October 26th - This Date in Wine History

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Image courtesy of De Bortoli Wines

Image courtesy of De Bortoli Wines

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.

  • One of the first known serial killers, Gilles de Rais was executed in 1440 in Nantes, Brittany.  Young victims were dressed in expensive clothing, given an extravagant meal and hippocras, a sweetened, spiced wine before being tortured, murdered and dismembered.

  • The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure reports from Bonn that the grape harvest of 1775 was so beyond expectation that there would be no empty casks available to make cider on the Moselle.

  • Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V was crowned as King of Germany in 1520.  Charles was known for disliking wine, preferring to drink beer instead.

  • Arizona's Sonoita AVA was designated in 1984.

  • Deen De Bortoli of De Bortoli wines of Australia died in 2003.