January 23rd - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Mary Randolph, author of the cookbook, The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook died in 1828.  She includes recipes for currant wine and mead and included recipes that included wine.
• The Menetou-Salon AOC was named in 1959.
• California's Clarksburg AVA and Virginia's Monticello AVA were designated in 1984.
• California's Sonoma Mountain AVA was designated in 1985.
• Salvador Dali dies in 1989.  The surrealist artist created a wine book, The Wines of Gala, as well as a cookbook, The Dinners of Gala. (Gala was his wife).
• Oregon's Rogue Valley AVA was designated in 1991.

January 12th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

In a report of 1749, The Sporting Magazine reports on “The Bottle Conjurer” who performs at the New Theatre in the Haymaket who disappears into a “common wine bottle”.

Virginia’s Rocky Knob AVA was designated in 1983.

• The Alsace Grand Cru Kaefferkopf AOC was established in 2007.

January 9th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788. It is home to the Western Connecticut Highlands and Southeastern New England viticultural areas.
• Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was given a state funeral in 1806.  He died several months earlier at the battle of Trafalgar but was preserved in a barrel of Brandy mixed with camphor and myrrh.
• Dave Matthews Band frontman, Dave Matthews was born in 1967.  He owns Blenheim Vineyards in Albemarle, Virginia.
• The Barbera d'Asti DOC, Barbera del Monferrato DOC and Rubino di Cantavenna DOC were created in 1970.
• The Bianco Valdinievole DOC was established in 1976.
• The Lacrima di Morro d'Alba DOC was created in 1985.
• The Rosso Conero Reserve DOCG designation were established in 2004.

January 2nd - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history. 

• Georgia ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788.  It is now home to the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA.
• Virginia's Eastern Shore AVA was designated in 1994.
• It is the feast day of St. Adalard of Corbie.  He was the cousin of Charlemagne and is patron saint of gardeners.

December 28th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• The Cape of Good Hope passed laws respecting the sale of wines in 1762.
• Iowa was admitted as a state in 1846.  It is home to the Loess Hills District and Upper Mississippi River Valley viticultural areas.
• Woodrow Wilson was born in 1856.  He was President at the beginning of Prohibition, which restricted the SALE of alcohol but not the consumption.  At the end of his term as president, Wilson had his wine collection moved to his new residence.
• California's Shenandoah Valley AVA was designated in 1982.
• Virginia's Shenandoah Valley AVA was designated in 1982.

December 19th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery left England in 1606 with colonists who would found Jamestown, Virginia.  Jamestown was underwritten by the Virginia Company that required settlers to provide for their own needs and hence viticulture came to Virginia.
• A note from 1834 in the Register of Debates in Congress indicates that American’s imported $200,000 of wine from France in 1824 and increasing to $920,000 in 1833.
• In a letter from 1883, Giuseppe del Puente of 5th Ave., New York praises Dr. Angelo Mariani for his fine wine, Vin Mariani. Vin Mariani was made from Bordeaux wine treated with coca leaves.

December 14th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• George Washington died in 1799.  He was a member of the Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1758-1765.  He plied the voters with 170 gallons of rice punch, beer, wine, hard cider and brandy.
• Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes the French painter was born in 1824.  He is known for his work, The Wine Press.
• ‘I heard it Through the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye was #1 on the charts in 1968.
• Spain's Conca de Barberá DO was created in 1989.
• Chile's Declaration of Appellations was approved in 1994.
• Oregon's Applegate Valley AVA was designated in 2000.

December 11th - This Date in Wine History

Portrait of George Mason (1725-1792) by John Hesselius (1728–1778)

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• The Mongols begin to retreat in 1241 because Ogodei, son of Ghengis Khan died of alcohol poisoning.
• George Mason, Virginia planter and delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was born in 1725.  He was a pioneer in the Virginia wine industry and was a patron of Maurice Pound who experimentented on his behalf.
• South African chemist and viticulturist, Abraham Izak Perold died in 1941.
• It is Indiana day to celebrate the Hoosier State’s admission into the United States.  Indiana is home to two viticultural areas.  The Ohio River Valley and Indiana Uplands.
• It is the feast day of St. Gentian.  He is the patron saint of innkeepers.

October 13th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Roman celebration of Fontinalia. Offerings were made to the god, Fontus (sources) (fountains and springs) as well as the gods of wine and other libations.
• The Moscadello di Montalcino DOC was established 1983.
• California's El Dorado and Potter Valley AVAand Michigan's Lake Michigan Shore AVA and Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia's Catoctin AVA were designated in 1983.

October 11th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Meditrinalia, the Roman festival of the new wine was celebrated.
• In 1794 this would be the 20th day of the Vendémiaire month on the French Revolutionary Calendar. This day was represented by the Pressoir, or wine press. The month was the grape harvesting month.
• Thomas Jefferson exchanged correspondence with William Jarvis regarding a shipment of wine from Portugal in 1805.

