August 12th - 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.

• Cleopatra died in 30 BC.  She is said to have owned the largest pearls in the world and she bet Marc Antony that she could spend a small fortune on a single  meal.  She won the bet by taking one of the pearls and dissolving it in wine vinegar and drinking the mix.
• The City of Jerez Spain in 1483 issued rules regarding The Raisin and Grape Harvesting Guild, protecting the designation of “Sherry”.
• Christopher Columbus stops in the Canary Islands in 1492 to restock provisions.  Food, water, delicious Canary wine….
• The French départment of Rhône-et-Loire was split into the départments of Rhône and Loire.  
• Eddie Barlow, South African cricketer was born in 1940.  In his retirement he bought a vineyard named Windfall.

June 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.

• Charles II of Navarre, known as Charles the Bad was crowned in 1350.  At the end of his life he was so decrepit that his doctor order him wrapped like a mummy in linen soaked in brandy (aqua vitae).  A maid dropped a candle and WHOOSH! This was seen as a sign of God’s justice.
• Diethylene glycol was discovered in a bottle of 1983 Rüster Auslese from a Stuttgart supermarket in 1985.
• Ycoden-Daute-Isora DO of Spain was created in 1994.