July 20th - 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.

  • Samuel Pepys reports in his diary that in 1663 he met with Captain George Cocke at his home and drank some of the Malago Sack (Malaga Sherry) which was purchased for his wife Anna Marie Cocke to improve her health, “who is, he fears, a little consumptive, and her beauty begins to want its colour”.
  • The HMS Pearl under the command of Captain Ballard took the Spanish xebecs Santa Christo, Veloce Commo Penser and an additional 6 Spanish settees which were laden with wine, oil, rice and barilla in 1800.
  • Pope Leo XIII, a proponent of Vin Mariani, a wine made with coca leaves, died in 1903.
  • The Cortese dell'Alto Monferrato DOC was created in 1979. The wine is made from Cortese grapes in the Piedmont region of Italy.