March 16th - 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.

• Traditional date for Bacchanalia.

• Johann Rudolf Glauber died in 1670.  He was a German-Dutch alchemist who wrote about improvements in wine making and is considered an early chemist or chemical engineer.

• In 1818, President James Monroe signed a bill set apart and dispose of public lands for the encouragement and cultivation of “the vine and olive”.  The documents were sent to Treasury Secretary, William H. Crawford.  The land was in Alabama (it didn’t work).

• The 1872 Medical Times and Gazette describes a new French patent medicine made of quinine, cacao and iron mixed with Malaga wine as a tonic for blighted children.  Quinine wines are still sold as aperitifs (Byrrh, for example).

• Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is  no wine!

March 13th - 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.

• The cargo of the ship Jameson and Peggy included James Anderson’s March 13, 1776 order of 5 Pipes (713 gallons ) port wine.  The jameson and Peggy was later taken by American forces during the Revolutionary War by James Munro.

• Louis François Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Conti was died in 1814. He inherited the Romanée- Conti vineyard from his father and owned it until the National Convention stripped him of his property in 1793.  He was exiled and died in poverty in Barcelona.

• The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal for March 13, 1884 contains an ad for the “Choicest and Purest Hungarian Wines ever brought to th is country Strictly for Medicinal Use”

• The Recreation and Cultural Association of Vale do Souto (ARCVASO) was created in 1989 in part to promote Vinho Calum and other cultural treasures.

• William Vere Cruess, food scientist responsible for rebirth of the California wine industry after prohibition died in 1968.  He is also viewed as the inventor of fruit cocktail (in a can).

• It is the feast of St. Ansovinus.  He is a patron of gardeners and is invoked for good harvests.

April 13th - 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. 

• Krum, Khan of Bulgaria died in 814.  He used the skull of the Byzantine Emperor as a wine cup.
• Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and wine lover was born in Virgina in 1743.
• The first elephant in America was brought from India in 1796.  It was fed rice, hay and stray, “all kinds of wine and spiritous liquors”  it could also draw a cork from a bottle in its trunk. It was a sad existence.
• Baron Philippe de Rothschild was born in 1902.
• "Red Red Wine" written and performed by Neil Diamond was released in 1968 it was and later covered by UB40.

April 1st - 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. 

• Eleanor of Aquitaine died in 1204.  Her dowry included Aquitaine including the vineyards or Bordeaux, which remained hers through her marriages and afterward.  She was succeeded as Duke of the Aquitainians by her son, John.  Later King John of England. (Think Robin Hood… yeah, that John.)
• Mike Grgich, Croatian American winemaker was born in 1923.
• The first issue of the Wine Spectator was released in 1976
• The Alsace Pinot Gris AOC was named in 2007. It was previously called 'Tokay Pinot Gris’ as the grape was thought to have been brought to Alsace by Lazarus von Schwendi after a campaign against the Turks in the 16th Century.

February 13th - 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. 

• Parentalia, the Roman festival of the ancestors was celebrated by offerings of flower-garlands, wheat, salt, wine-soaked bread and violets.
• Béla II of Hungary died in 1141.  Known as Béla the blind the Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle indicates that “After King Bela had been established in his rule of the kingdom, he indulged himself much with wine. His courtiers found that whatever they asked of the King in his drunkenness he would grant, and after his drunkenness he could not take it back.”
• The Challenge of Barletta was fought in Italy of 1503.  The tournament was provoked after Charles de la Motte of France, drunk on the local wine, insulted the Italians.
• Under a federal law passed in 1862, it was illegal to  “provide spirituous liquor or wine "to any Indian under the charge of any Indian superintendent or Indian agent appointed by the United States”. A fine of $500.00 was charged for each violation.
• It is Mardi Gras 2018.  Laissez Les Bontemps Roullez!

February 1st - 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.

•  "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored" The Battle Hymn of the Republic is first published in 1862.
• In 1888, New York City Excise Board Commissioner revoked licenses for individuals with licenses to sell beer, ale and wine for selling “spirituous liquors”.
• The California Agricultural Experiment Station reports that the wine from Ploussard grapes from J.T. Doyle’s experimental plot in Cupertino was checked.  The lees were found to contain much lactic ferment in 1890.
• It is the feast day of Saint Tryphon. He was from Campsada in Phrygia (Turkey) and is the Eastern Orthodox patron saint of gardeners and winegrowers. His head is located in the Cathedral of St. Tryphon in Kotor, Montenegro.

January 2nd - 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. 

• Georgia ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788.  It is now home to the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA.
• Virginia's Eastern Shore AVA was designated in 1994.
• It is the feast day of St. Adalard of Corbie.  He was the cousin of Charlemagne and is patron saint of gardeners.

December 27th - 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.

• Guillaume Du Fay, the Franco- Flemish Renaissance composer first identified as the Canon of Cambrai in documentation when he received 36 lots of wine for the feast of St. John the Evangelist in 1440.
• The Methuen Treaty, that established the wine trade between Portugal and England was signed in 1703. This gave Britons access to Portuguese wine during war with France.
• Louis Pasteur, French chemist and microbiologist who demonstrated that microorganisms contaminated fermenting beverages thus allowing him to invent the process of "pasteurization" was born in 1822.
• French actor, Gérard Depardieu was born in 1948.  He also owns Chateau de Tigne in Anjou, Loire Valley, France but also owns vineyards in Bordeaux, Languedoc, Algeria, Argentina, Morocco, Spain, Sicily and the United States.
• The Valpolicella DOC designation was established in 1990.
• The Australian Geographical Indications "The Peninsulas” "Far North” "Fleurieu" "Limestone Coast” and"Mount Lofty Ranges" were registered in 1996.

