October 26th - This Date in Wine History

Image courtesy of De Bortoli Wines

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.

• One of the first known serial killers, Gilles de Rais was executed in 1440 in Nantes, Brittany.  Young victims were dressed in expensive clothing, given an extravagant meal and hippocras, a sweetened, spiced wine before being tortured, murdered and dismembered.

• The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure reports from Bonn that the grape harvest of 1775 was so beyond expectation that there would be no empty casks available to make cider on the Moselle.

• Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V was crowned as King of Germany in 1520.  Charles was known for disliking wine, preferring to drink beer instead.

• Arizona's Sonoita AVA was designated in 1984.

• Deen De Bortoli of De Bortoli wines of Australia died in 2003.

October 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.

• Titus Flavius Domitianus, Roman Emperor known as Domitian, who banned planting of vineyards in order to increase grain production in the Empire was born in 51 CE.

• Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes the French painter died in 1898.  He is known for his work, The Wine Press.

• Cotes-de-Provence AOC was created in 1977.

• California's Alexander Valley AVA was designated in 1984.

• California's Central Coast AVA was designated in 1985.

• The Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC classification was created in 1995.

• The French have a saying, « Quand arrive la Saint-Magloire, vigneron sait ce qu'il peut boire. » or "When the Saint-Magloire arrives, the winemaker knows what he can drink. "

October 23rd - 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.

• Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen of Sweden was born in 1636. At one point, her grandson, Charles XII encountered her while he was inebriated.  She gave him a withering look and turned her back on him.  long look and then turned her back to him. Charles emptied his cup and saying: “My Gracious Lady Grandmother is pleased to forgive me. From hereafter I will never more drink wine”.

• François Clicquot died in 1805, leaving his wife Nicole Barbe Ponsardin as La Veuve (the widow)  Cliquot.

• English writer and critic, George Saintsbury, author of Notes on a Cellar-Book was born in 1845.

• Baron Bettino Ricasoli, the Father of Chianti Classico, died in 1880.

• California's Temecula Valley AVA was designated in 1984.

September 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.

• According to Bonfort’s Wine and Spirit Circular indicates that the ship Germanic left Liverpool in 1887 with passenger and wine cargo bound for NYC.
• The Ohio River Valley AVA was designated in 1983.
• Spain's Tacoronte-Acentejo DO was established 1992. 
• It is the feast day of St. Gratus of Aosta.  He is the patron saint of vineyards and against storms, insects and lightning.
• Happy California Wine Month!

August 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.

• George Canning, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, died in 1827.  He was born in Londonerry, Ireland, the son of a failed wine merchant and lawyer.
• Baron James de Rothschild acquired the Chateau Lafite in 1868.
• Salvador Dalí re-married Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, better known as Gala in a Catholic ceremony in 1958.  They were married in a civil ceremony in 1934. He later created a wine book, The Wines of Gala, as well as a cookbook, The Dinners of Gala in her honor.
• New Jersey's Warren Hills AVA was designated in 1988.
• It is the feast day of  Saint Cyriacus.  He is a patron saint of viticulture and is also known as one of the 14 holy helpers.

July 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.

• Flemish painter, Theodoor Rombouts was born in 1637.  He created paintings such as Musical Company with Bacchus shown above.  Many of his paintings show card playing and drinking.
• Nathaniel de Rothschild, founder of the French wine-making branch of the Rothschild family was born in 1812. 
• The Chianti Classico DOCG designation was established in 1984.
• The Ozark Mountain AVA was designated in 1986. 
• California's Oakville AVA  and Rutherford AVA were designated in 1993.

July 1st - This Date in Wine History

Image courtesy of the Walter Clore Center

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.

• Dr. Walter Clore, father of Washington State wines was born in 1911. 
• Dan Aykroyd was born in 1952.  As well as being a Ghostbuster he is also owner of Dan Ackroyd Wines.
• France’s Coteaux de Pierrevert AOC was created in 1998.
• Italy’s Lago di Corbara DOC was established in 1998.
• California's High Valley AVA, Minnesota’s Alexandria Lakes AVA,  Red Hill Douglas County, Oregon AVA and Washington's Horse Heaven Hills AVA were designated in 2005.

