December 7, 1901: On this day, André Tchelistcheff was born in Moscow, Russia. Tchelistcheff is popular in the 20th-century American wine industry. His contribution set the industry to recover from the effects of prohibition. Tchelistcheff is often revered as the ‘dean of American winemakers’ for his contribution and mentorship of other winemakers during the post-prohibition period. Another notable contribution is the transformation of Beaulieu Vineyard into a successful vineyard in Napa Valley. He introduced new wine pressing and aging methods.

December 7, 1941: On this day, Hardy Rodenstock was born. He was well-known in Germany as a wine collector, connoisseur, and trader. He was especially interested in old and rare wines. He also published and managed pop and Schlager music. He became well-known for his purported intuitive ability to track down old and extremely rare wines, as well as for hosting lavish wine tastings highlighting these wines. Rodenstock is accused of conducting a sophisticated wine scam. Rodenstock was judged to have “knowingly offered contaminated wine for sale” by a German court in 1992. On appeal, the case was settled the case. He died on 19 May 2018 in Oberaudor.

December 7, 2005: Ramona Valley AVA was established, located in San Diego County. The AVA encompasses 89000 acres of land with over 100 acres under vines. It is the county’s second AVA to be officially approved. Its unique terroir is suitable for Petite Sirah, cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Barbera, and Syrah.

December 7, 2020: On this day, Methuselah from Domaine De la Romanee-Conti was actioned at $978,000. In recent years, expensive white wine has struggled to compete with the reds, as evidenced by the highest-selling bottle of 2020. Six big format six-liter bottles of Methuselah from the renowned Domaine de la Romanée-Conti were sold through Baghera/”Kingdoms” wine campaign. Lot 14 was purchased for roughly $978,000 by a Swiss buyer. All of their lots were sold at the auction in December 2020 for an astonishing total of $3.9 million. Kingdoms also fetched $443,000 for six large-format DRC Jeroboam bottles and $1.9 million for a selection of wines from the Enoteca Pinchiorri collection.

December 7, 2021: On this day, “Folies de la Marquetterie” from Champagne Taittinger received the gold medal at the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championship. Champagne Taittinger is one of the best sparkling wine producers in the world in the same region as champagne. The winery dates back to 1734, however it is from 1932 that it gains momentum when Pierre Taittinger acquired it.

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