The history of New France as a colonial space is inextricably linked to the trade and commerce of alcohol. Whether it is the use of brandy as a commodity in the fur trade, the local consumption of spirits and beer by the colonists at home and in the cabarets, or the wine used in religious ceremonies, its presence was ubiquitous and was one of the staples of the economy. The King, Sovereign Council, and ecclesiastics were very concerned over the commerce of this substance and took several measures to regulate the trade over the course of the colonies' existence.
Types of alcohol
Wine
Year Wine imports (litres)Ferland. Bacchus, p. 74-75. 1700 761,400 1705 149,400 1710 51,300 1715 189,000 1720 325,125 1725 428,850 1730 508,050 1735 650,475 1740 866,925 1745 - 1750 1,261,125 From the very first arrivals, French explorers and settlers of Canada observed with great interest the grapes they found growing natively in the Saint Lawrence Valley, often in the hope of producing wine with them. Indeed, in 1535, Jacques Cartier named what is today the Île d'Orléans "L'Île de Bacchus" for the grapes found there.Île d'Orléans. "History of Île d'Orléans." Although in abundance and of formidable size, they were not as suitable for winemaking as European varieties, owing to a thickened skin evolved to cope with the harsh Canadian winter, which produced an acrid taste.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 30.
Local production of wine began nonetheless with Recollect and Jesuit missionaries needing to provide for religious ceremony, who found their imported supplies often close to depletion.Thwaites. "Relation de 1637." In Jesuit Relations, vol. 13, p. 84Hennepin. Nouveau voyage d'un pais plus grand que l'Europe, p. 158. The Sulpicians even attempted to make wine from imported French grapes.Thwaites. "Lettre au R.P. Jean Chauchetière du R.P. Claude Chauchetière," Ville-Marie, 20 septembre 1694. In Jesuit Relations, vol. 64, p. 132. Such production was limited to religious purposes.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 33.
Attempts to domesticate local varieties, beginning with Samuel de Champlain in 1608, or to profitably cultivate imported French varieties, were largely unsuccessful.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 34.Boucher. Histoire veritable et naturelle, p. 52. Aside from the aforementioned missionaries, production of Canadian wine in New France was non-existent.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 37. Consequently, colonists imported large quantities of wine from France, especially during the 18th century, with a strong preference for red wine.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 67.Pehr Kalm. Voyage de Pehr Kalm au Canada, p. 480-481.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the preeminence of La Rochelle as the European point of departure to New France translated into a dominance of wines from Aunis and surrounding regions.Trocmé and Delafosse. Le Commerce rochelais, p. 106-107, 198.Lachiver. Vins, p. 331. However, rochelais merchants, receiving payment prior to shipment, were infamously lackadaisical, and wine from their port often arrived spoiled, even heavily diluted, much to the displeasure of Governor General Frontenac, who, in response, encouraged trade with other ports instead.Archives du Canada. "Lettre du gouverneur Frontenac au ministre Colbert," 2 novembre 1672, vol. 3, fol. 233-251; "Lettre du gouverneur Frontenac au ministre," 17 novembre 1689, vol. 10, fol. 251-254; "Lettre de Frontenac et Champigny au ministre," Québec, 15 septembre 1692, vol. 12, fol. 4-21. In Correspondance officielle, MG1, Série C11A. The 18th century was marked by a huge shift to wines from Bordeaux and surrounding regions, carried on ships leaving from its ports: through the period 1700–1760, they accounted for 97% of wines inventoried in Quebec. Bordeaux wines were favoured, amongst other reasons, for their longevity, crossing the Atlantic without diminishing in quality. Towards the middle of the century, wines from regions all across France—Languedoc, Quercy, Cahors, Montauban, Domme, Gensac, Sainte-Foy, and Cognac, to name a few—were also making their passage to New France through Bordeaux, which greatly increased the colonists' variety of wines.Jean and Proulx. Le commerce à la place Royale, p. 220.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 70-71.Lachiver. Vins, p. 304.
From the late-17th century, fortified wines imported from southern regions of Europe also featured prominently. Wines of the Muscat grape made up a majority of imports in this category, the most popular of which being frontignan. They were a luxury drink in which only wealthy Canadians could indulge.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 78-79.Archives du Canada. "Lettre de Hocquart au ministre," Québec, 1 octobre 1746, vol. 85, fol. 323-330v. In Correspondance officielle.
Beer
Beer, on the other hand, was relatively easily brewed by settler families in their homes, as early as 1627, for their own supply. Even earlier, in 1620, the Recollects were producing beer at Notre-Dame-des-Anges.Daignault. Histoire de la bière, p. 16-28. In 1635, the Jesuits began brewing, also mostly for their own consumption, and not for wider trade.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 39.
Production on a larger scale was soon to follow in the 1640s with the establishment of the brewery of the Communauté des habitants in Quebec; in 1648, Jacques Boisdon was granted the exclusive right to open an inn and to use the brewery for its supply of beer.Canadian Museum of History. "Entertainment."
