March 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.

• Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Louis VII of France in 1152.  Her dowry included Aquitaine including the vineyards or Bordeaux, which remained hers through the marriage and afterwards.

• Julio Gallo was born in 1910.

• The AOC Alsace Grand Cru Sylvaner and Alsace Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim were named in 2005.

• Wine Road of The Samurai, a documentary about 34 Samurai (who were also known as The Last Samurais) delegation sent by the Japanese government to France at the end of Edo era was released in 2006.

• Happy Nowruz!  The Persian New Year celebration goes back to the reign of mythic king Jamshid who saved humanity from a killer winter and also created wine.  The holiday is celebrated by Zoroastrians, Bahá’í and some Muslim sects

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.  The term “sack” comes from the Spanish “saca” which means extraction from a Solera.

• Carl Michael Bellman, a Swedish composer, musician, poet, and songwriter was born in 1740.  He is best known for Freedman’s songs and Freedman’s epistles which included themes of pleasure, drunkenness and sex.

• The Alsace - Klevener of Heiligenstein AOC was created in 1997 Rose of Savignin is a permitted grape for this region.

• 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 the people by abstaining from all  meat products and wine. 

December 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.

• The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in 497 BC.

• Jamal ad-Din Rumi, Muslim poet, jurist, scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic died in 1273.  He wrote:

On the seeker’s path, wise men and fools are one.

In His love, brothers and strangers are one.

Go on! Drink the wine of the Beloved!

In that faith, Muslims and pagans are one. -Quatrain 305

• Humphry Davy was born in 1778.  He was a chemist known for isolating potassium, calcium and strontium among others.  He is also known for experiments with nitrous oxide which he mixed with wine and tried as a hangover cure (his notes said it worked).

• This day in 1794 would have been the 27th day of the month Frimaire under the French Revolutionary Calendar. The day of the month was respresented by the Cork Oak Tree (Liège) and the month by Frost (Frimaire).

• 50 Alsatian Grand Crus were established in 1992.

September 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.

• Theodore de Mayerne, a Swiss physician who cared for Henri IV of France, James I, Charles I and Charles II of England was born in 1573.  He was said to have died in1655 from an excess of drinking of bad wine.

• French Romantic writer, Prosper Mérimée was born in 1803.  In  a story La Chamber bleu, written for Empress Eugenie, two lovers in a hotel room find a stream of blood coming under the door of their room.  They later discover it was Port wine.

• Louis Pasteur, who discovered pasteurization, the nature of tartaric acid in wine making & germ theory died today in 1895.

• Jean "Johnny" Hugel, Alsatian wine producer was born in 1924.

• Happy California Wine Month!

Qorkz Book Club - Wine & War

We have learned so much about WWII and the Nazis over the years but this was an eye-opener for me.  While achieving the goal of conquering an old enemy, the Nazi regime had a separate goal of stripping France of its wealth and treasures.  Much attention has been paid to art looted from conquered lands, but there was more involved.  They wanted France's wine.

This book looks at the stories of how the French worked to rebuild their viticultural heritage after years of war and infestation only to be faced with occupation by the Germans and their rapacious desire for French wine.  Various regions were put under the control of administrators known as Weinführers whose job was to collect the highest quality wines from their charges.  

The experiences of the various wine regions depended on the individual in charge but was also dependant on whether the Germans could claim the a region as part of a traditional German realm.  For instance, Alsace, which speaks a more Germanic dialect and had been part of Prussia in the past had their men conscripted into the German army.  The Alsatians, however, considered themselves French and where constantly at odds with their occupiers in ways that other Frenchmen didn't experience.

I highly recommend this book for people who love wine, history and France.  

August 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.

• Henri, Count of Chambord, pretender to the French throne died in 1883.  He was named for Henri IV by his mother in the hopes that he would be King of France and was even baptized like his name sake with wine and garlic.  (He never became King of France).
• Crement d'Alsace was named an AOC in 1976.
• California's York Mountain AVA was designated in 1983.
• It is the feast day of St. Ouen of Rouen.  He is a patron saint of innkeepers who have poured their fair share of wine.

June 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.

• In 968, Liudprand of Cremona in reporting to his King, Berengar II of Lombard, reports that he is sick and can’t understand why no one else at the Emperor’s banquet did not also get sick, “Their drink instead of good wine was brackish water;”
• James Oglethorpe receives a royal charter to establish the colony of Georgia.  One of the justifications for the colony was to be able to produce silk, olive oil and wine.  That didn’t work.
• The Rosso di Montalcino DOC was established in 1983. 
• Spain's Ribera del Júcar DO was created in 2003.
• Alsatian wine producer, Jean Hugel died in 2009.
• The French have a saying, « Pluie à la Sainte-Diane, ni grain au grenier, ni vin au cellier. » or "Rain at Sainte-Diane, no grain in the attic, no wine in the cellar.”
• Happy National Rosé Day!

April 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. 

