March 25th - 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.

  • Greece declared its independence from Turkey in 1821 freeing wine production from the onerous taxes of the Ottoman Turks.

  • French winemaker, Jean-Michel Cazes was born in 1935.

  • New York's Cayuga Lake AVA was designated in 1988.

  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Clare Valley" was registered in 1999.

  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Perricoota" was registered in 1999.

  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Adelaide Plains" was registered in 2002.

  • The French have a saying, « S'il gèle le 25 mars, pas de grain ni de vin. » or “If it freezes on March 25th, there will be no grain nor wine”.

March 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.

Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned at the stake.  The Knights at one point owned the entire Island of Cyprus and were purported to have created the wine, Commandaria.

Robert Walpole, The Earl of Orford and Prime Minister of Great Britain died in 1745.  He proposed that the tariff on wine and tobacco be replaced by an excise tax.  Revenues had fallen due to smuggling. #March18th #wine #history #winehistory🍷.

Ernest Gallo was born in 1909. #March18th #wine #history #winehistory🍷📗.

George I, King of the Hellenes was assassinated in Thessaloniki in 1913.  The king grew his own grapes for wine, Chateau Décélie. #March18th #wine #history #winehistory🍷.

The Australian Geographical Indication "Mount Benson" was registered in 1997 #March18th #wine #history #winehistory🍷📗.

Fess Parker, film and tv actor and winemaker died in 2010. #March18th #wine #history #winehistory🍷📗.

February 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.

  • Henry IV was crowned King of France in 1594.  He was baptized with a spoon of Jurançon wine and some garlic.

  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in 1807.  An American poet and educator, he is the author of “Ode to Catawba Wine”.

  • King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.  He built a summer villa called Mon Repos. George developed Tatoi, building roads and planting grapes for making his own wine, Chateau Décélie

  • Today in 2006 The Georgian Government offered Jennifer Lopez $500,000 to advertise Georgian wine. The singer/actress declined the offer.

  • It is the feast day of St. Gregory of Narek who’s book of Lamentations contains:

Look at me,

I am

unworthy of good, undeserving of favor,

incapable of love, drawn in by the strands of sin,

wounded in the depth of my inner organs,

a broken palm tree,

spilled wine,

damp wheat,

breached mortgage,

ripped up verdict,

counterfeit seal,

deformed image,

singed garment,

lost goblet,

sunken ship,

crushed pearl,

buried gem,

dried up plant,

broken beam,

rotten wood,

mutilated mandrake,

collapsed roof,

dilapidated altar,

uprooted plant,

oily filth on the street,

milk flowing through ash,

a dead man in the battalion of the brave.

November 12 - 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.

  • North Carolina ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1789.  It is home of the Appalachian High Country, Haw Valley, Swan Creek, Yadkin Valley and Upper Hiwassee Highlands viticultural areas.  

  • King George I of Greece returns after his country is freed from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.  The king grew his own grapes for wine, Chateau Décélie.

  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Riverina" was registered in 1998.

  • AOC Aloxe-Corton et Aloxe-Corton 1er cru were designated an AOC in 2007.

October 30th - 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.

  • Julia Augusti filia, known as Julia the Elder, was born in 39 BC.  She was daughter of Caesar Augustus, but after she was accused of adultery, she was exiled from Rome instead of being executed.  She was sent to the island of Pandateria with no men in sight and was even forbidden to drink wine.

  • Danish Prince Vilhelm arrives in Athens in 1863 and ascends the throne as George I, King of the Hellenes.  At the Palace of Tatoi, the king grew his own grapes and made his own wine Chateau Décélie.

  • The Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG designation was established in 1979.

July 16th - 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.

  • The London Review in 1864 had an ad from James L. Denman who was offering wines of Greece and Hungary.
  • The Mission of San Diego de Alcalá was founded in 1769 by Junipero Serra.  The Mission included 55,000 acres, and provided corn, wheat, barley, kidney beans, chick peas and other vegetables and vineyards to provide grapes for wine. 
  • The Dolcetto d'Alba DOC was created in 1974.  Alba is a city located in the Piedmont of Italy.

March 25th - 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. 

  • Greece declared its independence from Turkey in 1821 freeing wine production from the onerous taxes of the Ottoman Turks.
  • French winemaker, Jean-Michel Cazes was born in 1935.
  • New York's Cayuga Lake AVA was designated in 1988.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Clare Valley" was registered in 1999.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Perricoota" was registered in 1999.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Adelaide Plains" was registered in 2002.
  • The French have a saying, « S'il gèle le 25 mars, pas de grain ni de vin. » or “If it freezes on March 25th, there will be no grain nor wine”.

March 18th - This Date in Wine History

Carl_Doerr_Weinlese_in_der_Gegend_von_Heilbronn.jpg

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. 

