August 10th - 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 1519, Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães in Portuguese) left Seville, Spain for his around the world voyage. When provisioning his ships he paid more for Sherry than for weapons. This was perhaps the wrong choice as he was killed during the voyage by angry Filipinos.
• Eusebius Kino was born in 1645.  He was an Italian Jesuit and missionary who founded missions throughout Pimeria Alta (Upper Pima) in New Spain.  These missions were located in what is now northern Sonora in Mexico and Arizona.  Some of these missions had vineyards.  There is a wine from Baja California named in his honor.  
• Missouri was admitted to the union in 1821.  It is home to the Augusta, Hermann, Loess Hills, Ozark Highlands and Ozark Mountain viticultural areas.
• Margaux AOC in Bordeaux and the Quarts-de-chaume AOC in the Loire were named in 1954.
• Actor, Antonio Banderas was born in 1960.  As well as starring in Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie me Down!, he is owner of Anti Banderas in Ribera del Duero in Spain.
• It is the feast day of Saint Lawrence of Rome. He is a patron saint of Vintners who was martyred by grilling.

July 27th - 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.

• Frances Stewart Howard, Duchess of Richmond was born in 1578.  After being orphaned at 14, she was married off to the son of a rich wine merchant, alderman and patron of the the Virginia Company.  
• The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1842 had an article the treatment for insanity including medicines made with warm water, wine and molasses.
• In a letter dated July 27, 1888, J.W. Hyde of Grace Church, Waterville, NY, took the opinion that if the Lord chose wine as one of the symbols of the Eucharist, that it is not the job of men to question his wisdom.
• In a 1901 report from Ambassador Thornwall Haynes indicates that Portuguese wine producers requested permission to distill some of the 132,000,000 gallons of surplus wine to ease the storage crisis.
• Olympian Peggy Fleming was born in 1948. She was owner of Fleming Jenkins Vineyards and Winery with her husband.  The winery closed in 2012.

July 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.

• Samuel Pepys met and went out with the children Vice Admiral Sir George Carteret and were out so late they were unable to get a ferry boat back to the house, so they slept in a coach on the Isle of Dogs until one was available,  feasted on wine and snacks then headed home.
• The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction in 1824 reported on the Palace of the King of the Sandwich Islands, quoting Goldsmith in his Traveller 

“But where to find that happiest spot below, 
who can direct, when all pretend to know? 
The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone 
Boldly proclaims that happiest spot his own:  
Extols the treasures of his stormy seas, 
And his long nights of revelry and ease.  
The naked negro, panting at the line, 
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine, - 
Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave, 
And thanks his gods for all the good they gave.”

— Oliver Goldsmith

• Alphonse Mucha, a Czech painter of the Art Nouveau period was born in  1860. He is known for advertising illustrations for many products including Moet & Chandon, Vins des Incas, F. Champenois, Benedictine, Ruinart, Heidsieck, 
• President McKinley entered into a treaty with the King of Portugal to reduce tariffs on wine in 1897.

June 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.

• Alboin, King of the Lombards was killed in 572.  His wife Rosamund aided the assassins when he made her drink wine from the cup made of her father, Cunimund’s skull. 
• King Edward IV of England was crowned in 1461.  He was captured by rebellious lords aided by his brother, George, Duke of Clarence.  For his part in the plot, Clarence was “drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine”.
• The Trebbiano d'Abruzzo DOC was created in 1972.
• The French have a saying, « S'il pleut la veille de la Saint-Pierre, la vigne est réduite au tiers. » or “If it rains the eve of St. Peter, the vines are are reduced to a third.

June 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.

• King John III of Portugal died in 1557. When writing to the Manikongo, the King of the Congo: "Now, I say, like you said that there was no capture of slaves in your Kingdom, I just want to provide you with flour and wine for your Eucharistic rites, and for that it would only be needed a caravel each year; if it seems right to you, in exchange for 10,000 slaves and 10,000 armlets and 10,000 ivory tooth, that, it is said, in the Congo there is not much, not even a ship per year; so, this and more shall be as you want."
• Ben Jonson, the English poet was born in 1572.  After the death of Henry IV of France, Jonson decided to re-join the Church of England and showed his renunciation of the Catholic faith by drinking a full chalice of Communion wine which at the time was supposed to only be drunk by the priests.  Also Drink to me only with thy eye and I will drink with mine… Or leave a kiss within the cup and I’ll not ask for wine.  To Celia…
• California's Sonoma Coast AVA was designated in 1987.
• The Australian Geographical Indication "Swan Hill" was registered in 1996.

June 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.

