March 10th - 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.

  • Johann Rudolf Glauber was born in 1604.  He was a German-Dutch alchemist who wrote about improvements in wine making and is considered an early chemist or chemical engineer.

  • Parliament passed a duty of 7l. per tun of Madeira and 10s per tun of Portuguese and Spanish wine in 1764.

  • William Shilling of Baltimore, MD received a patent  in 1868 for an apparatus for distilling spiritus liquors… specifically “low” wine.

  • Paul Draper winemaker at Ridge Vineyards in California was born in 1936 

  • Hugh Johnson OBE, British author and wine expert was born in 1939

  • It is the feast day of St. Himelin.  He became while returning from a pilgrimage to Rome.  He ask a girl for water and was refused due to plague in the area.  When she relented, the water, miraculously turned into wine.  He died of the plague three days later. 

December 21st - 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.

  • John Otto Donner of Jersey City, NJ is issued a patent for treating wine, beer and liquors with salts of magnesia in 1869.

  • The Lamezia DOC was created 1978

  • The Lizzano DOC  and Rosso di Montepulciano DOC were created in 1988

  • Spain's Arlanza DO was created in 2007

  • Today is the German celebration of Yule.  Enjoy a cup of Glühwein, a type of mulled wine.

  • The ancient Roman’s celebrated Brumalia.  Vine growers would sacrifice a goat to Bacchus.

August 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.

  • Pliny the Elder 1st century AD naturalist and author of the Roman encyclopedia Naturalis Historia (Natural History) that discusses viticulture methods, died in A.D. 79.
  • James Douglas, Lord Douglas died in 1330.  He is known for the Douglas Larder.  Douglas troops were hidden until the local garrison left for mass on Palm Sunday.  The troops burst into the church dragged the garrison out beheaded them and burned them on the wood from destroyed wine casks.
  • Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Circular reports that the ship Powhatan left the Port of Geneo for New York City in 1887 loaded with wine.
  • It is the feast day of St. Louis IX.  He is a patron saint of distillers.

March 15th - 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 Fijt, a Flemish Baroque painter known for creepy still life of hunting dogs and dead game but also responsible for beautiful flower paintings and food still lifes such as A Lobster in a Porcelain Dish was born in 1611.
  • Theodore de Mayerne, a Swiss physician who cared for Henri IV of France, James I, Charles I and Charles II of England died in 1655 from an excess of drinking of bad wine.
  • John Snow, the father of modern epidemiology, anesthesia and hygiene who proved that the cholera outbreak in London in 1854 was associated with one water pump was born in 1813. During the 1830s he became a vegetarian and teetotaler until his health deteriorated and returned to meat and wine.
  • Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820.  Vineyards in the State often make fruit, or country wine or with those of cold-hardy grapes.
  • In the Parliamentary Debates of March 15, 1824, the Marquis of Lansdowne makes a motion to support the independence of South America by remarking that, “The time was, when Spain had the power to root up the vineyards of Mexico, that the inhabitants might rely on the mother country for wine“
  • Beware the Ides of March!  Try drinking wines from Lazio, the region surrounding Rome, Greek wines that were said to be Caesar’s favorites and Beaujolais from the village of Juliénas which was named for him.

January 21st - 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.

  • Pope Paschal II died in 1118.  During his reign he appointed a Bishop to oversee the territories of Greenland and Vinland (Newfoundland)
  • Jefferson Davis resigned from the United States Senate.  A step before becoming the President of the Confederacy.  He was a participant in the  West Point Eggnog riot.  He escaped punishment.
  • Thomas Munson, the American horticulturist who's work with grape rootstock led to phylloxera-resistant stocks died in 1913
  • It is the feast day of St. Agnes of Rome.  She is the patron saint of crops and gardeners as well as Girl Scouts.
  • Happy Babinden!  This Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian holiday celebrates midwifery and includes Young Mother’s Feast which includes grilled chicken and wine.

January 1st - 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.

  • 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.

December 4th - 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.

  • Nicholas Breakspear was declared Pope Adrian IV in 1154.  His papacy would end five years later when he choked on a fly in his wine
  • U.S. Gen. George Washington held a dinner to bid farewell to his officers in 1783.  He toasted them with the words,  "[w]ith a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." As he later asked to take each one of his officers by the hand for a personal word.
  • California's McDowell Valley AVA was designated in 1981.
  • California's Santa Cruz Mountains AVA was designated in 1981.
  • California's Sonoma Valley AVA was designated in 1981.
  • Falcon Crest, an American primetime television soap opera about an American winemaking family debuted 1981.
  • Happy Cabernet Franc Day!

November 11th - 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.

  • Today is the feast day of St. Martin of Tours.  St. Martin is the patron saint of vintners, wine growers and winemakers.
  • The Fourth Lateran Council meets today in 1215.  The doctrine of transubstantiation by which  bread and one are transformed into the body and blood of Christ was formalized. It was led by Pope Innocent III.
  • Spain's Bierzo DO was created in 1989
  • The French have a saying, « À la Saint-Martin, jeune ou vieux, bois le vin. » or "At Saint-Martin, young or old, drink wine. " 
  • À la Saint-Martin, bois le vin et laisse l'eau aller au moulin. » or "At Saint-Martin, drink the wine and let the water go to the mill. " 
  • «Si les feuilles de la vigne ne tombent pas avant la Saint-Martin, l'hiver sera froid. » or "If the leaves of the vine do not fall before Saint-Martin, the winter will be cold. " 

November 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.

  • Julian was named Caesar of the Western Provinces in 355.  He later tried to conquer the Persians but was injured.  He died as a result of having his wound irrigated with “dark wine”.
  • The Synod of Rome was called by Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in 962.  During this Synod, Otto deposes Pope John XII on the grounds that he was depraved and worldly (and incited rebellion against the Emperor).  Witnesses claimed that the Pontiff had toasted the devil with wine.
  • The French Bonnezeaux AOC was created in 1951.

February 23rd - 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 Cotes-du-Forez AOC was named in 2000.
  • The Vermentino di Sardegna DOC was established in 1988.
  • It is the feast day of Serenus the Gardner… Legend has it that while he directed this thoughts towards prayer, his labor went to tending a fruit garden.  Until he was beheaded for refusing to honor the gods of Rome.

October 13th - 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.

  • Roman celebration of Fontinalia. Offerings were made to the god, Fontus (sources) (fountains and springs) as well as the gods of wine and other libations.
  • The Moscadello di Montalcino DOC was established 1983.
  • California's El Dorado and Potter Valley AVAand Michigan's Lake Michigan Shore AVA and Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia's Catoctin AVA were designated in 1983.