January 1st - This Date in Wine History

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Coat_of_Arms_of_Pope_Alexander_VI_Borgia_-_Castel_Sant'Angelo,_Rome.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.

  • Charles II of Navarre, known as Charles the Bad died in 1387.  At the end of his life, he was so decrepit that his doctor ordered 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.
  • Pope Alexander VI, the former Roderic Borgia was born in 1431.  He was known for frequently poisoning the wine of rivals, using the Cup of Borgia, and then confiscated their wealth.
  • Henry, Duke of Cornwall was born in 1511.  He was the first living child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.  To celebrate guns were fired, bells were rung, fires lit and free wine was given to the public.  The baby did not survive.
  • Pieter Claesz, Dutch golden age painter died in 1660.  Wine was often featured in his still life paintings.
  • Gregory Blaxland, the first exporter of Australian wine died in 1853.

February 5th - 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.

  • In 1206 King John orders Ralph the Miller to let Richard de Redvers have two tuns of wine that the king had bought.
  • In 1680, the Town of Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland payed 8 Pounds 3 shilling 8d for “8 pints of claret wine two ounces of tobacco and eight pypes” to honor Granaries sons burial day.
  • "Wine in the Word: An inquiry concerning the wine Christ made, the wine of the supper, etc." was an address given by Abraham Coles before the Woman's Christian temperance union of Plainfield, N.J.

January 30th - This Date in Wine History

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The Palais du Louvre

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.

  • A Parisian Ordonnance of 1330, forbade the mixing of two wines together; no wine-seller was to give a false name to a wine, or to give a wrong description of its age ; the penalty was confiscation of the wine and a fine.
  • Peter II of Russia died in 1730.  One of his early governesses was the wife of a Dutch vintner.

January 28th - This Date in Wine History

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The Bal des Ardents from Froissart's Chronicles

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 VI of France almost dies during the Bal des Ardents in 1393.  During the celebration the King and five other nobles performed a charivari dance dressed as wild animals.  They were set ablaze accidentally by the King’s brother, the Duke of Orleans.  The only other noble to survive (besides the King) jumped into a vat of wine to save himself.
  • English writer and critic, George Saintsbury, author of Notes on a Cellar-Book died in 1933.
  • The Rossese di Dolceacqua DOC was created in 1972.
  • California's Napa Valley AVA was designated in 1981.

January 27th - This Date in Wine History

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Shah Abbas I of Persia with wine boy by Muhammad Qasim

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.

  • Shah Abbas I of Persia was born in 1571.  There are paintings of the Shah being handed wine to drink despite Islam's prohibitions against it.
  • In 1659, Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of Cape Town, produced the first known wine in South Africa.
  • California's Stags Leap District AVA was designated in 1989.