Dec 5thDecember 5th

Wine lovers have a reason to celebrate today. On this day in history in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment. For those who are not history buffs, that brought an end to Prohibition of the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the United States.

While some wineries continued to exist during Prohibition, the only wines created were for communions. Most just closed their doors from 1919 to 1933 and were slow to begin again. Laws in Kentucky were so restrictive that the wine industry didn’t restart until the 1990s.

Oddly enough, rather than waning, the popularity of wine grew during Prohibition because a clause in an act that defined enforcement of the amendment allowed for the making of wine for personal consumption by the head of households. Wine became a homemade treat.

So wine lovers, raise a toast to the 21st Amendment whose sole purpose was to end Prohibition.