November 5

November 5, 1271: Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in the northern part of China. Mongolian emperors had a particular fondness for wine throughout the Yuan Dynasty. They ruled that wine would be used in the Royal Ancestral Temple’s sacrifice rituals and commanded the opening of wine yards in the Shanxi and Jiangsu cities of Taiyuan and Nanjing. In the imperial palace, they even constructed a wine store. The Compendium of Materia Medica provides details on two wine-making procedures. The first method was straightforward: “Use grape juice for fermenting in the same way that glutinous rice is fermented, or use dried crushed grapes if juice is not available,” while the second was similar to the process used to make ardent spirits: “Use scores of kilograms of grapes and ferment them with raw starters in a caldron by steaming and then collecting the lively red dews dripping off with a container.”

November 5, 1908: Tiburcio Benegas died. Tiburcio Benegas Ortiz Posse was an Argentine politician, businessman, diplomat, and pioneer of the wine industry. one of the Generation of the Eighty’s representatives, and a National Autonomist Party member. In addition to establishing the water law, he pushed the Mendoza irrigation system. He made viticulture his life’s work. He was three times governor of the Province of Mendoza, twice Argentine ambassador to Chile, and was regarded by the populace as an upright and hardworking man.

November 5, 1942: Julian Brind was born. He became certified as a Master of Wine in 1970, and through his work in the Waitrose supermarket chain, he revolutionized the modern wine trade. He widened the accessibility of global wines by introducing them to supermarket shelves, via a staff of experienced wine buyers. Brind held numerous positions within wine organizations and trade associations. He passed away on December 19, 2010, and several scholarships have been dedicated by wine organizations in his honor.

November 5, 1970: Monica Larner was born in Los Angeles. She is a highly decorated journalist and an expert critic on Italian wine. Larner is primarily known for her reviews in The Wine Advocate, as well as eRobertParker.com, and is also a certified sommelier.

November 5, 2019: Wine for Normal People: A Guide for Real People Who Like Wine, but Not the Snobbery That Goes with It was published. Elizabeth Schneider is recognized for her Wine for Normal People podcast, in which she teaches everything related to wine in a simple and humorous way. Here she follows along the same vein, presenting the world of wine through a jargon-free, illustrated guide.

November 5, 2019: Bodega Trapiche was awarded the New World Winery of the Year by The Wine Enthusiast. Trapiche is an emblematic winery in Argentine wine history, as it was a pioneer in many aspects of Mendoza’s wine production that continue to this day. It is best known for its Malbec.

November 5, 2019: VIK Winery was awarded the “best winery experience” recognition by The Wine Enthusiast. The Millahue Valley was the place chosen by Swedish businessman Alexander Vik to build his wine project. Despite its young age, Vik Winery has grown rapidly and has become a quality vineyard and built a modern winery since its establishment in 2006.

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Hero image: David / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.