National Wine Day

Sweet or dry, red or white, fizzy or flat, let’s raise a glass to one of the most loved and historical alcoholic tipples there is – the sophisticated and often sassy glass of wine.

For centuries and centuries, wine has been a firm favorite of cultures across the world. Whether it’s for helping creativity, religious ceremony, or simply livening up a gathering, there’s no doubt that this fruity fixture of the alcoholic drink repertoire well deserves its own day of observance.

On the 25th of May, it’s time to celebrate everything that makes a wine great. And everything that makes a wine great is, of course, everything about it.

History of National Wine Day

You may think every day has the potential to be a National Wine Day depending on how hard the day at work has been, but for when your boss hasn’t been getting on your nerves there’s National Wine Day.

Unlike Drink National Wine Day, which is in February, National Wine Day is more about celebrating the beverage itself rather than the act of drinking it – although of course, that isn’t stopping you from enjoying a tipple or two!

Wine has been around for donkey’s years. The oldest evidence of wine that we have dates way back to 7000 BC China. Many ancient civilizations celebrated the effects of wine and often used it for religious observance.

Today, wine is one of the most widely produced and consumed drinks in the world. Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, Syrah – there are so many types to choose from. And it’s not just grapes which make up the bottles – you can also get hold of fruit, flower and even vegetable wines!

Fun and fascinating facts about wine

• Back in the day, women could be killed for drinking wine! Yes, in the early Roman times, a husband was at liberty to kill his wife if he found her drinking wine. It was a forbidden drink for women.
• Speyer, Germany, is home to the oldest bottle of wine in the world. It is on display at the historical museum in the town, and it dates back to an impressive AD 325.
• Have you ever toasted to everyone’s health? This is something that comes from Ancient Greek tradition. The host of the dinner would have the first sip of wine to assure his guests that the drink was not poisoned.
• In order to get the exact quantity of antioxidants you get in wine, you would have to drink seven glass of orange juice or if you prefer apple juice, you would need 20 glasses!
• The oldest known wine cellar is actually on the famous ship, Titanic. We know what you’re thinking; the Titanic sunk! However, when divers when down to the wreckage, they were surprised to see that most of the wine bottles were still intact.
• Surprisingly, there are some people who are actually scared of wine! It is known as oenophobia.

How to celebrate Wine day

This seems an obvious one; celebrate National Wine Day by pouring yourself and your friends a glass or two!

Keep it simple with a few glasses in the pub, or push the boat out and invite family and friends over for a meal with perfectly paired wine for each course. The internet has a wealth of information regarding what wines go best with what dish, so you can really look the expert!

We’ve got a few tips to help you, though…

• Bitter wines are best balanced with fat.
• White wines are best paired with meats that have light-intensity, for example, chicken or fish.
• Red wines are best paired with bold-flavored meats, for example, red meat.
• The wine and the food should have the same flavor intensity.
• The wine that you choose ought to be sweeter than the food.
• The wine should be more acidic than the food.
• Usually, red wines will create congruent pairings.
• More often than not, rose, sparkling, and white wines will create contrasting pairings.
• Instead of matching the wine with the meat, is better to match the wine with the sauce.

If you want to get a bit more creative than just drinking it, you could look into producing wine. Winemaking kits are not hard to come by in larger department stores, and who knows – you could end up making something really tasty!

Whether you decide to use a wine kit or you make your own wine from scratch is completely up to you. There are pros and cones associated with both. With a wine kit, you are not going to have to wait long in order to get some wine into the bottle. It is possible to have wine in a bottle around four to six weeks from the beginning of the process. However, the catch is that there are a lot of benefits that are associated with aging your wine properly. A lot of people like to start off with a wine kit, and then they will move onto trying out their own recipes.

How long a wine needs to age depends on the sort of wine you are making. For example, if you want to make an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon, you would be the best aging it for at least seven years, or as long as ten years. However, a Sauvignon Blanc only needs to be aged for 18 months to two years, and a Pinot Gris will only take a year or two for the wine to be aged to perfection. Do a little bit of digging online so that you can make sure you get your timings right.

So what’s yours – red, white, or rose? Whatever your choice, be sure to raise a glass today!

And as with all days celebrating alcoholic drinks, enjoy responsibly!