May 8, 1962: On this day, Karen A. Page was born in Warren, Michigan. She is an author best known for her books on food and wine written collaboratively with her husband Andrew Dornenburg. Some titles include What to Drink With What You Eat, The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine, and The Flavor Bible, which won a James Beard Award in 2009.

May 8, 1981: On this day, Stephen Adam Amell was born. He is a Canadian actor best known for his lead role in The CW’s hit series Arrow. He co-owns Nocking Point Wines in Walla Walla, Washington with Kevin Zinter and Andrew Harding.

May 8, 1981: On this day, Andrea Barzagli was born. A decorated professional Italian football player, he subsequently dipped his toes into winemaking with former Juventus and World Champion center-back Andrea Pirlo. They work with Le Casematte, a Sicilian winery with vineyards overlooking the Messina Strait.

May 8, 1984: Clear Lake AVA was established. It is located in Lake County, elevated between 1300 and 1500 ft above sea level. High elevation ensures the AVA experiences long sunlight hours, leading to thicker grape skins, high tannins, and phenolic content. Numerous grape varieties, such as Muscat, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel, thrive here.

May 8, 2013: The BottleRock Napa Valley festival was held for the first time in California. There were three stages at the event, with 60 bands performing on the docket, including Train, Zac Brown Band, The Shins, and Joan Jett. It was the first significant music event to take place in Napa Valley. The festival featured forty local wineries. Despite receiving more than 120,000 visitors and largely favorable reviews, some vendors and employees claim that festival organizers failed to pay them after the event. The subsequent festival’s revenues were utilized to partially settle obligations to get out of financial trouble.

May 8, 2019: On this day, Wine Country was released. The film, directed by Amy Poehler, comedically depicts a group of friends on a birthday trip to Napa Valley.

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