December 24th - 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.

• The Plot of the Rue Saint-Nicaise fails in 1800.  This plot was designed to kill Napoleon with a wine cask filled with explosives.
• The Touraine AOC was created in 1939. 
• French oenologist, Michel Rolland was born in 1947.
• The Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence AOC was created in 1985.
• The Egg Nog Riot begins at West Point in 1826.  Eggnog was often enriched with sherry, brandy, or whiskey and rum at the time.
• If you celebrate Christmas, be sure to leave out treats for Santa Claus.  We suggest Syrah in lieu of milk.

December 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.

• Edvard Munch was born in 1863.  He was a painter and photographer known for “The Scream” as well as “Self-Portrait with a Bottle of Wine”.
• In 1887. J.T. Doyle of Cupertino revealed that his plot of long-pruned Grossblaue produced a “Thin, dry wine with pronounced astringency.  It was racked and pasteurized for safety”  This wine improved considerably by June of the following year.  Grossblaue is also known as the Slovenian wine grape, Žametovka.
• Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Circular reported that Senator Henry W. Blair introduced a bill to create a commission to look at Alcohol and taxation.  The purpose of the commission would be to reduce alcohol usage.  
• California's Madera AVA was designated in 1984.

December 7th - This Date in Wine History

Texoma Council of Governments - http://www.texoma.cog.tx.us/departments/planning-

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.

• André Tchelistcheff, the "dean of American winemakers was born in 1901.
• The Australian Geographical Indication "Lower Murray" was registered in 1996. 
• California's Ramona Valley AVA was designated in 2005.
• The Texoma AVA was designated in 2005.
• Washington's Wahluke Slope AVA was designated in 2005.

December 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.

• Prohibition is repealed in 1933.
• A bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafite Bordeaux that had belonged to Thomas Jefferson sold at Christie’s London for 105,000 British Pounds making it the world’s most expensive wine.
• The Savennières AOC was designated in 1996.

December 4th - 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.

• 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!

December 1st - 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.

• A Report to the Superintendent of the Census for December 1, 1852 includes a history of viticulture from colonial days to the mid-19th century.
• Oregon's Willamette Valley AVA was designated in 1983.
• Spain’s Ribera del Duero DO was established in 1992.

November 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.

• Colorado's Grand Valley AVA was designated in 1991
• Spain's Condado de Huelva DO was created in 2002.  The wines from this area are known as the wines of the Discovery of America.

October 29th - 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.

• Today is Cyrus the Great Day in Iran.  During the final battle of his life, Cyrus left food and wine (which was unknown to the Massagentian people) and a smallgroup of soldiers that was quickly overtaken by the enemy who consumed the remaining feast becoming intoxicated, leading to many of their demise.
• Henry Dearborn shipped wine and a memorandum of expenses and duties to Thomas Jefferson in 1822.
• Aglianico del Taburno was designated a DOC in 1986.

October 28th - 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.

• Samuel Pepys reported in his diary that today in 1666 that he went to visit his mistress, Mrs. Martin and brought her and her friends the widow Burroughs and Doll a bottle of wine and “did tumble them all the afternoon as I pleased”.
• In 1764, the Count de Guerchy tried to poison the Chevalier d'Eon by poisoning his wine with opium. The Chevalier was a French diplomat, spy, soldier and Freemason who lived the first half of her life as a man and the second half as a woman.
• Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the Volstead Act was overridden in 1919.  Volstead Act prohibited the sale and consumption of Alcoholic beverages (BOOO).

August 30th - 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.

• Joseph Dennie, American author and journalist was born in 1768.  He was a Federalist who also published under the names Oliver Oldschool, Academicus and Sociais.  He was described as having health trouble throughout his life as well as a predilection for wine.
• Agoston Haraszthy, the "Father of California Viticulture" and founder of Buena Vista Vineyards was born in 1812.
• The Mississippi Delta AVA was designated in 1984.
• It is the feast day of St. Fiacre. He is the patron saint of gardeners.  

August 7th - 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.

• Pope John XXII was elected in 1316. Under his reign wines of the region began to be referred to as "Vin du Pape”
• Mata Hari the Dutch courtesan, dancer and spy was born in 1876.  While she was awaiting execution she was brought a steady supply of champagne and meals from nearby restaurants.
• The Wine and Spirit Bulletin of 1908 has an announcement of the Marriage of Lee Mida of Mida’s Criterion was married to Miss Louise Henrietta Gueth.

July 8th - 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.

• The Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry in the United Kingdom reports that E.R. Sudden received a patent for a method and apparatus for maturing wine and live beverages in 1890.
• The US Patent office issued a trademark for Donnelly Brothers Wines in 1913
• The Bianco Pisano di San Torpè DOC was established in 1980.  This wine comes from Pisa and have 75% Trebbiano grapes, must be 16% alcohol and be aged 4 years.