December 15th - 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.

  • Emperor Nero who rose to power by poisoning Emperor Claudius’ heir Britannicus  through the water used to cool Britannicus’ wine was born in 37AD. 

  • David Teniers the Younger, the Flemish painter was born in 1610.  He is know for the paintings, Festival of the Monkeys, and Smoking and Drinking Monkeys.  In each of these paintings, the  monkeys represent fools in high places.

  • Johannes Vermeer, painter of "The Wine Glass, A Lady Drinking and a Gentleman" and "The Girl with the Wineglass" was died in 1675.

  • In 1803 Lieutenant De Coetlagon was fined one bottle of wine for annoying Lieutenant Dowlin at mess according to the records of the infantry militia battalions of the County of Southampton.

  • Pierre Marie Alexis Millardet who saved the vineyards of France from phylloxera died in 1902.