December 27th - 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.

  • 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.