July 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.

• Thomas Rowlandson, British artist known for his caricature and satire was born in 1756.  Many of his works involved the street life of his fellow countrymen including, “With Women and Wine I Defy Every Care,” and a Bacchanalian.
• The Wine License Office, of Lincoln’s Inn in 1761 issued multiple notices requesting that people who had retail wine licenses that expired midsummer to renew those licenses.
• Bulgaria was divided in five wine producing regions in 1960 (Danube River Plains, Black Sea Coastal, Valley of the Roses, Thracian Valley, Struma River Valley).
• The AOC Côtes du Rhone Villages was named in 1951.

May 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.

• Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519.  He is said to have employed his lifelong servant Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, known as Salaì who worked in his vineyards and a model before becoming a student of da Vinci and eventually companion.  Upon da Vinci’s death Salaì received half of the vineyards.
• Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi died in 1564.  After the death of Pope Paul IV, it was thought that he was thought to be the favorite candidate of King Philip II of Spain.  He and Cardinal Ricci started the rumor that Cardinal de’ Medici had Lutheran tendencies and was going to loosen the requirements on celibacy in the clergy and allow the hoi polloi (laity) to receive both the bread and wine during communion.  This knocked Pio da Carpi out of the running.
• The United States passed a law about collecting duties on wine in 1792.
• Michael Broadbent, British wine critic, writer, auctioneer and preeminent authority on wine tasting and old wines was born in 1927. 
• Julio Gallo died in near Tracy California 1993.
• The French have a saying, « C'est à la Saint-Antonin, que vend son vin le malin. » or, “Sell your wine at St. Antoninus day before the Ice Saints come.”

April 7th - 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 van Riebeeck, who planted in the first grapes in Cape Town was born in 1619.
• The Cullen-Harrison Act went into effect in 1933.  This law was an amendment the Volstead Act and allowed the sale and taxation of low alcohol beers and wines.  It was signed into law by Franklin Roosevelt.
• Suzanne Valadon, artist model and painter died in 1938.  She was the subject of the Toulouse Lautrec painting, The Hangover.
• Director Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939.  He owns Niebaum Coppola, Rubicon Estate, Inglenook, and the Francis Ford Coppola Winery.
• California's Yorkville Highlands AVA was designated in 1998.
• Spain's Penedés DO was created in 2002.

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!

January 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.

• A Parisian Ordonnance of 1330, forbade the mixing of two wines together; no wine-seller was to give a false name to a wine, or to give a wrong description of its age ; the penalty was confiscation of the wine and a fine.
• Georg Friedrich Margrave von Baden-Durlach was born in 1573.  He founded an exchange bank in Upper Baden which was supposed to organize the wine and grain trade.
• Peter II of Russia died in 1730.  One of his early governesses was the wife of a Dutch vintner.
• Salvador Dalí married Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, better known as Gala in 1934. He later created a wine book, The Wines of Gala, as well as a cookbook, The Dinners of Gala in her honor.

December 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.

• The Cape of Good Hope passed laws respecting the sale of wines in 1762.
• Iowa was admitted as a state in 1846.  It is home to the Loess Hills District and Upper Mississippi River Valley viticultural areas.
• Woodrow Wilson was born in 1856.  He was President at the beginning of Prohibition, which restricted the SALE of alcohol but not the consumption.  At the end of his term as president, Wilson had his wine collection moved to his new residence.
• California's Shenandoah Valley AVA was designated in 1982.
• Virginia's Shenandoah Valley AVA was designated in 1982.