August 23rd - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• The London Public Record office records receipt of delivery of 12 pipes of Canary wine at Potomac Landing in 1633.
• The 1894 records of the Ohio Dairy and Food Commissioner describes the case of the State v. Casper J. Vandrau who was charged with with selling grape wine adulterated by benzoic acid.  Vandrau pled guilty.
• It is the feast day of St. Rose of Lima.  She is a patron of gardeners.  No gardens?  No wine.

August 18th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• The Siege of Málaga ended in 1487.  This was part of the Reconquista of Moorish Spain, specifically the Emirate of Granada.  The Spanish victors brought “legal” wine back to Málaga.
• Pope Alexander VI dies after drinking poisoned wine in 1503.
• Virginia Dare, the first English child in the New world was born in 1587.  She disappeared with the rest of the Roanoke Island settlers.  There is a winery named in her honor.
• Hacienda de San Lorenzo, the first winery in the Americas was begun in 1597 by Don Lorenzo Garcia in Santa María de las Parras, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico.
• California's Anderson Valley and Willow Creek AVAs were designated in 1983.

August 9th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Hieronymus Bosch dies in 1516.  He was a Dutch painter known for his detailed works such as The Marriage at Cana; The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things, and the Allegory of Gluttony and Lust. 
• Mary Randolph, author of the cookbook, The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook was born in 1762.  She includes recipes for currant wine and mead and included recipes that included wine.
• William Vere Cruess, food scientist responsible for rebirth of the California wine industry after prohibition was born in 1886.  He is also credited with creating the formula for fruit cocktail.

July 30th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Acte XII of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619, requires all landowners to plant grape vines for every acre of property.
• The Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO), a branch of the French Ministry of Agriculture, was created in 1935 to manage the administration of the process for wines.
• California's North Yuba AVA was designated in 1985.
• It is the feast day of Saints Abdon and Sennen who are the patron saints of coopers.

June 23rd - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• The Gentlemen’s Magazine of 1803 describes the Duke of Bedford’s wedding to Lady Georgiana Gordon including a description of the wedding favors (white and silver) and wine and cake at the reception.
• In a letter dated June 23, 1808, Martha Jefferson Randolph complaining about amount of wine available in the wine cellar and that Monticello had exhausted its supply of Madeira
• Russian poet Anna Akhmatova was born in 1889.  She wrote:

A land not mine, still
forever memorable,
the waters of its ocean
chill and fresh.

Sand on the bottom whiter than chalk,
and the air drunk, like wine,
late sun lays bare
the rosy limbs of the pinetrees.

Sunset in the ethereal waves:
I cannot tell if the day
is ending, or the world, or if
the secret of secrets is inside me again.

“”
A land not mine, 1964

April 21st - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Parilia, a Roman agricultural festival honoring the founding of Rome by Romulus was celebrated with beverage burranica, a combination of milk and sapa (boiled wine), after drinking this the festival would draw to a close when shepherds ran through a ceremonial fire three times.
• Dutch painter Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten was born in Haarlem in 1630.  He is known for painting “Still Life with Oysters” featuring a glass of whitewine as accompaniment.
• Virginia's Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace AVA was designated in 1987.

April 15th - This Date in Wine History

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Leonardo da Vinci was born in Florence in 1452.  He is said to have employed his lifelong servant Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, known as Salaì who worked in his vineyards and a model before becoming a student of da Vinci and eventually companion.  Upon da Vinci’s death Salaì received half of the vineyards.
• California’s Arroyo Seco AVA was designated in 1983.
• California's Cole Ranch AVA was designated in 1983.
• California's Santa Ynez Valley AVA was designated in 1983.
• Virginia's North Fork of Roanoke AVA was designated in 1983.

April 13th - This Date in Wine History

---

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature "This Date In Wine History," we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

• Krum, Khan of Bulgaria died in 814.  He used the skull of the Byzantine Emperor as a wine cup.
• Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and wine lover was born in Virgina in 1743.
•  Baron Philippe de Rothschild was born in 1902.
• "Red Red Wine" written and performed by Neil Diamond was released in 1968 it was and later covered by UB40.

January 23rd - This Date in Wine History

View fullsize

Rogue Valley by Gretchen Miller Neuman for Qorkz.

---

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature This Date In Wine History, we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

---

• The Menetou-Salon AOC was named in 1959
• California's Clarksburg AVA and Virginia's Monticello AVA were designated in 1984
• California's Sonoma Mountain AVA was designated in 1985
• Oregon's Rogue Valley AVA was designated in 1991

December 28th - This Date in Wine History

View fullsize

California's Shenandoah Valley wine region by David Toomey for Qorkz.

---

Wine has a long established history of being our drink of choice for celebrating, entertaining, and savoring life; but it didn't start out that way. From the invention of the barrel to the designation of the separate viticultural areas, wine has a long and sorted history.  In our daily feature This Date In Wine History, we share an event of critical importance in wine history.

---

• California's Shenandoah Valley AVA was designated in 1982.
• Virginia's Shenandoah Valley AVA was designated in 1982.