June 15th - 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.

• Lisa del Giocondo was born in 1479. She was the daughter of a Chianti vineyard owner and later married Florentine silk merchant.  She was the model for Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting, The Mona Lisa.
• Arkansas was admitted to the union in 1836.  It is home to the Altus, Arkansas Mountain and Ozark Mountain viticultural areas.
• California's Mendocino AVA was designated in 1984.
• California's Monterey AVA was designated in 1984.
• It is the feast day of Saint Germaine of Pibrac (France).  She was known to sleep on a pallet vine cuttings from her infancy until the time she died at the age of 22.

June 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.

• Anne Boleyn was crowned as Queen consort in 1533.  In her youth she was described as sweet and cheerful, enjoying wine and French cuisine, flirting, gambling and gossip.  
• José I of Portugal was born in 1714. Under his rule, the Duoro wine region was demarcated. 
• Kentucky was admitted to the Union in 1792.  It is home to the Ohio River Valley viticulturel area.
• Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796.  It is home to the  Appalachian High Country and Mississippi Delta viticultural areas.
• The Rosso Barletta DOC was created in 1977.
• Wine writer and entrepreneur, Alexis Lichine died in 1989.
• California's Diamond Mountain District AVA was designated in 2001. 
• Oregon's Ribbon Ridge AVA was designated in 2005.
• Happy English Wine Week!

May 17th - 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.

• Anne of Denmark was coronated as Queen of the Scots in 1590.  Her marriage to James VI of later James I of England was fractious due to his drinking and adultery.
• The Pirate, Bartholomew Roberts was born in Wales in 1682.  Impressed into piracy he was elected as Captain six weeks later, after the previous captain was ambushed on the way to the fort in Príncipe to share a glass of wine with the Governor. He is said to be the model for the Dread Pirate Roberts in the Princess Bride.
• California's Merritt Island AVA was designated in 1983.
• California's Northern Sonoma AVA was designated in 1985.
• Lawrence Welk, purveyor of champagne music, died in 1992.
• Happy National Aperifif day! (established by Maison Lillet)

May 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.

• Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette become King and Queen of France in 1774.  The champagne coupe is alleged to be designed after Marie Antoinette’s breast.
• Robert Gray, an American sea captain was born in 1755.  While at Nootka Sound his ship, Columbia Rediviva was repaired and reprovisioned with large amounts of salmon, pork, eggs, butter, fresh bread, wine, brandy and cabbage by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra.  The Columbia River is named for his ship.
• Spain's Condado de Huelva DO was named in 1983.  They produce wines referred to as Wines of the Discovery of America.
• The Columbia Gorge AVA was designated in 2004.

May 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 Battle of Jinyang ended in 453 BC.  The victorious Zhao Xiangzi executed his opponent Zhi Yao and made his skull a wine cup.
• Bertalan Székely was born in 1838.  A Hungarian painter, he created an image of the Székely Blood Oath where the leaders 7 Hungarian tribes spill some of their blood into a chalice of wine and drink it to establish a bond.
• Washington Post wine columnist and James Beard Award winner, Karen A. Page was born in 1962.
• Actor, Stephen Amell was born in 1981.  He is known for portraying the Green Arrow on the TV show Arrow.  He is co-owner of Nocking Point Wine in Walla Walla, Washington.
• California's Clear Lake AVA was designated in 1984.

April 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.

• It is the Roman holiday of Floralia.  It was celebrated with drunkeness, nude dancing and the throwing of legumes and release of hares and goats (like every good festival should).
• Maryland ratified the U.S. Consitution in 1788.  It is home to the Catoctin, Linganore and Cumberland Valley viticultural areas.
• The Palette AOC was created in 1948. 
• The Donnici DOC was named in 1975.
• The Falerio dei Colli Ascolani or Falerio DOC was created in 1975.
• The Ansonica Costa dell'Argentario DOC was established in 1995.

April 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.