  • Robert Walpole, The Earl of Orford and Prime Minister of Great Britain died in 1745.  He proposed that the tariff on wine and tobacco be replaced by an excise tax.  Revenues had fallen due to smuggling.
  • Ernest Gallo was born in 1909.
  • George I, King of the Hellenes was assassinated in Thessaloniki in 1913.  The king grew his own grapes for wine, Chateau Décélie.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Mount Benson" was registered in 1997.
  • Fess Parker, film and tv actor and winemaker died in 2010.
  • Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is no wine!

March 6th - 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. 

  • The final assault in the Surge of Chandax occurred in 961.  Previously, a  Byzantine forces had scoured the countryside in search of supplies which them to become drunk only to be attacked by the Emir’s troops.  The final sign on modern Heraklion was a success for the Byzantine forces.
  • Australian viticulturist, Dr. Richard Smart was born in 1945 .
  • Max Schubert, Australian winemaker responsible for Penfolds Grange Hermitage died in 1994.
  • Colorado's West Elks AVA was designated in 2001.
  • Ernest Gallo died in 2007.

February 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. 

  • Henry IV was crowned King of France in 1594.  He was baptized with a spoon of Jurançon wine and some garlic..
  • King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.  He built a summer villa called Mon Repos.[35] George developed Tatoi, building roads and planting grapes for making his own wine, Chateau Décélie
  • Today in 2006 The Georgian Government offered Jennifer Lopez $500,000 to advertise Georgian wine. The singer/actress declined the offer.
  • It is the feast day of St. Gregory of Narek who’s book of Lamentations contains:
Look at me,
I am
unworthy of good, undeserving of favor,
incapable of love, drawn in by the strands of sin,
wounded in the depth of my inner organs,
a broken palm tree,
spilled wine,
damp wheat,
breached mortgage,
ripped up verdict,
counterfeit seal,
deformed image,
singed garment,
lost goblet,
sunken ship,
crushed pearl,
buried gem,
dried up plant,
broken beam,
rotten wood,
mutilated mandrake,
collapsed roof,
dilapidated altar,
uprooted plant,
oily filth on the street,
milk flowing through ash,
a dead man in the battalion of the brave.
— Lamentations, Prayer 67

January 26th - 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.

  • Michigan was admitted to the Union in 1837.  It is home to the Fennville, Lake Michigan Shore, Leelanau Peninsula, Old Mission Peninsula and Tip of the Mitt viticultural areas.
  • Paul Newman, founder of Newman's Own which included a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon was born in 1925.
  • It is the feast day of St. Alberic of Cîteaux who founded the Cistercian Order of Monks.  Cistercians are known to support their abbeys through making products for sale.  St. Alberic arranged a donation of a vineyard to support his abbey.  That vineyard is known today as Meursault.
  • It is the feast day of Saint Timothy.  He was an evangelist in Turkey and Greece.  He was also known to be sickly and is the patron of gastrointestinal disorders.   In letters, St. Paul urges Timothy to  "use a little wine for your stomach's sake".

November 12th - 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 George I of Greece return after his country is freed from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.  The king grew his own grapes for wine, Chateau Décélie.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Riverina" was registered in 1998.
  • AOC Aloxe-Corton et Aloxe-Corton 1er cru were designated an AOC in 2007.

October 30th - 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.

  • Julia Augusti filia, known as Julia the Elder, was born in 39 BC.  She was daughter of Caesar Augustus, but after she was accused of adultery, she was exiled from Rome instead of being executed.  She was sent to the island of Pandateria with no men in sight and was even forbidden to drink wine.
  • Danish Prince Vilhelm arrives in Athens in 1863 and ascends the throne as Geoge I, King of the Hellenes.  At the Palace of Tatoi, the king grew his own grapes and made his own wine Chateau Décélie.
  • The Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG designation was established in 1979.

June 10th - 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.

  • Alexander the Great died in 323 after having drunk wine poisoned with Hellebore after an evening and day of drinking at Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon (people have conjectured).
  • Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin and François Clicquot married in 1798.
  • The Locorotondo DOC was created in 1969. 
  • The Dolcetto d'Asti DOC was created in 1974.
  • The Delia Nivolelli DOC was established in 1998.
  • Happy World Rosé Day!

March 25th - 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.


  • Greece declared its independence from Turkey in 1821 freeing wine production from the onerous taxes of the Ottoman Turks .
  • French winemaker, Jean-Michel Cazes was born in 1935.
  • New York's Cayuga Lake AVA was designated in 1988.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Clare Valley" was registered in 1999.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Perricoota" was registered in 1999.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Adelaide Plains" was registered in 2002.

 

March 18th - 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.


  • Ernest Gallo was born in 1909.
  • George I, King of the Hellenes was assassinated in Thessaloniki in 1913.  The king grew his own grapes for wine, Chateau Décélie.
  • The Australian Geographical Indication "Mount Benson" was registered in 1997.
  • Fess Parker, film and tv actor and winemaker died in 2010.