Vin Mariani

Advertising poster for Vine Mariani, lithograph by Jules Cheret 1894

Advertisement with Pope Leo XIII.

Vin Mariani (fr.), Also known under the German name Mariani wine known is a 1863 by Angelo Mariani first produced alcoholic drink made from Bordeaux wine and extracts of coca bush .

The drink is also considered a historical precursor to Coca-Cola .

It contains the ethyl ester of benzoylecgonine and thus a substance that is structurally very similar to cocaine (the methyl ester of benzoylecgonine). This ester is responsible for the intoxicating effect. Vin Mariani was a very popular drink at the time. Queen Victoria of Great Britain, Pope Leo XIII. and Pope Pius X are some of the most popular consumers. Pope Leo XIII. awarded the drink a gold medal and was featured on a promotional image for the drink. In France the wine was recommended to musicians to strengthen their vocal cords, to all others it was recommended for anemia, rickets and weakness in general.

In Germany, the free sale was stopped with the Opiumgesetz of July 20, 1920.

Individual evidence

^ Mariani Wein entry, drug catalog, accessed April 28, 2012.
↑ Drug Policy: Billions for a Useless War. In: zeit.de . April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016 .
↑ Wolfgang U. Eckart : The green muse . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , No. 96, from 26/27. April 2003, p. 14.

Web links

Cocaine wine: functional food 100 years ago (broadcast on Deutschlandradio )

[1] Mariani Wein entry, drug catalog, accessed April 28, 2012.

[zeit-2016-04-20-2] Drug Policy: Billions for a Useless War. In: zeit.de . April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016 .

[3] Wolfgang U. Eckart : The green muse . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , No. 96, from 26/27. April 2003, p. 14.