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"Less of the "old," Stefan, you'll be in the temple of Morr before I. -- "Aye, that's as may be, but I'm much better preserved. I'm more like a fine Tilean wine -- I improve with age."

Kaspar von Velten to Stefan Reiger[4a]
Vampire Wine Toast

The best vintages come in many flavours...and forms...in the Old World.

Wine includes any beverage made from fermented grapes. The wines from the Tilean city-states and Estalian kingdoms lean towards red vintages, while wine from the Empire favours lighter and sweeter grapes. As wine is too valuable to be consumed by itself, when commoners have a glass of wine, they water it. There are many types of wines, from the sweet dessert wines like port and sherry to a variety of reds and whites, each with a broad range of sweetness and dryness.[1a]

Among the finest wines in the Known World are those hailing from the Morceaux River Valley in Bretonnia. These vintages are renowned in lands as far away as Kislev. This is not to say that all wines from this region are excellent -- they do make a number of bad bottles, but mostly the vineyards in this eastern land overshadow those of their neighbours.[1a]

Tilean wines fetch high prices throughout the Old World and the large fleet of merchant vessels trade them with all nations from the north of Kislev to the scorched lands of Araby.[1a] Tileans use bowls for drinking wine, which are in fact elaborate drinking cups with short stems and wide bases to keep them stable.[3a]

The best wines in the Old World come from Bretonnia and Tilea, and which nation produces the superior wine is cause for ineluctable debate between connoisseurs. Few wines in the Empire can compare, though a batch from a famous year may achieve renown.[9a]

Sylvanian Wine[]

"When a Vampire drinks an "aged red" from a wine glass, chances are it hasn't been made from grapes..."

—Description of the Tangled Vine Patch from Total War: Warhammer.[10d]

Blood grapes are unique to Sylvania, found in the tangled and thorn-ridden vine patches in the south. If fermented properly the grapes make a full-bodied vintage, deeply red and rich in iron. Never mind that the occasional grape will contain a dead sparrow or shrivelled finger instead of a seed.[10d]

While crops always struggle to grow in the necromancy-tainted soils of Sylvania, its trees are rigorous and thrive in often harsh conditions. Sylvanian orchards contain low-hanging, spooky trees, whose thorny branches are as likely to grab a passer-by as provide fruit. The low hung and thorny apple trees can provide surprisingly good yields, but farmers must be quick, for the fruits ripen and rot on the branch extremely quickly, attracting large flies who lay maggots that have far too many teeth.[10e]

The Vampire Counts crave the illusion that they are Imperial nobles, and so they bottle their own "special" vintages. Whether made from Sylvanian blood grapes, or simply the rancid gore of peasant cadavers, the animated winepress does most of the labour -- crushing body or grape and fermenting and refining. Zombies are there to lift and carry but the spirit entrapped within the device is the true expert.[10f]

High Elven Wine[]

The art of winemaking was gifted to Mankind from the Elves. While the swill created by tiny producers is lacking in flavour, it nevertheless finds customers -- usually being bought and watered down by unscrupulous landlords in the Empire's more disreputable establishments.[10a]

The High Elves are the true masters of winemaking, yet there are a few Human nations that have established vineyards with long-standing reputations. However, just as the Dwarfs think the ale of Men weak and flavourless, so do the High Elves consider even the most expensive Bretonnian wine insipid and characterless.[10b]

Wine is sold throughout the Human realms, but won't be touched by Dwarfs who despise the whole concept. Unsurprisingly, High Elves think the Human version inferior to their own blends too, yet there is a large profit to be made in rarer vintages when, despite the wars and unpredictable weather, the grapes grew to perfection.[10c]

High Elven wines are well-known to be the best in the Known World, and some are even rumored to have magical qualities. A fine High Elven wine can cast out doubt and fear and leave a general feeling of well-being in a warrior.[1a]

It has sometimes been observed that the different characters of the High Elves and Dwarfs can be likened to their favoured beverages of wine and beer. Where the High Elves savour fine wines carefully sipped from tiny crystal glasses, the Dwarfs noisily swill gallons of foaming ale, pausing only to belch loudly and bellow for more.[8a]

