April 5th - 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.

• Isabella I of Jerusalem died in 1205.  Isabella’s first marriage was celebrated despite the castle of Kerak being under siege.  Her mother-in-law sent Saladin bread, wine sheep and cattle to join in the celebration and Saladin ordered that the tower the new couple were celebrating their wedding night in should not be attacked.

• Thomas Cavendish found 300 tuns of Spanish wine buried in the sand in a bay near Valparaiso, Chilean in 1587.  Given that he was a privateer, might be an exaggeration.

• Barbizon School painter, Jules Dupré was born in 1811.  He is known mostly for landscapes, but also for Still Life with a Grey Jug.

• Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Circular dated 1887 states a ship named Fortuna left Oporto bound for NYC with a cargo of wine.

• Andre Tchelistcheff , the dean of American Winemakers died in 1994.

• Louis Latour, 10th generation president of Maison Louis Latour died in 2016 at the age of 83.

December 26th - 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.

• Lord George Gordon, head of the Protestant Association and and the focal point of the Anti-Catholic Gordon Riots was born in 1751.  In 1787 he converted to Judaism while undergoing a trial for defaming Marie Antoinette. While imprisoned in Newgate prison, he was supplied with kosher meat and wine.

• Days of Wine and Roses starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick was released in 1962.

• It is the feast day of St. James the Just who was known for drinking no wine nor the eating of meat and wore only fine linen.

• The French have a saying, « À la saint Étienne, pas de vent, pour le vin c'est excellent. » or "To St Stephen, no wind, for wine is excellent. “

• « Dans la nuit qui amène saint Étienne, s'il fait du vent, le vin sera très abondant » or "In the night that brings St. Stephen, if it makes the wind, the wine will be very abundant “.

• Happy Boxing Day!

October 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.

• King Belshazzar of Babylon offers his guests wine from goblets taken from the temple in Jerusalem as the city falls in 539 BCE.
• Bonforts Wine & Spirits Circular reports that it is anticipated that Champagne will produce a small yield for the 1888 vintage.  This is due a snow and heavy frost in October 1887.
• Helena Modjeska was born in 1840.  She and a small group of Polish artists and aristocrats emigrated to Anaheim, California to create a colony based on Brooks Farm.  They grew muscat grapes which no one would buy but stole… The colony failed and Modjeska returned to the theater but created her home at Arden in Anaheim until 1906.