June 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.

• A lawsuit was filed against New Haven's first publican, Henry Tomlinson in 1656 for charging more for strong water, wine and beer than was allowed and for keeping a disorderly house. He allowed young men and maids to attend his house, dance and play at shuffle board. (The horror!)
• Virginia ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788.  It is home to the Appalachian High Country, Middleburg Virginia, Monticello, North Fork of Roanoke, North Neck George Washington Birthplace, Rocky Knob, Shenandoah Valley and Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
• Antoni Gaudí was born in 1852.  He was an architect known for the style known as Catalan Modernism.  He is famous for the Sagrada Familia and the Güell wine cellars.
• The Bonfires Wine and Spirit Circular for this date in 1887 contained an advertisement for Roederer Dry Champagne as a new product in the United States.
• Robert Lawrence Balzer, America's first serious wine journalist was born in 1912.

December 14th - 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 Washington died in 1799.  He was a member of the Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1758-1765.  He plied the voters with 170 gallons of rice punch, beer, wine, hard cider and brandy.
• Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes the French painter was born in 1824.  He is known for his work, The Wine Press.
• ‘I heard it Through the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye was #1 on the charts in 1968.
• Spain's Conca de Barberá DO was created in 1989.
• Chile's Declaration of Appellations was approved in 1994.
• Oregon's Applegate Valley AVA was designated in 2000.

February 3rd - 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.

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• In 1468 Johannes Gutenberg died. He invented the method of printing from moveable type. One of the important innovations in his method was a new press, similar to the screw presses used in winemaking.
• Samuel Pepys reports in his diary that he went out with this cousin Roger to Priors, a Rhenish wine-house and had a “pint or two of wine and a dish of anchovies in1660.
• The father of Washington State wines, Dr. Walter J. Clore died this day in 2003.