May 4th - This Date in Wine History

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.

• John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics because of their rejection of transubstantiation (the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ).
• Jean François Champollion died in 1832.  He was known for deciphering the Rosetta Stone.  It contains records from Ptolemy V including donations of wine to temples and vineyard harvests.
• Singani, a Bolivian liquor, similar to Pisco, distilled from Moscato of Alexandria received a DO in 1992.
• It is the feast day of Saint Monica of Hippo. She was known for bringing offerings of porridge, bread, water, and wine to the oratories of certain saints until she was forbidden by the local bishop. She is the patron saint of difficult marriages and disappointing children. (Her son was St. Augustine)
• Happy International Sauvignon Blanc Day!
• Happy Star Wars Day! What would Yoda drink?

December 27th - This Date in Wine History

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.

• Guillaume Du Fay, the Franco- Flemish Renaissance composer first identified as the Canon of Cambrai in documentation when he received 36 lots of wine for the feast of St. John the Evangelist in 1440.
• The Methuen Treaty, that established the wine trade between Portugal and England was signed in 1703. This gave Britons access to Portuguese wine during war with France.
• Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist who demonstrated that microorganisms contaminated fermenting beverages thus allowing him to invent the process of "pasteurization" was born in 1822.
• French actor, Gérard Depardieu was born in 1948.  He also owns Chateau de Tigne in Anjou, Loire Valley, France but also owns vineyards in Bordeaux, Languedoc, Algeria, Argentina, Morocco, Spain, Sicily and the United States.
• The Valpolicella DOC designation was established in 1990.
• The Australian Geographical Indications "The Peninsulas” "Far North” "Fleurieu" "Limestone Coast” and"Mount Lofty Ranges" were registered in 1996.

May 4th - This Date in Wine History

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.

• John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics because of their rejection of transubstantiation (the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ).
• Singani, a Bolivian liquor, similar to pisco, distilled from muscatel pomace received a DO in 1992.
• It is the feast day of Saint Monica of Hippo. She was known for bring offerings of porridge, bread, water and wine to the oratories of certainsaints until she was forbidden by the local bishop. She is the patron saint of difficult marriages and disappointing children.
• Happy Star Wars Day.  May the Force be with you.