June 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.

• John Gay, English poet and dramatist most known for The Beggar’s Opera was born in 1685.  He also wrote the poem, Wine as an homage.
• Philip J. K. James, founder of Snooth was born in 1978.
• Spain's Tierra de León DO was created in 2005.   Red wines are produced with Prieto Picudo and Mencía although Garnacha and Tempranillo are allowed as well.  White wines are produced with Albarin blanco, Godello although Malvasia and Palomino are allowed.
• Spain's Valles de Benavente DO was created in 2005.  Red wines are produced with Tempranillo, Prieto Picudo and Mencía although Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon are allowed as well.  White wines are produced with Verdejo and Malvasia.
• It is the feast day as Saint Theobald of Provins.  He is the patron saint of the town of Provins, Champagne, France, farmers, winegrowers, shoemakers, belt makers charcoal burners, single dudes, and invoked against feast, eye problems, dry cough, infertility and panic attacks.  Busy dude.

June 8th - 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.

• Louis XVII died in 1795.  The son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, he was removed from his parents in 1793.  He was treated cruelly by members of the Committee for Public Safety and died of what is thought to be tuberculosis.  His heart was removed during autopsy and stored in distilled wine at least until it evaporated.  It can be seen at the Basilica of St. Denis in Paris.
• Nannina de 'Medici married Bernardo Rucellai in 1466. Vernaccia di San Gimignano was served to the wedding guests.
• Thomas Harris's Novel Hannibal is released in 1999. In the Novel Hannibal Lector sends Clarice Starling a old bottle of Chateau d'Yquem for her 33rd birthday. 
• California's San Antonio Valley AVA was designated in 2006.
• It is the feast day of Saint Medardus.  He is the patron saint of vineyards, brewers, prisoners the mentally ill and peasants.  Oh.  And toothaches.
• National Name Your Poison Day! I say Champagne!
• The French have a saying, « Pluie de Saint-Médard, tarit le vin et coupe le lard. » “Rain on the day of St. Medard, makes the wine dry and cuts the bacon.

June 4th - 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 968, Liudprand of Cremona in reporting to his King, Berengar II of Lombard, complains about the quality of the wine in Constantinople which is still made in the manner of the Roman Empire.
• The Pollino DOC was created in 1975. 
• The Gravina DOC was created in 1983
• It is the feast day of Saint Saturnina, patron saint of farmers and wine merchants.  Her relics were returned to Saxony to the Stiftskirche in Neuenheerse, now part of Bad Driburg.
• It is National Cognac Day!

May 22nd - 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 Hashshashin attempt to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo in 1176.  In 1169, Saladin repented wine drinking and frivolity.
• Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was born in 1622.  He was a French soldier, courtier, Governor of New France and Founder of Fort Frontenac.  The hybrid wine grape Frontenac, developed by the University of Minnesota was named in his honor.
• Nathaniell Sparhawke of Cambridge, MA was issued a license to drawe wine and strong water in Cambridge in 1639.
• English writer, wine-merchant and Master of Wine, Pat Simon died in 2008.
• It is the feast day of St. Rita of Cascia.  Her attributes include a forehead wound (partial stigmata), Roses, bees and grapevines.

May 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.

• James Mayer de Rothschild was born in 1792.  He was the founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family.  He is known for banking and for purchasing the Château Lafite Rothschild.
• The Exposition Universelle of 1855 opens in Paris. Emperor Napoleon III ordered the reclassification of Bordeaux wines. This is the basis of the AOC classification system in France.
• The Monbazillac AOC was created in 1936.
• The Cassis AOC was created in 1936.
• California's Santa Lucia Highlands AVA was designated in 1992.
• Texas' Escondido Valley AVA was designated in 1992.
• New York's North Fork of Long Island AVA was designated in 2001.
• It is the feast day of St. Isidore the Farmer. He is patron of agricultural workers, livestock and ranchers.

May 4th - 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.

• John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics because of their rejection of transubstantiation (the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ).
• Jean François Champollion died in 1832.  He was known for deciphering the Rosetta Stone.  It contains records from Ptolemy V including donations of wine to temples and vineyard harvests.
• Singani, a Bolivian liquor, similar to Pisco, distilled from Moscato of Alexandria received a DO in 1992.
• It is the feast day of Saint Monica of Hippo. She was known for bringing offerings of porridge, bread, water, and wine to the oratories of certain saints until she was forbidden by the local bishop. She is the patron saint of difficult marriages and disappointing children. (Her son was St. Augustine)
• Happy International Sauvignon Blanc Day!
• Happy Star Wars Day! What would Yoda drink?

April 8th - 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. 

• Famed actress, Helena Modjeska died in 1909.  She and a small group of Polish artists and aristocrats emigrated to Anaheim, California to create a colony based on Brooks Farm.  They grew muscat grapes which no one would buy but instead stole… The colony failed and Modjeska returned to the theater but created her home at Arden in Anaheim until 1906.
• The Salice Salentino DOC was created in 1976.
• The Kanawha River Valley AVA was designated in 1986.
• It is the feast of St. Walter of Pontoise.  He is the patron saint of prisoners, prisoners of war, job-related stress and vintners.

