April 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. 

• The Bianchello di Metauro DOC was created in 1969.
• The Marsala DOC was created in 1969.
• The Sartène AOC was designated in 1976.
• It is the feast of Acan, the Mayan god of wine (also known as Belch).
• Feast day of St. Urban of Langres, patron saint of vineyard workers.

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.

March 31st - 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. 

• Jules Guyot, was a French physician and agronomist, who introduced a system of "cane-pruning" of vines for trellises died in 1872.
• Rudolf Steiner, father of biodynamic wine making died in 1925.
• California's Cucamonga Valley AVA was designated in 1995.

March 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. 

• The rebellion know as the Sicilian Vespers began in 1282.  The rebellion against the Angevin King Charles I started when French officials joined  locals at Palermo’s Church of the Holy Spirit to celebrate Easter and began to drink. A French soldier dragged a local (married) woman from the crowd and began pestering her.  Her husband then killed the dude and all hell broke out.  The trouble started at vespers or sunset.
• The Florida Territory was created in 1822.  The area includes wine making regions, Fort Caroline and St. Augustine.
• Vincent Van Gogh was born in 1853.  Along with his paintings of Sunflowers, Starry Nights and his bedroom in Arles, he also painted still lifes of the foods and beverages in his kitchen.
• Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula AVA was designated in 1982.
• Tom Angove, inventor of the wine cask (aka bag in a box) died in 2010.

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 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. 

• Simon de Brion, later known as Pope Martin IV was born in 1210 (or 1220).  In the Divine Comedy, Dante sees the pope in purgatory for his fondness for Lake Bolsena eels and Vernaccia wine.
• Abraham Mignon, artist of painter of still life and flower images including “Still Life with Fruit and a Goldfinch” died in 1679.
• Horace Walpole in a letter dated 1764 to Charles Churchill the satirist about the events of Lady Cardigan’s ball that evening where he tried to get fellow guests drunk, “but as they are not at all familiar chez moi, they formalize at wine, as much as a middle-aged woman who is just beginning to drink in private”. (He seems nice)
• The movie, Wine, Women and Song debuted in 1933.
• Stacy Ann Ferguson Duhamel, the singer known as Fergie, was born in 1975.  She is founder of Ferguson Crest Winery.

March 26th - 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 Gambellara DOC designation was established in 1970.
• The San Martino della Battaglia DOC designation was established in 1970.
• The Taurasi DOCG designation was established in 1970. The grapes used to produce this wine were previously called hellenico because of their Greek origin.
• Noël Coward who wrote: The air is like a draught of wine. The undertaker cleans his sign, The Hull express goes off the line, When it's raspberry time in Runcorn. in On With the Dance, 'Poor Little Rich Girl’ died in 1973.
• The Cheverny AOC was created in 1973.
• The AOC Aloxe-Corton was designated in 1986.

March 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. 

• Greece declared its independence from Turkey in 1821 freeing wine production from the onerous taxes of the Ottoman Turks.
• French winemaker, Jean-Michel Cazes was born in 1935.
• New York's Cayuga Lake AVA was designated in 1988.
• The Australian Geographical Indication "Clare Valley" was registered in 1999.
• The Australian Geographical Indication "Perricoota" was registered in 1999.
• The Australian Geographical Indication "Adelaide Plains" was registered in 2002.
• The French have a saying, « S'il gèle le 25 mars, pas de grain ni de vin. » or “If it freezes on March 25th, there will be no grain nor wine”.

March 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. 

• James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Ireland after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.  Later in his reign James suffered from arthritis, gout and kidney stones and was described as having urine, “dark red color of Alicante wine”. (That ain’t right)
• Pieter de Hooch, a Dutch painter died in 1684.  He is known for “A Woman Drinking with Two Men” and “A Woman and Two Men in an Arbor”.
• The Coteaux-Varois AOC was created in 1993.  The primary grapes are Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut, Mourvédre, Syrah and Carignan.
• The Cour-Cheverny AOC was created in 1993. The only grape allowed for this wine is Romorantin.
• It is National Ag Week and Agriculture Appreciation Week.

March 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. 

• Charles II issued a warrant to the Farmers of Customs for unlading 120 pipes of Canary wine for the Spanish ambassadors in 1667.
• Ludwig Minkus  and Austrian-Jewish composer was born in 1826.  His father was a wholesale wine merchant in Moravia, Austria and Hungary.
• Hubert de Castella arrived in Melbourne, from Switzerland in 1854 and began a winery in the Yarra Valley.
• The Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry listed that W.P. Thompson received a patent for a method and apparatus for manufacturing beer, ale, wine, cider or the like in 1892.
• Happy National Ag Week.

March 22nd - 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 Illinois General Assembly created rules requiring every county to regulate weights and measures including for a wine measure.
• George W. Roosevelt, the US Ambassador to France reports on new French laws about the adulteration of wines in 1883.
• Viticulture Committee of the Region of Vinho Verde was created in 1929.
• Franklin Roosevelt signed The Cullen-Harrison Act to amend the Volstead Act that allowed the sale and taxation of low alcohol beers and wines in 1933.
• Happy National Ag Week. Remember, without ag, there is no wine!

