Bonaparte’s Beverages

With last year’s bicentennial of the battle of Waterloo, a lot of people have been banging on about Napoleon Bonaparte being a tactical genius who never lost a battle to a weaker force. Which is all very well – but hardly anyone touches upon the more interesting topic of what he liked to drink.

Napoleon’s first commission, at the ripe old age of 16, was as a 2nd Lieutenant in the La Frère Artillery regiment based in Valance-sur-Rhône. He is reputed to have acquired a penchant for the local sparkling wine of Saint-Péray which is entirely plausible but sadly not well-documented. What is certain is that during a subsequent posting to Auxonne in Burgundy he developed an enduring taste for Gevrey-Chambertin which was his wine of choice on all of his subsequent military campaigns. Apparently he consumed half a bottle at lunch and dinner which he habitually diluted with water. He favoured a Grand Cru bottling at about 5-6 years of age from the négociant house of Soupé & Pirreugues, and is alleged to have cursed the Cossacks for commandeering his personal supplies after his bitter defeat in Russia in 1812.