• Edward II of England was born in 1284.  He was married to Isabella of France (above) in 1308.  The wedding was celebrated at Westminster Palace with a fountain that contained wine and pimento which is described as a spiced medieval drink.  By the way, the bride was 12 years old. ugh.
• The Dutch fleet destroyed the Spanish fleet at Gibraltar in 1607.  This was part of the Eighty Years’ War between The Netherlands and Spain and it depressed the prices of grains, herring and wine (among other products).
• North Carolina's Swan Creek AVA was designated in 2008.

April 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. 

• Famed actress, Helena Modjeska died in 1909.  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 instead stole… The colony failed and Modjeska returned to the theater but created her home at Arden in Anaheim until 1906.
• The Salice Salentino DOC was created in 1976.
• The Kanawha River Valley AVA was designated in 1986.
• It is the feast of St. Walter of Pontoise.  He is the patron saint of prisoners, prisoners of war, job-related stress and vintners.

April 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. 

• Jan van Riebeeck, who planted in the first grapes in Cape Town was born in 1619.
• The Cullen-Harrison Act went into effect in 1933.  This law was an amendment the Volstead Act and allowed the sale and taxation of low alcohol beers and wines.  It was signed into law by Franklin Roosevelt.
• Suzanne Valadon, artist model and painter died in 1938.  She was the subject of the Toulouse Lautrec painting, The Hangover.
• Director Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939.  He owns Niebaum Coppola, Rubicon Estate, Inglenook, and the Francis Ford Coppola Winery.
• California's Yorkville Highlands AVA was designated in 1998.
• Spain's Penedés DO was created in 2002.

April 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. 

• For circumnavigating the globe, Sir Francis Drake was knighted in 1581.  During the voyage he sacked the port of Valparaiso and captured a ship of Chilean wine.
• King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway died in 1588.  He was considered a typical Danish king and was a lover of hunting, wine, women and feasting.
• Washington's Yakima Valley AVA was designated in 1983.

March 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. 

• In an experiment in 1749, the measurements of a thermoscope (an early form of the thermometer) was tested with water, salt water and “spirit of wine” mixed with water.  This last version caused the instrument to rise much more dramatically.
• Baron Bettino Ricasoli, the Father of Chianti Classico, was born in 1809.
• The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Ruled in 1813 that the Philadelphia Sheriff Barker was not entitled to break into Plaintiff Lyle’s house and seize 29 pipes of Madeira to pay an undetermined debt to Robert Morris.
• Bentley’s Miscellany in 1842 published an account of three “medical young gentlemen” who attended the Greenwich fair, meeting at the Cheshire Cheese in Wine-office Court, Fleet Street.
• Oregon's Umpqua Valley AVA was designated in 1984.

March 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. 

• In 1903, Cornelius Kingsley Garrison Billings, wealthy industrialist, horseman and tycoon hosted an eccentric horsed dinner where all the guests were seated on a horse and ate off of silver trays affixed to the saddles.  Guests also drank 1898 Krug Champagne from rubber tubes to iced bottles in their saddlebags.  The dinner was held at Louis Sherry’s restaurant.
• The Bianco di Pitigliano DOC was created in 1966. 
• Brunello di Montalcino DOCG designation was established in 1968.
• The Southeastern New England AVA was designated in 1984.
• California's Santa Clara Valley AVA was designated in 1989.
• The French have a saying, « À la Saint-Gontran, espoir s'il fait beau, pain et vin se font voir. » or "At Saint-Gontran, hope if the weather is nice, bread and wine are visible. "

March 9th - 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. 

• Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy was born in 1213.  He gave up the Barony of Salon for the counties of Chalon and Auxonne to expand the Duchy which improved the wine trade in the region.  
• Amasa Leland Stanford was born in 1824.  He was a tycoon, industrialist, politician and founder of Stanford University.    He also owned two wineries, the Leland Stanford Winery in Alameda County and the Great Vina Ranch in Tehama County.  
• The Franco-American Cookery book; or How to live well and wisely by Felix J. Déliée in his menu for Friday, March 9th  includes a recipe for Baked Cod with Smelts that includes cod, chopped only, parsley, salt, pepper half a pint of white wine and water, topped with butter, flour bread crumbs smelt and lemon. The book was published in 1907.
• Spain’s Cigales DO was created in 1991.
• The Snake River Valley AVA was designated in 2007. Evil Knievel jumped a canyon over the Snake River in 1974.