A Little History and Wine Pairings
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The February blog post is here!
This month I wrote about two things I love: wine (of course!) and its terroir, as well as its pairing with Mexican food. With a wealth of complex flavors, ranging from subtle to intense and changing with each region and climate of this beautiful country, there's always a perfect wine for every dish. I hope it inspires you to try new combinations! Read it here.
A Little History of the Month of February
February is a short month, only a couple of days shorter than others, but its history is intertwined with one of the most famous romances ever told. Very fitting for the month in which we celebrate Valentine's Day.
The Gregorian calendar, which we use today, was established in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, based on the Julian calendar, implemented by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. Before that, the Romans used a lunar calendar of ten months and 304 days, which governed the lives of millions of people. However, it wan't accurate: it did not align well with the seasons and left two unnamed months in winter, when military activity was minimal. March, named after Mars, the god of war, was the first month of the year, marking the beginning of military campaigns.
When Julius Caesar met Cleopatra and fell in love with her, he learned much from Egyptian wisdom, including its solar calendar. He admired its precision: it had 365.25 days and aligned with astronomical events, incorporating an extra day every four years to compensate for that 0.25 of a day. Convinced of its superiority, he implemented this system in Rome and named the unnamed months January and February. The rest retained their original names, except for Quintilis and Sextilis, which were later renamed in honor of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, respectively.
However, Augustus went down in history not only as the first Roman emperor, but also for his bad temper and his fear of the power of Cleopatra and the son she had with Caesar (a more legitimate heir than Augustus, Julius Caesar's nephew). Jealous even of his predecessor, in his arrogance he decided that he too deserved a month named after him and renamed Sextilis Augustus. But that wasn't enough for him: he couldn't stand that July, named for Julius, had more days than his own month. So, to balance the scales (and his ego), he stole a day from February, which was already the shortest month. To this day, July and August are the only consecutive months in the calendar with 31 days, while February has 28 (except in leap years, when it regains its extra day).
We already know how this story ends: the betrayal and assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC and the suicide of Cleopatra (and her other love, Mark Antony) in 31 BC, after Augustus' victory at the Battle of Actium and his invasion of Alexandria. But if it hadn't been for the love between these two great leaders, February might not be as we know it today.
In this month in which we celebrate love, I hope you are surrounded by it… and that you accompany it with a good bottle from Sarah's Wines!
In Vino Veritas!
Sarah