February 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.

  • King John of England (known as Lackland) invaded La Rochelle, France in 1214.  John was known as a connoisseur of jewels and his love of bad wine.

  • Gotthold Ephraim Lessing died in 1781.  He was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist and art critic. He died during a visit to the wine dealer Angott in Brunswick.

  • Ernest Shackleton, antarctic explorer was born in 1874.  During his Nimrod Expedition of 1907-1909 he packed 1600 lbs of “finest York hams,” 1260 lbs of sardines, 1470 lbs of tinned bacon, 408 lbs of ox tongues, 384 lbs of sheep tongues, 144 lbs of pork tongue.  For beverages, he included 25 cases of whisky, six bases of brandy, 6 cases of Champagne and 3 cases of Port.

  • Drink some Red, Red Wine, Ali Campbell of UB 40 was born in 1959.