April 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. 

• The Bianchello di Metauro DOC was created in 1969.
• The Marsala DOC was created in 1969.
• The Sartène AOC was designated in 1976.
• It is the feast of Acan, the Mayan god of wine (also known as Belch).
• Feast day of St. Urban of Langres, patron saint of vineyard workers.

March 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. 

• Philip (Filippo) Mazzei, Italian born physical and viticulturist died in 1816.  He brought plants, seeds, silkworms, and farms from Lucca, Italy. Thomas Jefferson gave Mazzei land too start a vineyard.
• Pennsylvania and New Jersey's Central Delaware Valley AVA was designated in 1984.
• California's Yountville AVA was designated in 1999. 
• Today is the feast of St. Joseph who is honored with a table of meatless foods (as it is lent) and wine offered to the poor.  St.  Joseph is the patron Saint of the working man.
• Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is no wine!

March 2nd - This Date in Wine History

Photo by USDA-Agricultural Research Service

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. 

• St. Benedict of Nursia was born in 480.  He is the saint invoked against poison.  His monks tried to poison his wine and then his bread but he was saved by miracles.
• Henry Clay charged 14shillings for billiards and wine in 1804 from John Postelthwait in Lexington, KY.
• Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, the future Pope Leo XIII was born in 1810.  He appeared in ads for Vin Mariani a wine and coca leaf tonic.
• The Texas High Plains AVA was designated in 2003.

February 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. 

• César Ritz was born in 1850.  At the age of 15 he was apprenticed to a sommelier at a hotel in Switzerland.  He was fired being told, "You'll never make anything of yourself in the hotel business. It takes a special knack, a special flair, and it's only right that I tell you the truth—you haven't got it.”  He became the owner of the Ritz Hotels.
• The Vermentino di Sardegna DOC was established in 1988
• The Côtes-du-Forez AOC was named in 2000
• It is the feast day of Serenus the Gardner… Legend has it that while he directed this thoughts towards prayer, his labor went to tending a fruit garden.  Until he was beheaded for refusing to honor the gods of Rome.

February 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 1502 Vasco de Gama set sail for his second voyage to India.  His ships stopped in Madeira to pick up water (a likely story).
• In 1664, Dominie Blom, of New Amsterdam, petitioned the magistrates of Wildwyck: "that the public, sinful and scandalous Bacchanalian days of Bastenseen (Shrove Tuesday), coming down from the heathens from their idol Bacchus, the god of wine and drunkenness, being also a leaven of Popery, inherited from the pagans, which the Apostle, in I Cor. 5, admonishes true Christians to expurge, May , while near at hand, be prescribed in this place by your Honors.”
• It is the feast day of St. Julian the Hospitaller, the patron saint of innkeepers.
• The French have a saying, « Soleil qui rit pour sainte Eulalie fait des pommes et des prunes mais pas de vin. » or "A laughing sun for Saint Eulalia makes apples and plums but no wine.”

February 6th - 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.

• Massachusetts ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788.  It is home to the Southeast New England and Martha’s Vineyard viticultural areas.
• Isabella Beeton, author of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management died in 1865.  Her book included all elements of household management including, the manufacture of wine, beer, cordials, and cocktails.
• The Malvasia di Cagliari DOC was created in 1979.
• Feast day of St. Amandus, patron saint of beer brewers, innkeepers, vintners, merchants and the Boy Scouts.

February 1st - 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.

•  "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored" The Battle Hymn of the Republic is first published in 1862.
• In 1888, New York City Excise Board Commissioner revoked licenses for individuals with licenses to sell beer, ale and wine for selling “spirituous liquors”.
• The California Agricultural Experiment Station reports that the wine from Ploussard grapes from J.T. Doyle’s experimental plot in Cupertino was checked.  The lees were found to contain much lactic ferment in 1890.
• It is the feast day of Saint Tryphon. He was from Campsada in Phrygia (Turkey) and is the Eastern Orthodox patron saint of gardeners and winegrowers. His head is located in the Cathedral of St. Tryphon in Kotor, Montenegro.

January 24th - 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.

Jan 24

• Pope Stephen IV died in 817.  Under Stephen, the Frankish clergy was reformed requiring men and women be housed in separated convents, which were to hold community property jointly.  He also regulated how much food and wine they could consume.
• Peter IV of Aragon was crowned King of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca and County of Barcelona in 1336. He once had a friendly dispute with his Jewish physician about why Jewish people were not allowed to drink kosher wine touched by a Christian.  The Doctor had water brought to wash the king’s feet which he then drank to prove that impurity was not the reason for the prohibition.
• Spain's Tierra del Vino de Zamora DO was created in 2008.
• It is the feast day of St. Cadoc.  At his baptism a holy well that flowed milk and wine appeared.  He is the patron saint of Glamorgan; Llancarfan; famine victims; deafness; and glandular disorders.