Who Held The First Wine Tasting?

National Drink Wine Day is held each year on February 18, so get ready to unwind with a glass or two of your favorite Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay.

Wine has been a staple in human culture since its invention in 7000 BC. Some ancient societies enjoyed their wine so much that they even worshiped it! These days, hundreds of types of wine are produced worldwide, so there’s an endless variety to choose from.

• 6000 BC -The earliest known record of wine in history. Villagers in the area that is modern-day Georgia, just south of Tbilisi, grapes are believed to be used for winemaking
• 4100 BC – A winepress for stomping grapes, vessels for fermentations, storage jars, drinking cups, and even withered grape vines show that a dedicated winery was functioning during this era.
• 1200 BC – Across the Middle East, Mediterranean, and North Africa regions, traders and travelers slowly began introducing wine to islanders and Europeans.
• 1000-1400 AD – As grape production grows in southern Europe, so does the winemaking industry (as northern Europe focuses more on beer). Monasteries begin their vineyards in now-famous places such as Champagne and Burgundy.
• 1224 – The King of France hosts the world’s first wine-tasting event.
• 1820s – With the first commercially successful winery and vineyard in Ohio, USA, the industry makes major improvements. Black rot mostly drives the industry out of Ohio, relocating to New York and, eventually, California.
• 1905 – The French Government establishes the National Institute for the Origins and Quality of Wine.
• 2010 – The most expensive bottle of wine ever sold — the 1869 Lafite-Rothschild — goes for $269,000.
• 2019 – the year in which Italy was the leading exporter of wine worldwide.
• $40.2 billion – the sales of wine in California in 2018.
• 68.9% – the percentage of wineries that benefited from wine tourism.
• 4,613 –  the number of wineries in California.
• 812 – the number of wineries in runner-up state Washington.
• 8.4 million – hectoliters of wine produced by wine companies in Argentina.
• 2–7 – the number of glasses of wine you need to drink per week to help lower depression.
• 74.7% – the percentage of men who consume wine in France.
• 60.5% – the percentage of women who consume wine in France.
• There are more organic compounds in a glass of wine than in your blood.
• The tannins found in red wine are a powerful antioxidant, and have been shown to lower blood pressure and risk of strokes, diabetes, and heart disease.
• Prince Charles owns an Aston Martin powered by wine-based biofuel.
• Due to a difference in stomach enzymes, women are more susceptible to the intoxicating effects of wine.
• the average adult consumes 45.6 gallons of wine every year – which works out at 20 miles per gallon, given that the average person walks 900 miles per year.
•  nearly 20 million acres of the earth’s surface are dedicated to grape farming for wine fermentation.
• tapping glasses to say “cheers” harks back to the Ancient Romans
• Ernest Hemingway said: “wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range of enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.”

 Sources:

National Today

Days of the Year