August 9th - 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.

  • Hieronymus Bosch dies in 1516.  He was a Dutch painter known for his detailed works such as The Marriage at Cana; The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things, and the Allegory of Gluttony and Lust. 
  • Mary Randolph, author of the cookbook, The Virginia House-Wife; Or, Methodical Cook was born in 1762.  She includes recipes for currant wine and mead and included recipes that included wine.
  • Henry David Thoreau’s Walden; or, Life in the Woods was published in 1854.  It contains "I would fain keep sober always.... I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor.... Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?” (crazy talk!)
  • William Vere Cruess, food scientist responsible for rebirth of the California wine industry after prohibition was born in 1886.  He is also credited with creating the formula for fruit cocktail.

January 18th - 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.

  • Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town and produced the first known wine in South Africa died in 1677.
  • Messrs. Bouchard, père et fils report to Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Circular in 1890 about the quality of the new Burgundy which is said to be their best in years.
  • Hermann Müller, a Swiss botanist and oenologist created the Müller-Thurgau varietal in 1882 died in 1927
  • Oregon's McMinnville AVA was designated in 2005.