May 25 -- It's National Wine Day!

Not to be confused with National Drink Wine Day that was on February 18th.

So does this mean you aren't supposed to actually drink wine on National Wine Day? I doubt that's what the inventors of this day had in mind. So how to celebrate? Here's a few folks that have ideas:

• The Rockit Burger Bar in Chicago is offering free tastings of the two new wines on their list
• The Wild Thyme Cafe in Marina, CA is offering 1/2 off bottles until 5:30pm
• Holman Ranch Winery in Carmel Valley, CA is offering free tastings today
• The HomeField Grill in Round Rock, TX is offering free wine tasting during happy hour

The best part is that National Wine Day falls on a Friday of a major holiday weekend!  I don't know about you but I'm throwing a pork loin on the grill and popping a Russian River Pinot Noir.

Evil stuff
Image from winepsych.com

What are some of the big dates in wine history?

• Wine is estimated to be 8,000 years old. Imagine the first person to accidentally discover the fun of fermented fruit juice.
• Prohibition in the U.S. lasted from 1920 to 1933. The wine industry didn't really start to recover until the 1960s.
• In 1976 the Judgement of Paris put California wines on the map. A California wine explosion started in the 1980s and hasn't stopped.
• In 2011 the U.S. became the largest wine consuming nation.

BTW, May 25th is also National Tap Dance Day. Maybe you want to figure out a way to combine the two holidays.