher.
  23. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 49, Jon X.
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 5, Tyrion II.
  25. 25.0 25.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII.
  26. 26.0 26.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 6, The Merchant's Man.
  27. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 23, Daenerys IV.
  28. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 23, Daenerys II.
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 48, Daenerys IV.
  30. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 29, Tyrion VII.
  31. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 27, Daenerys II.
  32. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 16, Daenerys III.
  33. 33.0 33.1 33.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 40, Daenerys III.
  34. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 27, Daenerys III.
  35. The Princess and the Queen.
  36. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 2, Catelyn I.
  37. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 80, Sansa VII.
  38. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 47, Eddard XIII.
  39. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 3, Tyrion I.
  40. 40.0 40.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 60, Tyrion VIII.
  41. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 61, Sansa V.
  42. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 40, Bran III.
  43. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 10, Sansa I.
  44. The Winds of Winter, Tyrion II