Not long after his arrival in 1665, the first Intendant of New France Jean Talon put "his own money" towards a brewery in Quebec, in the hopes that state-driven production of beer would generate a local industry, reduce dependence on imported alcohol, ensure that excess grain was put to use, and reduce drunkenness of Canadians and Natives alike (beer being a 'weaker' alcohol).Archives du Canada. "Lettre de Talon au ministre," 13 novembre 1666, vol. 2, fol. 229-230v. In Correspondance officielle.Archives Nationales du Québec. "Lettre du ministre Colbert à Talon," 5 avril 1667. In Rapport de l'Archiviste, p. 71. Roughly half of the annual production of around 800,000 litres was kept in Quebec, the other half being exported to the Antilles.Canadian Museum of History. "Foodways." Despite a promising start, the brewery closed permanently less than ten years after opening in 1668, its product unable to compete with domestic brewing and a rise in imports of other alcohols, and moreover, failing to be in sufficient demand from the small colonial population. Under French rule, there were no further attempts to create a state-owned brewery.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 41.Canadian Museum of History. "Foodways." Breweries at Montreal and Longueuil in the latter half of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century, such as that at the Institut des frères Charon, were similarly short-lived.Daignault. Histoire de la bière, p. 25.
Nonetheless, there was a relative abundance of inns (auberges) and liquor stores (cabarets), almost one for every one hundred inhabitants in Montreal and Quebec, often operated out of a family's home as a secondary source of income.Daignault. Histoire de la bière, p. 25.Canadian Museum of History. "Entertainment."
Over the course of the French Regime, censuses counted around twenty official brewers operating across Quebec, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal. While there is no pattern to their origins in France, a great number of their wives were from Normandy, a region with a rich history of brewing. It is suggested that the required skills were often passed on through females, who oversaw many indispensable brewing processes. They were, however, themselves unrecognised as brewers due to a prevailing patriarchy which limited the professional opportunities of women.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 43-48.
Commercial Canadian brewing would not truly take off until the arrival of John Molson in 1782 after cession of the colony at Canada to the English.Ferland. "Quebec Beer."
Eau-de-vie
Eau-de-vie, in French (plural: eaux-de-vie), refers to a broad category of beverages produced by fermentation and then distillation, and includes such common alcohols as brandy (wine grapes), whisky and vodka (grain), bourbon (maize), and rum (sugarcane).Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales. "Eau-de-vie." Accessed February 20, 2015. http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/eau-de-vie.
While it remains unclear if there was any significant production of eaux-de-vie in Canada, records indicate that it was imported in considerable quantities from both France and the Antilles.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 88.
La Rochelle, Nantes, Bayonne, and Bordeaux were the major French ports to export eaux-de-vie to Canada, distilled from the wines of the corresponding regions, but also notably from Armagnac (through Bordeaux).Ferland. Bacchus, p. 86-87. Eaux-de-vie made using sugarcane, a plant incapable of withstanding boreal winters, was produced on and exported from the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint-Domingue. True inter-colonial exchange was taking place: on ships returning to the Antilles, Canadians sold flour, cod, vegetables, and lumber. As they were banned from importation into France from 1713 to 1777, these rums, tafias, and guildives found Canada as their primary destination market.Ferland. Bacchus, p. 94-96.
Alcohol and the law
From the earliest years of the colonial establishment in New France alcohol was a contentious issue, often opposing members of the clergy with the Intendant and the habitants of the region. From the very beginning of the establishment of the Superior Council attempts were made to legislate the sale and consumption of the various types of alcohol available in the colony. Between 1663 and 1760, 78 edicts of the Superior Council of New France pertained to the sale and consumption of alcohol in the colony.[Milot, David. 2013]
The Sovereign Council and the Church
Alcohol and its commerce in the colony was the subject of acrimonious debate between ecclesiastical interests, merchants and the government. "…the struggle over the sale of liquor to the Indians may be classed as the second cause for the erection of the Sovereign Council."[Du Bois Cahall, Raymond, 1915, p.25 In the early years of the colony ecclesiastics held a considerable amount of power. Bishop Laval, in the early 1660s obtained a law punishing the trade of brandy with natives with death which forced the newly arrived governor Avaugour to execute two offenders.[Du Bois Cahall, Raymond, 1915 p.23 The governor would quickly declare after another situation arose that no one should be punished for bartering liquor with the natives. This episode led Bishop Laval to sail for France and consult with the king. This meeting would be reflected in the composition of the Sovereign Council whose members would be jointly named by the Bishop and the Governor.[Du Bois Cahall, Raymond, 1915, p.25
Alcohol in the fur trade
The trade of alcohol with the natives in New France was very profitable for European fur traders but caused ravages in indigenous communities. The first laws concerning the trade of alcohol with the natives appeared early in the history of New France. Samuel de Champlain first outlawed the sale and trade of alcohol with the natives in 1636.[Ratelle, Maurice, 1991, p.14, The first laws were aimed primarily at the French with the objective of cutting off the supply to the natives at the source. The punishment was often a fine, and in case of insolvability or repeat offense corporal punishment was applied. Natives who were found under the influence of alcohol would be retained until they gave up the name of the person who had given them the drink.[Ratelle, Maurice, 1991, p.14
In 1668 under the Intendant Jean-Talon the Sovereign Council legalized the trade of alcohol with the natives for all French citizens at the same time as they made it illegal for natives to get drunk.[Ratelle, Maurice, 1991, p.14