April Wine Club 2026

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April Firsts

April is such a weird month. It starts with “April fools”, and then fools us all month long into thinking nice, warmer weather has arrived. Will it stay warm? Will it storm? Will it sleet? Who knows. 

With all this unpredictability, I thought April Wine Club should just focus on fun. Drawing inspiration from Visit Philly and their “52 Weeks of Firsts” program to celebrate the semi-sesquicentennial and Philly’s innovating role, this month’s wines are 2 of Visit Philly’s “firsts” for April. Our tasting this month is on the same theme, and there we’ll highlight all 4 “firsts”.

But, I am a fan of “connections” and circularity, so our wines are rather tangentially related to these firsts. Follow along!

First Circus Performance in America 1793

The first circus performance in America was held in 1793 on the southwest corner of 12th and Market streets in Philadelphia – a location that later housed the 12th Street Quaker Meeting House, followed by the William Penn Charter School, followed by the America’s first modern skyscraper – once the PSFS building, now the Loews hotel. In the 1790s, though, the site was vacant land that British equestrian John Bill Ricketts prepared, first, for his riding school and then for his circus. The venue he had built was an open-air wooden arena. The structure had a central, open “ring” for the performances, which was surrounded by wooden bleacher-seating for an audience – with capacity for 800 people. This early circus had tightrope acts, clowns, and acrobatics but, like circuses in Europe, the performances leaned heavily toward equestrian events; Ricketts and his wife both excelled at trick riding.

The circus as performed in Philly was based on a millennia-long evolution of the “circus” from Roman times, which itself was preceded by the Greek Hippodrome. The Roman Circus, like the hippodrome, was a venue - a purpose-built place for equestrian chariot-racing. Those earliest venues were quite simple. The central track had two long sides joined by a u-shaped segment at one end (like a modern track oval), while the opposite end was squared off. The Circus, unlike the Hippodrome, featured a central “spine” (at the modern track “infield”) that served as a barrier between the two long sides, but that also would be decorated with statues and obelisks; these decorations also were used to note the number of laps that had been completed by the racing teams. The Roman Circuses also had dedicated, permanent seating around the track.

The earliest known circus is Rome’s Circus Maximus. It was likely founded in the 6th century BCE, but rebuilt and elaborated upon many times in the following millennium. While it’s first incarnation may have been a simple track with a single story of tiered seating, it later featured tiered seating over 3 stories for up to 150,000 people. There was a wide, deep moat between the track and the spectators, colonnades, arches, shops, and a triumphal arch.

Some of these features were built in stone and brick, but there remained wood – especially in the shops. While Nero was emperor in 64 CE, fire broke out in the Circus’ shops; Rome burned for 9 days. 

The Circus was, of course, rebuilt. Romans – both commoner and noble – flocked to the Circus for the races and also for public events that came to be performed there.  

Of course, Roman summers could be pretty hot. When there were no games to be watched at the Circus, the wealthy often had (and still have) villas in the hills outside of the city where they could get away from the heat. One of the locales for these villas was ancient Tusculum – modern Frascati.

Vineyards were found in Frascati and its environs at least since the 7th century BCE, and they were renowned in the Roman world. Frascati is also the name of the wine appellation for “Rome’s Wine”; the second highest appellation, denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) was awarded in 1966, and the highest appellation, denominazione di origine controllata garantita (DOCG), – for Frascati Superiore wines of the Colli Albani overlooking Rome - was awarded in 2011.  

Our First Circus April wine is a Frascati Superiore, DOCG.

Colli di Catone Frascati Superiore

Colli di Catone winery is situated at the Terre Porziano estate. This ancient estate was once a villa owned by the sister of Emperor Trajan, and has a 2000 year-old underground cellar. Antonio Pulcini is the current owner and caretaker of the historic property. Here, he has maintained and flourished the ancient grapes Malvasia Puntinata and Grechetto; in the recent past, these were often destroyed in favor of Trebbiano and Malvasia di Candia. 

The Frascati Superiore is a blend of 40% Malvasia Puntinata, 30% Trebbiano, and 30% Malvasia di Candia. The juice spends 4-5 days on its skins, and fermentation is with indigenous yeast. It spends several months in stainless steel with its lees. 

This is a bright but complex white wine. The glass is full of fruits, especially peach and pear. There are also notes of lemon verbena and a hint of roasted pine nut, plus great acid and a bit of heft. Very nice for spring.

First Postmaster 1737, Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin was a lot of things: inventor, statesman, drafter and signatory of the Declaration of Independence… and America’s first postmaster general!

But, in 1737, even Ben Franklin would not have been able to get a post to the Canary Islands, which didn’t have an established, maritime, postal-link to mainland Spain until later in the 18th century. At that time in the Canary Islands, there was no need for a postmaster as communication across distances had been perfected centuries earlier by the Guanche.  These first inhabitants of the Canaries sailed over from Morocco; they are related to the Amazigh. The Guanche had created a whistled version of their language that was still in use when the Spanish colonized the islands. The whistling language was very useful in the island landscapes as the terrain was difficult and time-consuming to cross; it is densely forested and mountainous with steep ravines. The whistling could be conveyed across several kilometers, and so greatly eased communication between villages and across difficult terrain.

The Spanish colonists adapted the whistling to Spanish, creating what is now known as the Silbo Gomero. Even though it originally was spoken on all of the islands, it is now limited to La Gomera island, which is just 40km from Tenerife – a little too far to communicate in Silbo Gomero. In 2009, UNESCO granted The Whistled language of La Gomera in the Canary Islands status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Our First Postmaster wine comes from the Bodegas Tajinaste, on the island of Tenerife. Tajinaste does have a winery on La Gomera, but that wine is not available in PA. If you can find it, it is called Paisaje de Las Islas “Forastera”.

Tajinaste Tinto Tradicional

Bodega Tajinaste is named for a flower that grows on the island of Tenerife, and that is depicted on its labels. Agustín García Farrais is the 3rd generation owner of the winery. His grandfather planted many of their first vines in 1939, and his parents, Cecila (“Chilla”) and Agustín Sr, work alongside him.  Tajinaste includes three hectares of vineyards in the Valle de la Orotava on Tenerife. The sites feature bright sun and strong, persistent winds, with vineyards set on volcanic soils.

The tinto tradicional is made from100% Listán Negro, which is indigenous to the Canary Islands. Grapes come from higher-altitude slopes for their acid, and lower slopes for body. The juice is vinified in stainless. Roughly 20% undergoes carbonic maceration.  Following fermentation, one-third sees 2-3 months in American oak. 

The resulting wine is full of fresh fruits – especially blackberry, plum, cherry, and notes of smokey black-pepper and tobacco leaf. A savory wine to enjoy anywhere.