October 20, 1972: On this day, Frazier’s Wine Merchants, Ltd. was incorporated.  In the 1800s, Samuel White was a brewer at the Bellefield Brewery in Winson Green, Birmingham. His son-in-law, William Reginald Frazier, started working as a certified valuer for nearby breweries like Ansells, Flowers, and Mitchels and Butlers.

October 20, 1985: Steve Smith, the owner of Brickhaven Brewing Company, was born on this day. The property for the brewhouse was acquired in August 2015. Its doors opened to the public for the first time in December of 2017, two and a half years later.

October 20, 1990: On this day, Carmignano DOCG was legally recognized. West of Florence, between the towns of Carmignano and Poggio a Caiano, between the Florentine and Prato hills, is where you’ll find the Carmignano DOCG. It differs from Chianti primarily in the blend, which includes Sangiovese (minimum 50%), Canaiolo Nero (maximum 20%), Cabernet Sauvignon, and Franc (up to 20 percent ). Due to the blend, the Tuscan wines made in this region are crisper and more elegant when Sangiovese predominates, and more robust and structured where Cabernets are used. Remember that Sangiovese and Cabernet pairings were a common practice in Carmignano as early as the 1600s. The Medici did import Cabernet Franc from France, which they named “grape francesca” at the time. Therefore, Carmignano can be regarded as the authentic Supertuscan ante litteram.

October 20, 2011: On this day, the Memorandum of Understanding on Certification Requirements was signed. Many nations demand certification of wine compositional requirements, which can be an unnecessary trade barrier, especially when they don’t relate to wine-related health or safety issues or when the exporting nation already has adequate systems in place to address such issues. With the Certification MOU, the same approach was applied to compositional aspects of wine that are not defined as oenological practices, taking into account that the MAA already stated that routine certification should not be required between parties for oenological practices.

For more dates in wine history, click here.