Legal Definitions - vinagium

Vinagium refers to a historical form of rent payment specifically for the use of a vineyard, where the payment is made in wine rather than money.

This arrangement meant that instead of exchanging currency for the right to cultivate grapes and produce wine on a particular plot of land, the tenant would provide a agreed-upon quantity or percentage of the wine produced from that vineyard to the landowner.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a medieval European estate where a wealthy Duke owns vast tracts of land, including several vineyards. He leases a portion of one vineyard to a local vintner. Under their agreement, the vintner does not pay the Duke in gold coins, but instead commits to delivering 50 barrels of the wine produced from that specific plot to the Duke's cellar each year. This annual delivery of wine as payment for the use of the vineyard constitutes vinagium.

• Consider a modern-day scenario, though less common, where an elderly landowner with a small, established vineyard wishes to retire from winemaking but retain ownership of the land. They enter into an agreement with a young, aspiring winemaker. Instead of charging a monetary lease, the landowner stipulates that the winemaker must provide them with 100 bottles of the vineyard's premium vintage annually for the duration of the lease. This arrangement, where wine is the direct payment for the vineyard's use, is an example of vinagium.

• In a historical context, a monastic order might have owned extensive lands, including vineyards. They could lease out sections of these vineyards to lay brothers or local farmers. The lease agreement might require the tenants to supply the monastery with a certain volume of sacramental wine each year, rather than a cash payment. This provision of wine to the monastery as rent for the vineyard land would be considered vinagium.