• Eleanor of Aquitaine died in 1204.  Her dowry included Aquitaine including the vineyards or Bordeaux, which remained hers through her marriages and afterward.  She was succeeded as Duke of the Aquitainians by her son, John.  Later King John of England. (Think Robin Hood… yeah, that John.)
• Mike Grgich, Croatian American winemaker was born in 1923.
• The first issue of the Wine Spectator was released in 1976
• The Alsace Pinot Gris AOC was named in 2007. It was previously called 'Tokay Pinot Gris’ as the grape was thought to have been brought to Alsace by Lazarus von Schwendi after a campaign against the Turks in the 16th Century.

March 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. 

• Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Louis VII of France in 1152.  Her dowry included Aquitaine including the vineyards or Bordeaux, which remained hers through the marriage and afterwards.
• Julio Gallo was born in 1910.
• The AOC Alsace Grand Cru Sylvaner and Alsace Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim were named in 2005
• Wine Road of The Samurai, a documentary about 34 Samurai (who were also known as The Last Samurais) delegation sent by the Japanese government to France at the end of Edo era was released in 2006.
• Happy National Agriculture Week!  Remember, without ag, there is  no wine!

March 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. 

• Sviatoslav I of Kiev died in March of 972.  The date is unknown.  This is unusual for this calendar but his story was too good not to tell.  He was killed by Pecheneg Khan Kurya who turned his skull into a drinking cup. Kurya and his wife drank from the skull and prayed for a son as brave as the cup’s owner.  
• Ohio was admitted to the Union in 1803.  It is home to the Grand River Valley, Isle St. George, Lake Erie, Loramie Creek and Ohio River Valley.
• John Adlum who is considered the father of American viticulture and promoter and possible developer of the Catawba grape died in 1836.  He also the owner of a farm called, The Vineyard in Georgetown.
• Nebraska was admitted to the union in 1867.  It has been home to bonded wineries since 1994.
• The Alsace AOC was established in 1984.
• It is Baba Marta Day in Bulgaria.  She is the wife or sister of January and February (represented as long-horned beetles) who is angry with them because they are drunk on wine.  Her anger is represented by the breaking of the weather and return of Spring.
• The French have a saying, « Qui taille sa vigne à la Saint-Aubin, aura de gros raisins. » or “He who prunes his vines on St. Aubin’s day will get big grapes”.

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 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.

December 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.

• The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in 497 BC.
• Jamal ad-Din Rumi, Muslim poet, jurist, scholar, theologian and Sufi mystic died in 1273.  He wrote:

On the seeker’s path, wise men and fools are one.

In His love, brothers and strangers are one.

Go on! Drink the wine of the Beloved!

In that faith, Muslims and pagans are one.

       -Quatrain 305

• Humphry Davy was born in 1778.  He was a chemist known for isolating potassium, calcium and strontium among others.  He is also known for experiments with nitrous oxide which he mixed with wine and tried as a hangover cure (his notes said it worked).
• 50 Alsatian Grand Crus were established in 1992.
• This day in 1794 would have been the 27th day of the month Frimaire under the French Revolutionary Calendar. The day of the month was represented by the Cork Oak Tree (Liège) and the month by Frost (Frimaire).

September 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.

• Louis Pasteur, who discovered pasteurization, the nature of tartaric acid in wine making & germ theory died today in 1895.
• Jean "Johnny" Hugel, Alsatian wine producer was born in 1924.
• Arkansas' Arkansas Mountain AVA was designated in 1986.
• Paul Newman of Newman's Own, which includes a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon died in 2008.
• Happy California Wine Month!

September 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.

• Frederic Mistral and Victor Balaguer, were surprised to be offered in the form of toast, by Baron Brisse, a bottle of wine from Alsace harvest of 1472, which had been given by the director of the Hospices de Strasbourg.
• Pancho Campo, Spanish Master of Wine and educator was born in 1961.
• "Vins de Pays" was designated in 1968.
• Happy California Wine Month!

August 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.

• Crement d'Alsace was named an AOC in 1976.
• California's York Mountain AVA was designated in 1983.
• It is the feast day of St. Ouen of Rouen.  He is a patron saint of innkeepers who have poured their fair share of wine.

June 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.

• James Oglethorpe receives a royal charter to establish the colony of Georgia.  One of the justifications for the colony was to be able to produce silk, olive oil and vine.  That didn’t work.
• The Rosso di Montalcino DOC was established in 1983. 
• Spain's Ribera del Júcar DO was created in 2003.
• Alsatian wine producer, Jean Hugel died in 2009.

April 1st - This Day in Wine History

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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.

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• Mike Grgich, Croatian American winemaker was born in 1923.
• .The first issue of the Wine Spectator was released in 1976.
• The Alsace Pinot gris AOC was named in 2007. It was previously called 'Tokay Pinot Gris’ as the grape was thought to have been brought to Alsace by Lazarus von Schwendi after a campaign against the Turks in the 16th Century.

March 1st - This Date in Wine History

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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.

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• The Alsace AOC was established in 1984.
• It is Baba Marta Day in Bulgaria.  She is the wife or sister of January and February (represented as long horned beetles) who is angry with them because they are dunk on wine.  Her anger is represented by the breaking of the weather and return of Spring.  Red and white decorations are often hung from budding trees.

February 4th - This Date in Wine History

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St. John de Brito

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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.

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• 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.
• 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 the people by abstaining from allmeat products and wine.