December 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.

• John Otto Donner of Jersey City, NJ is issued a patent for treating wine, beer and liquors with salts of magnesia in 1869.

• The Lamezia DOC was created 1978

• The Lizzano DOC  and Rosso di Montepulciano DOC were created in 1988

• Spain's Arlanza DO was created in 2007

• Today is the German celebration of Yule.  Enjoy a cup of Glühwein, a type of mulled wine.

• The ancient Roman’s celebrated Brumalia.  Vine growers would sacrifice a goat to Bacchus.

August 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.

• Joseph Dennie, American author and journalist was born in 1768.  He was a Federalist who also published under the names Oliver Oldschool, Academicus and Sociais.  He was described as having health trouble throughout his life as well as a predilection for wine.
• Agoston Haraszthy, the "Father of California Viticulture" and founder of Buena Vista Vineyards was born in 1812
• The Pharmaceutical Journal for 1873 provided a general recipe for Iodine wine which is made by fermented grape juice in contact with powdered marine plants. 
• The Mississippi Delta AVA was designated in 1984.
• It is the feast day of St. Fiacre. He is the patron saint of gardeners.  
• Happy International Cabernet Day!

July 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.

• Camille Pissarro was born in 1830.  He was a Danish-French painter who is known for still life paintings such as Still Life with Apples and Pitcher.
• The Chemical News of 1874 has a report from the Committee on Adulteration who reports that “The man who sells us a blanket got up with a deliquescent salt, like chloride of magnesiums, imperils our health just as decidedly as if he had put  amylic or petroleum products in our wine, or red lead in our chocolate.”
• The Black Hawk left Bremen in 1887 bound for NYC loaded with wine.
• Madiran and Pacherenc of Vic-Bilh are awarded AOC status in 1948.  Both AOCs are for wines produced in the  town of Madiran in Gascony, France. The Madiran wines are made of Tannat and the Pacherenc of Vic-Bilh of Petit Manseng and Corbu.

July 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.

• Stephen Báncsa, a Hungarian cardinal died in 1270.  As Archbishop of Esztergom, he donated a tithe of wine to the canons of St. Adelbert Cathedral.
• The SS Gellert left Le Havre in 1887 bound for NYC with a shipment of wine.
• The Carema and Sangiovese di Romagna DOC were created in 1967.
• The Austrian government issued a health warning regarding diethylene glycol contaminated wines in 1985.
• The Belgian AOC Hagelandse wijn was designated in 1997.

June 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.

• Charles II of Navarre, known as Charles the Bad was crowned in 1350.  At the end of his life he was so decrepit that his doctor order him wrapped like a mummy in linen soaked in brandy (aqua vitae).  A maid dropped a candle and WHOOSH! This was seen as a sign of God’s justice.
• Maximilian, Prince of Dietrichstein was born in 1596.  In 1643 he placed 2,000 barrels of wine at Nikolsburg Castle.
• The American brig, Friendship  that was laden with wine and salt from Cadiz to Charlestown was taken by Captain Hope of the Kent in 1800.
• Diethylene glycol was discovered in a bottle of 1983 Rüster Auslese from a Stuttgart supermarket in 1985.
• Ycoden-Daute-Isora DO was created in 1994.

May 20th - 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.

• Pope John XXI died today in 1277.  One of the things accomplished during his 9 month papacy was to ensure that the cardinals electing popes were given sufficient food and wine during their deliberations.  Previously, supplies with progressively restricted to ensure a quick election.
• Eduard Buchner was born in 1860.  He was a German chemist  who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on fermentation. He showed that an extract that was free of living yeast cells could still lead to fermentation.
• Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor and winemaker was born in 1943. He is the owner of Carrisi Wine Company in Apulia.
• The French have a saying, « S’il gèle à la Saint-Bernardin, adieu le vin. » or, “If it freezes at St. Bernardino of Siena’s day, goodbye to wine.”

April 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.

• Today is the anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. As a result of the quake 30 million gallons of wine were destroyed.
• The Monica di Cagliari DOC was created in 1979.
• The Nasco Cagliari DOC was created in 1979.
• The Bianco dell'Empolese DOC was established in 1989.
• In 2007, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the results of a recent joint study by the University of Reading and University of Cagliari that showed moderate consumptions of Champagne May  help the brain cope with the trauma of stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease.

March 16th - 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. 

• Traditional date for Bacchanlia.
• Johann Rudolf Glauber died in 1670.  He was a German-Dutch alchemist who wrote about improvements in wine making and is considered an early chemist or chemical engineer.
• In 1818, President James Monroe signed a bill set apart and dispose of public lands for the encouragement and cultivation of “the vine and olive”.  The documents were sent to Treasury Secretary, William H. Crawford.  The land was in Alabama (it didn’t work).
• The 1872 Medical Times and Gazette describes a new French patent medicine made of quinine, cacao and iron mixed with Malaga wine as a tonic for blighted children.  Quinine wines are still sold as aperitifs (Byrrh, for example).
• Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is  no wine!

January 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.

• Mt. Etna erupts in 1693. The eruption enriches the fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south.
• William Thomas Brande was born in 1788 in London.  A chemist, he was the first to be able to calculate the alcohol content of wine, cider, and ale.  He also believed that distilled spirits were toxic, while wine and beer, wholesome.
• Ezra Cornell was born in 1807.  Cornell was a founder of Western Union and endowed Cornell University which is  known for its viticulture, enology and agricultural sciences programs.

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).

October 20th - 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.

• South African chemist and viticulturist, Abraham Izak Perold was born in 1880.
• Italy’s Rosso Conero DOC was created in 1990.
• Italy’s Verduno Pelaverga DOC was created in 1995.
• Spain's Rioja DOCa was created in 2004.
• Celebrate Champagne Day!

August 29th - 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 the Baptist is thought to have been beheaded in 28/9AD.  A drunk King Herod promised the head of his stepdaughter, Salome, after she danced for him. John publicly reproved both Herod and Herodius for divorcing their spouses and then marrying each other. 
• Stricter wine purity laws were passed in 1985 by the Austrian government in the wake of the scandal surrounding diethylene glycol contaminated wines.
• Coteaux de Saumur AOC was revised in 2002.  These wines semi-sweet and made of Chenin Blanc.

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.

July 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.

• Camille Pissarro was born in 1830.  He was a Danish-French painter who is known for still life paintings such as Still Life with Apples and Pitcher.
• The Chemical News of 1874 has a report from the Committee on Adulteration who reports that “The man who sells us a blanket got up with a deliquescent salt, like chloride of magnesium, imperils our health just as decidedly as if he had putamylic or petroleum products in our wine, or red lead in our chocolate.”
• Madiran and Pacherenc of Vic-Bilh are awarded AOC status in 1948.  Both AOCs are for wines produced in the town of Madiran in Gascony, France. The Madiran wines are made of Tannat and the Pacherenc of Vic-Bilh of Petit Manseng and Corbu.

March 10th - This Date in Wine History

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Hugh Johnson

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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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• Johann Rudolf Glauber was born and died on this date in 1604 and 1670.  He was a German-Dutch alchemist who wrote about improvements in wine making and is considered an early chemist or chemical engineer.
• Paul Draper winemaker at Ridge Vineyards in California was born in 1936. 
• Hugh Johnson OBE, British author and wine expert was born in 1939.

December 27th - This Date in Wine History

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Louis Pasteur by Félix Nadar

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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 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.
• 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.