July 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.

  • Frances Stewart Howard, Duchess of Richmond was born in 1578.  After being orphaned at 14, she was married off to the son of a rich wine merchant, alderman and patron of the the Virginia Company.  
  • The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1842 had an article the treatment for insanity including medicines made with warm water, wine and molasses.
  • In a letter dated July 27, 1888, J.W. Hyde of Grace Church, Waterville, NY, took the opinion that if the Lord chose wine as one of the symbols of the Eucharist, that it is not the job of men to question his wisdom.
  • In a 1901 report from Ambassador Thornwall Haynes indicates that Portuguese wine producers requested permission to distill some of the 132,000,000 gallons of surplus wine to ease the storage crisis.
  • Olympian Peggy Fleming was born in 1948. She was owner of Fleming Jenkins Vineyards and Winery with her husband.  The winery closed in 2012.