• Anne Boleyn was crowned as Queen consort in 1533.  In her youth she was described as sweet and cheerful, enjoying wine and French cuisine, flirting, gambling and gossip.  
• José I of Portugal was born in 1714. Under his rule, the Duoro wine region was demarcated. 
• Kentucky was admitted to the Union in 1792.  It is home to the Ohio River Valley viticulturel area.
• Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796.  It is home to the  Appalachian High Country and Mississippi Delta viticultural areas.
• The Rosso Barletta DOC was created in 1977.
• Wine writer and entrepreneur, Alexis Lichine died in 1989.
• California's Diamond Mountain District AVA was designated in 2001. 
• Oregon's Ribbon Ridge AVA was designated in 2005.
• Happy English Wine Week!

May 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.

• Alexandrina Victoria, known later as Queen Victoria was born in 1819.  She was known for enjoying a mix of claret and whisky.
• União Vinícola Regional de Bucelas was created in 1934.  The wines of the region were made popular by the Duke of Wellington. 
• The Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC was created in 1968.
• "Judgement of Paris" takes place in 1976.
• The Bivongi DOC was created in 1996.
• The Colli dell'Etruria Centrale DOC was established in 1997.
• Happy International Chardonnay Day!

April 27th - 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 the Bold, Duke of Burgundy died in 1404.  He outlawed the cultivation of the Gamay grape in favor of Pinot Noir to improve the quality of Burgundy wines.
• The Battle of Mactan was fought between the warriors of Lapu-Lapu and the forces of Ferdinand Magellan When provisioning his ships he paid more for Sherry than for weapons. This was perhaps the wrong choice as he was killed during the battle by angry Filipinos.
• The Condrieu AOC was recognized in 1940.  
• The Australian Wine Research Institutes was created in 1955.

April 10th - 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 William Russell who wrote under the pseudonym Æ was born in 1867.  About the Easter Rising  he wrote, 

“And yet my spirit rose in pride
Refashioning in burnished gold
The image of those who died
Or were shut up in penal cell
Here’s to you Pearse, your dream, not mine
And yet the thought- for this you fell
Has turned life’s water into wine.”

— To the memory of some I knew who are dead and loved Ireland - 1917

• The Steuben County Wine Company of Chicago filed for a Trademark in 1905.
• Port Wine Institute was created in 1933.
• Washington's Red Mountain AVA was designated in 2001.

April 5th - 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. 

• Thomas Cavendish found 300 tuns of Spanish wine buried in the sand in a bay near Valparaiso, Chilean in 1587.  Given that he was a privateer, might be an exaggeration.
• Barbizon School painter, Jules Dupré was born in 1811.  He is known mostly for landscapes, but also for Still Life with a Grey Jug.
• Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Circular dated 1887 states a ship named Fortuna left Oporto bound for NYC with a cargo of wine.
• Andre Tchelistcheff , the dean of American Winemakers died in 1994.
• Louis Latour, 10th generation president of Maison Louis Latour died in 2016 at the age of 83.

March 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 Illinois General Assembly created rules requiring every county to regulate weights and measures including for a wine measure.
• George W. Roosevelt, the US Ambassador to France reports on new French laws about the adulteration of wines in 1883.
• Viticulture Committee of the Region of Vinho Verde was created in 1929.
• Franklin Roosevelt signed The Cullen-Harrison Act to amend the Volstead Act that allowed the sale and taxation of low alcohol beers and wines in 1933.
• Happy National Ag Week. Remember, without ag, there is no wine!

March 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. 

• The cargo of the ship Jameson and Peggy included James Anderson’s March 13, 1776 order of 5 Pipes (713 gallons ) port wine.  The jameson and Peggy was later taken by American forces during the Revolutionary War by James Munro.
• The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for March 13, 1884 contains an ad for the “Choicest and Purest Hungarian Wines ever brought to th is country Strictly for Medicinal Use”
• The Recreation and Cultural Association of Vale do Souto (ARCVASO) was created in 1989 in part to promote Vinho Calum and other cultural treasures.
• William Vere Cruess, food scientist responsible for rebirth of the California wine industry after prohibition died in 1968.  He is also viewed as the inventor of fruit cocktail (in a can).
• It is the feast of St. Ansovinus.  He is a patron of gardeners and is invoked for good harvests.

March 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. 

• The Annotated Book of Common Prayer published in 1548 added the English Order of Communion to the Latin Mass.  This required that people receive both bread and wine as part of the Communion Rite.
• Johannes Kepler discovered the third law of planetary motion in 1618.  Three years earlier he wrote Nova stereometria doliorum vinariorum on using math to measure the volume of wine barrels.
• The Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro O Provedor e Deputados published a royal decree respecting the price of wine in 1804.  The company was founded by the Marquis of Pombal.
• CA Trundy of 61 Court Street, Boston wrote a testimonial as to the efficacy of Theobroma Wine which is found in a prospectus for the Theobroma Wine Co. in 1887.

