Let’s be BLUNT!

There’s no doubt the Pilgrims sure had big balls and ovaries coming over the Atlantic the way that they did. So rest assured they figured out how to eat and drink! 

The Pilgrims did have access to wild turkeys, but there was also cod, bass, venison, eel, varied waterfowl was obtainable.

The Vegetables that were available included corn, carrots, cabbage, leeks, onions, different squashes and pumpkins; nuts, dried fruits, cranberries, and apples.

All that sounds like a good food and wine pairing as with today’s Thanksgiving pairing with wines like Pinot Noir, Gamay, Riesling, Chenin Blanc…
Good Stuff!

But back then….the Pilgrims…Wine Freaks? Let’s just say they were no strangers to the vino!
 
Has wine always been a Thanksgiving staple?  A lot of things point to Yes!

Here’s a little info on it…

According to information regarding what type of cargo the Mayflower carried – wine was commonly included on its shipping roles. The ship’s hold could carry 180 -200 oak casks of wine.  The Mayflower was typically full with wines from Bordeaux and La Rochelle, France (proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and its ties to Rome) for the return voyage to England.

Wine was also listed in the supplies that were sent to the New World from England, alongside beer, watered wine and hard cider.  As the colonists learned how to make these beverages in America, the liquid refreshments began to disappear from the shipping supply roles.

Water wasn’t the safest thing to drink back then and it wasn’t until almost 1900! Can you believe that!

Alcohol was normally frowned upon by the Puritans; but only when it was abused—as we know now; it was the actually the prophynols, not the alcohol, that made wine and beer safe for consumption. Hence, it did not have to be very strong.

In those days, the Pilgrims understandably didn’t know what the reason was for the water’s unsafety; so they didn’t think to boil water as we do now to disinfect it. They mostly discerned people didn’t get sick from beverages like beer and wine.

Consequently, at the time everybody drank beer, wine and watered down wine. Even children drank due to the fact that the alcohol content killed bugs like typhus and cholera.  It was necessary on land, but was particularly necessary on ships, where you couldn’t run away from the plague or sickness outbreaks.

But wine was a celebratory drink then as it is now and it looks like the Pilgrims were also having it on Turkey Day.