Wine History

First scientifically described in the US in 1834, and first noted in Europe, in Margate-England, in 1845.

Louis Pasteur's Study of Wines

In 1863, the first vines began to deteriorate inexplicably in the southern Rhône region of France. The problem spread rapidly across the continent.

The 1736 Gin Act taxed retail sales at a rate of 20 shillings a gallon on spirits and required licensees to take out a £50 annual licence to sell gin, a fee equivalent to about £7,000 today. The aim was to effectively prohibit the trade by making it economically unfeasible.

The Gin Act of 1751 prohibited gin distillers from selling to unlicensed merchants, restricted retail licenses to substantial property holders, and charged high fees to those merchants eligible for retail licenses. To offer the masses another invigorating (and non-alcoholic) beverage the import of tea was also encouraged.

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By Robert Gordon, a Scot with a ministerial background.

Patent #5974 granted to Aeneas Coffey for a two-column continuous still, an improvement in design over the Robert Stein 'patent still'.

Started in Bloomsbury, London.

Havana Club is a brand of rum made in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. José Arechabala established the brand in 1878. After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Cuban government nationalized the distillery and company. Subsequently, the Arechabala family left for Spain, then emigrated to the United States. Since 1994 it has been produced by Havana Club International, a 50:50 joint venture between Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government.

The Treaty, to become known as the Port Treaty, helped to establish trading relations between England and Portugal. The terms of the Treaty allowed English woolen cloth to be admitted into Portugal free of duty. In return, Portuguese wines imported into England would be subject to a third less duty than wines imported from France. This was particularly important in helping the development of the port industry. As England was at war with France, it became increasingly difficult to acquire wine and so port started to become a popular replacement.

Joseph Krug founded the House of Krug in 1843. He was born Johann-Joseph Krug, a butcher’s son, in Mainz, on the Rhine, in 1800, at a time when the city was part of the Napoleonic Empire. Having dispensed with the name Johann, he left Mainz in 1824 and by 1834 he was in Paris. Germans were then much in demand in France as accountants and book-keepers and, as such, Joseph joined Champagne Jacquesson in Châlons-sur-Marne.

A mention of wine made from aszú grapes had already appeared in the Nomenklatura of Fabricius Balázs Sziksai which was completed in 1576. A recently discovered inventory of aszú predates this reference by five years.

Vineyard classification began in 1730 with vineyards being classified into 3 categories depending on the soil, sun exposure and potential to develop noble rot, botrytis cinerea, first class, second class and third class wines. A royal decree in 1757 established a closed production district in Tokaj. The classification system was completed by the national censuses of 1765 and 1772.

It was Constantia's subsequent owners who achieved acclaim and prosperity, principally Hendrik Cloete, who purchased and restored it in 1778. Quality and fame gradually began to fade after the British occupied the Cape following the Napoleonic Wars. Initially sales picked up although from the mid 1820s a decline set in. In 1861, when the Gladstone government removed empire preferential tariffs, exports almost dried up and the twin disasters of POWDERY MILDEW and PHYLLOXERA brought to an end the golden era.