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 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.

• Samuel Pepys reports going to the Nag’s Head Tavern with several old acquaintances and drank a bottle of sack (Sherry) with them in 1664.
• Carl Michael Bellman, a Swedish composer, musician, poet, and songwriter was born in 1740.  He is best known for Fredman’s songs and Fredman’s epistles which included themes of pleasure, drunkenness, and sex.
• The Alsace - Klevener of Heiligenstein AOC was created in 1997.
• It is the feast day of St. John de Britto, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary to India who evangelized by adopting the dress and diet of the people by abstaining from all meat products and wine. 

January 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. 

• Johann Menge, originally of Steinau, Germany, explored Australia's Barossa Valley and extolled its potential for viticulture was born in 1788.  He is also thought to have discovered the first opal in Australia.
• Thomas Jefferson wrote to John F. Oliveira Fernandes, a physician and merchant from Norfolk, Virginia in 1805 regarding an order of Portuguese wine.
• California's Arroyo Grande Valley AVA was designated in 1990.

December 31st - 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.

• 32,8551/2 gallons of Madeira winer were imported into Philadelphia from August 1, to December 31, 1790 according to the American Museum or Universal Magazine.
• A banquet was held in 1853 where the attendees ate dinner in an iguanodon in the not yet complete Crystal Palace in London.  The menu included:  Soups: Mock Turtle, Julien, Hare, Fish: Cod and Oyster Sauce, Fillets of Whiting, Turbot à l’Hollandaise; Removes: Roast Turkey, Ham, Raised Pigeon Pie, Boiled Chicken and Celery Sauce; Entrées: Cotolettes de Moutonaux Tomates, Currie de Lapereaux au riz, Salmi de Perdrix, Mayonnaise de filets de Sole; Game: Pheasants, Woodcocks, Snipes; Sweets: Macedoine Jelly, Orange Jelly, Bavaroise, Charlotte Russe, French Pastry, Nougat à la Chantilly, Buisson de Meringue aux Confiture; Dessert: Grapes, Apples, Pears, Almonds and Raisins, French Plums, Pines, Filberts, Walnuts etc., etc.; Wines: Sherry, Madeira, Port, Moselle, Claret 
• Chandon  et Co., of Epernay, France received it’s trademark in the United States in 1907.
• Saumur AOC was created in 1957.
• Happy national Champagne Day!
• Happy New Year to Everyone!

December 27th - 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.

• Guillaume Du Fay, the Franco- Flemish Renaissance composer first identified as the Canon of Cambrai in documentation when he received 36 lots of wine for the feast of St. John the Evangelist in 1440.
• The Methuen Treaty, that established the wine trade between Portugal and England was signed in 1703. This gave Britons access to Portuguese wine during war with France.
• Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist who demonstrated that microorganisms contaminated fermenting beverages thus allowing him to invent the process of "pasteurization" was born in 1822.
• French actor, Gérard Depardieu was born in 1948.  He also owns Chateau de Tigne in Anjou, Loire Valley, France but also owns vineyards in Bordeaux, Languedoc, Algeria, Argentina, Morocco, Spain, Sicily and the United States.
• The Valpolicella DOC designation was established in 1990.
• The Australian Geographical Indications "The Peninsulas” "Far North” "Fleurieu" "Limestone Coast” and"Mount Lofty Ranges" were registered in 1996.

December 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.

• The future Henri IV was born in Pau, Navarre in 1533.  He is said to have been baptised with a spoon of wine and garlic.
• Sir Francis Drake begins his round the world voyage in 1577.  During the trip he stopped in Valaparaiso, Chile where he captured a ship of Chilean wine.
• Giovanni Del-Monico, a Swiss Wine Merchant and his brother Pietro open Delmonico & Brother Café 1827.
• Pierre Marie Alexis Millardet who saved the vineyards of France from phylloxera was born in 1838.
• The Cacc'e mmitte di Lucera DOC was created in 1975.
• The Moscato di Sardegna DOC was created in 1979.
• Portugal's Alto Douro Wine Region was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.

November 17th - 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.

• Zeno becomes sole Byzantine Emperor in 474 when his son and co-emperor, Leo II dies in 474. Legend holds that he was buried alive after becoming insensible with drink and hist wife Ariadne reefed to allow anyone to open his sarcophagus.
• The U.S. Army established Fort Buchanan in 1856.  The fort was created to protect the newly acquired Gadsen Purchase.  Today the land the fort is located on is part of Arizona’s Sonoita viticultural area.
• União Vinícola da Região do Moscatel de Setúbal was created in Portugal in 1933.