February 23rd - This Date in Wine History

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César_Ritz_(1897).jpg

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. 

  • César Ritz was born in 1850.  At the age of 15 he was apprenticed to a sommelier at a hotel in Switzerland.  He was fired being told, "You'll never make anything of yourself in the hotel business. It takes a special knack, a special flair, and it's only right that I tell you the truth—you haven't got it.”  He became the owner of the Ritz Hotels.
  • The Vermentino di Sardegna DOC was established in 1988
  • The Côtes-du-Forez AOC was named in 2000
  • It is the feast day of Serenus the Gardner… Legend has it that while he directed this thoughts towards prayer, his labor went to tending a fruit garden.  Until he was beheaded for refusing to honor the gods of Rome.