March 21st - 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’s marriage to Louis VII of France in 1152.  Her dowry included Aquitaine including the vineyards or Bordeaux, which remained hers through the marriage and afterwards.
• Julio Gallo was born in 1910.
• The AOC Alsace Grand Cru Sylvaner and Alsace Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergheim were named in 2005
• Wine Road of The Samurai, a documentary about 34 Samurai (who were also known as The Last Samurais) delegation sent by the Japanese government to France at the end of Edo era was released in 2006.
• Happy National Agriculture Week!  Remember, without ag, there is  no wine!

March 20th - 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 Dutch East India Company was created in 1602.  The South African wine industry, started by Jan van Riebeeck a company employee, is a legacy.

Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet was born in 1770 He is known for the poem, Brod und Wein.

James Christie imported 621 1/2 of port wine and 600lbs of Jesuits bark (cinchona bark, the source of quinine) in 1776.

Spain's Plá I Llevant  DO was created in 2001.

Happy Spring!  It is the Vernal Equinox.

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

March 19th - 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. 

• Philip (Filippo) Mazzei, Italian born physical and viticulturist died in 1816.  He brought plants, seeds, silkworms, and farms from Lucca, Italy. Thomas Jefferson gave Mazzei land too start a vineyard.
• Pennsylvania and New Jersey's Central Delaware Valley AVA was designated in 1984.
• California's Yountville AVA was designated in 1999. 
• Today is the feast of St. Joseph who is honored with a table of meatless foods (as it is lent) and wine offered to the poor.  St.  Joseph is the patron Saint of the working man.
• Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is no wine!

March 18th - 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. 

• Robert Walpole, The Earl of Orford and Prime Minister of Great Britain died in 1745.  He proposed that the tariff on wine and tobacco be replaced by an excise tax.  Revenues had fallen due to smuggling.
• Ernest Gallo was born in 1909.
• George I, King of the Hellenes was assassinated in Thessaloniki in 1913.  The king grew his own grapes for wine, Chateau Décélie.
• The Australian Geographical Indication "Mount Benson" was registered in 1997.
• Fess Parker, film and tv actor and winemaker died in 2010.
• Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is no wine!

March 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. 

• Cagnina di Romagna was made a DOC in 1988.
• Pagadebit di Romagna DOC was created in 1988.
• Traditional date for Bacchanalia, celebrating Bacchus, God of Wine.
• Date for the Liber Pater, which replaced the Bacchanalia, celebrated god of Italian fertility, wine and services.
• Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!  While not a holiday traditionally associated with wine, if you want a wine with green highlights may we suggest a cold climate Sauvignon Blanc or Vinho Verde (which really translates as Green Wine).
• Happy Ag Appreciation Week  Remember, without ag, there is  no wine!
• It is the feast day of St. Gertrude of Nivelles, the patron saint of gardeners and travelers.

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 Bacchanlia.
• 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 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. 

• 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.

Wineducation - Meet the Niagara Escarpment

On hearing the word, “Niagara” you undoubtedly think of Niagara Falls and its thunderous roar.  Wine lovers may know Niagara because of the Canadian ice wines.  Most are unfamiliar the wine on the American side of the Niagara River that forms the boundary between Western New York and Ontario.  And the word, “Escarpment”? you might as well be speaking Greek.  The escarpment is the essence of Niagara.  It is the reason that there is a waterfall. It is the ledge from which the water cascades.  

An escarpment is a steep slope or cliff.  Often they are divided by faults or by water.  The Niagara Escarpment helped form the Great Lake Basin and runs through New York State, into Ontario, Canada before disappearing into Lake  Huron before reappearing near the Upper Peninsula of Michigan then into Wisconsin’s Door County Peninsula.  The rocks are hard dolomites with layers of softer limestones and shales intermixed.

The Niagara Escarpment appellation runs along the section of the area between the Niagara River near Lewiston and Johnson Creek near Middleport.  The elevations range from 400-600 feet above sea level with steep slopes and well-draining soils.  The cliffs face to the north, which is not normally associated with prime vineyard lands but ultimately helps moderate the climate by keeping warmer, moist air from Lakes Erie and Ontario in the vineyards.  Though bud breaks may be later due to cool spring temperatures, the warmth captured in the lakes helps extend the growing season.  Cool air rolls down the hills which prevents frost and the unequal erosion of the escarpment create microclimates within single vineyards.

The region has long been part of the fruit belt in the Great Lakes region.  Viticulture, at least for hobbyists has existed for 100 years while most grapes cultivated were destined for producers such as Welches.  As wine production restarted, initially hybrid grapes were produced but vinifera varieties are equally represented, particularly those fruit that thrive in cooler climates such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling.