Every 25 May, National Wine Day gives wine lovers a good-natured reason to open a bottle and toast one of humanity’s oldest and most beloved drinks. It is a light-hearted modern observance with famously murky origins — but the thing it celebrates has some eight thousand years of history behind it, which is reason enough to raise a glass.
Quick facts
- National Wine Day falls on 25 May each year.
- It is separate from National Drink Wine Day (18 February).
- Wine has been made for roughly 8,000 years.
A day to raise a glass
National Wine Day is celebrated on 25 May, one of a whole family of informal “national day” observances that have grown up around food and drink1.
Its origins are genuinely obscure. No founder is known and no one is quite sure why 25 May was chosen; the earliest references only trace back to around 2009. It is also worth noting that it is distinct from National Drink Wine Day, which falls on 18 February — wine, it seems, is popular enough to warrant more than one day of its own2.
One of the world’s oldest drinks
Part of the fun is remembering just how old wine is. Humans have been making it for thousands of years, and it has accompanied civilisation through religion, medicine, trade and celebration — few things we still enjoy connect us so directly to the ancient world3.
The earliest known winemaking traces come from the South Caucasus — the country of Georgia and its neighbours — around 6000 BCE. From there the vine spread across the Mediterranean and, eventually, the globe. When you raise a glass on National Wine Day, you join a very long line indeed4.
Wine is one of humanity’s oldest companions — reason enough for a day of its own.— on National Wine Day3
How to celebrate
There are no rules. Some visit a favourite winery or local tasting room; others open a bottle they have been saving, explore a grape or region they have never tried, or simply share a glass with friends over a good meal. At heart, National Wine Day is an invitation to pay a little more attention to what is in the glass — ideally enjoyed thoughtfully and in good company5.
Wine days all year round
National Wine Day is far from the only one. The calendar is generously sprinkled with reasons to celebrate wine — days for drinking it, for red and for rosé, for individual grapes and for Champagne, not to mention the harvest festivals that have marked the wine year for millennia67.
| Date | Wine day |
|---|---|
| 18 February | National Drink Wine Day |
| 25 May | National Wine Day |
| 18 August | National Pinot Noir Day |
| 28 August | National Red Wine Day |
| Autumn | Harvest festivals worldwide, and Champagne and rosé days throughout the year |
A drink worth celebrating
Behind the cheerful hashtag is something real: wine is one of the most storied things human beings have ever made. A day set aside for it is a small tribute to that heritage — and a fine excuse to slow down, pour a glass, and taste a little history.
Frequently asked questions
More from this day in wine history
See everything else that happened on May 25 — who was born, what was bottled, and which laws were signed.
Read more
References
- National Today — National Wine Day. nationaltoday.com ↩
- NBC New York — Cheers, It’s National Wine Day: How Did the Holiday Originate? www.nbcnewyork.com ↩
- World History Encyclopedia — Wine. www.worldhistory.org ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Georgia (country). www.britannica.com ↩
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — wine. www.britannica.com ↩
- Wine Folly — Wine Holidays of the Year. winefolly.com ↩
- Wine International Association — Wine Days Calendar. wineinternationalassociation.org ↩
Recommended reading
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