This contrast cannot have been more apparent than during the visit of the High Elf Phoenix King Bel Shanaar to Karaz-a-Karak, when, according to the hold's Book of Honour, the High Elf king presented the Dwarf King Snorri Whitebeard with a single cask of Ellyrion wine, a vintage so rich and precious that the cost of a single glass would bankrupt the average High Elf lord.[8a]

The Dwarf king, keen to show his appreciation, stove in the barrel lid with his axe and guzzled the whole lot in one go, wiping the copious spillage with his beard as his fellow Dwarfs cheered loudly. Quite what the delicate High Elven courtiers made of this performance is not recorded. It can only be imagined what the High Elf king thought of the dozen barrels of Gutstrangle's Owd Nasty Dwarf ale and two gallon Dwarf souvenir tankard which he received in return.[8a]

Many centuries later Tilean traders have also tried to introduce the Dwarf kingdoms to the raffinate pleasure of their wines, but with little success.[8a]

Wood Elven Wine[]

"A feast is nothing without wine."

—Description of the Vineyard Wood Elf building from Total War: Warhammer.[10g]

As the Wood Elves are a race for whom feasting takes on an almost spiritual quality, it shouldn't be a great surprise to learn that, deep within Athel Loren's forest glades, land is set aside especially for the cultivation of fine grapes for wine making. The forest's fertile expanses not only make winemaking a plentiful means of revelry, but also a profitable enterprise as the business of feasting requires much preparation and a really good vintage.[10g]

Wood Elf wine is not just any wine either as the wondrous nectar the Asrai produce is among the finest, if not the finest found anywhere in the Old World.[10g]

However not many outsiders have had the privilege of drinking Asrai wine. As is with other matters, the Wood Elves are snobbish and aloof, dismissing the attempts of other races to make wine as pathetic and borderline-undrinkable imitations of the real thing, thus they rarely allow anyone from beyond Athel Loren to try it.[10g] However on occasion, a select few outsiders have been allowed to join an Asrai feast which is nothing without wine, but woe betide those foolish enough to eat or drink of the fine fayre on offer without the permission of their Asrai hosts.[10h]

Notable Wines[]

  • Bilbali
    • Bilbali Vino Tinto - A Bilbali wine of the highest quality.[9a]
  • Blood Wine - Blood Wine is a form of wine brewed by the Dark Elves, one whose vine the grapes come from is said to smell like congealed blood. Such grapes are noted as not being native to Ulthuan, nor are any plants that smell as such.[12a]
  • Elven Wine
  • Gewürztraminek[9a]
    • Gewürztraminek 08 - A Gewürztraminek wine of the highest quality.[9a]
    • Gewürztraminek 22 - A Gewürztraminek wine of famed vintage.[9a]
    • Grenzstadter Deep Wine - A Gewürztraminek wine of respected quality.[9a]
    • Gewürzstraminek Dessert Wine - A Gewürztraminek wine of respected quality.[9a]
  • Lustrian Wine - Although it is about as potent as orange juice for a Lizardman, for a Human it is a powerful drink.[7a] Its taste is considered interesting even by the High Elves.[6]
  • Morceaux Vin Sec - A wine of the highest quality from the Morceaux area.[9a]
  • Pritzstock Riesling - A wine of respected quality.[9a]

Sources[]

  • 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Old World Armoury (RPG)
    • 1a: pg. 60
  • 2: Warhammer Fantasy Battle: Rulebook (6th Edition)
    • 2a: pg. 168
  • 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Forges of Nuln (RPG)
    • 3a: pg. 30
  • 4: The Ambassador (Novel) by Graham McNeill
  • 5: Town Cryer 10
    • 5a: pg. 26
  • 6: The Voyage South (Novel) by Nicola Griffith
  • 7: Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War (5th Edition)
    • 7a: pg. 67
  • 8: Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs (4th Edition)
  • 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Taverns of the Empire (RPG)
    • 9a: pg. 16
  • 10: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)
    • 10a: Orchards
    • 10b: Vineyard
    • 10c: Vintner
    • 10d: Tangled Vine Patch
    • 10e: Thorny Orchard
    • 10f: Animated Winepress
    • 10g: Grape Vines, Vineyard, Winery and Wine Nexus
    • 10h: Vinter's Barrel House
  • 11: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Power Behind the Throne (RPG)
  • 12: Defenders of Ulthuan (Novel) by Graham McNeill
  • 13: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Knights of the Grail (RPG)
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