Test your wine knowledge with quiz questions from our expert.
What Italian DOCG was previously a sub-zone of Barbera d'Asti?
Nizza
Nizza is one of the most historic areas for Barbera production, and was elevated to its own DOCG status in 2014. Nizza wines must be made with 100% Barbera grapes, with minimum aging requirements of 18 months (six in oak). Nizza Riserva wines must be aged for 30 months (12 in oak).
How many sub-zones exist within the Italian DOCG of Barbera d'Asti Superiore?
2
There are two Barbera d'Asti Superiore sub-zones: Tinella, and Colli Astiani (also known as Astiano). Both have production requirements that are more stringent than those in the larger Barbera d'Asti DOCG, including lower production yields, longer aging periods, and a higher minimum potential alcohol.
True or False: Italy's Asti and Moscato d'Asti are the largest DOCG by volume in Piemonte?
True
Asti and Moscato d'Asti share the same DOCG. Together, they produce nearly 100 million bottles of wine annually, making them Piemonte's largest DOCG by volume.
In 1973 the Bacigalupi grape-growing family sold Chardonnay to a winery that took part in the fabled Judgment of Paris tasting (in which some of California's best wines upstaged their more famous counterparts). Which winery bought the Bacigalupi grapes?
Chateau Montelena
The famed Paris tasting was arranged by Steven Spurrier, an Englishman who ran both a wine-shop and the Académie du
Vin school in Paris. Chateau Montelena used some of the purchased Bacigalupi fruit in their 1973 Chardonnay, which took top place in the tasting (much to the chagrin of the French judges). Miljenko Mike Grgich was the winemaker, producingabout 1,800 cases of that Chardonnay.
True or False: The Spanish DO Rías Baixas in Galicia was once officially known as Albariño?
True
The white Albariño grape, which makes up about 90 percent of the plantings in Rías Baixas, gave its name to the region, which was officially changed in 1986 when Spain entered the EU. About 99 percent of all wine produced in Rías Baixas is white (and much of that is made from Albariño).
What nickname has been bestowed on the The Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area?
Banana belt
The Lewis-Clark Valley AVA has been called the “banana belt” because because of its temperate climate, which supports the growth of high quality fruit, including peaches, apples, and grapes.
True or False: The Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area is housed completely within the borders of Idaho?
False
While the The Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area is the only AVA in the Bitterroot Mountains area, 72 percent of its 307,000 acres are in Idaho. The rest fall within the borders of Washington State (requiring some modifications to that state’s Columbia Valley AVA borders).
True or False: The Coombsville AVA is the coolest AVA in Napa Valley?
False
Technically, Carneros is Napa’s coolest AVA. Coombsville is the coolest Napa Valley AVA with the exception of Carneros, however, ranking a low Region II on the Winkler heat summation scale.
Coombsville, a relatively new California AVA, can trace its wine history back to what year?
1880
Coombsville became an official AVA in December, 2011. It can trace its history back all the way to 1848, when pioneer Nathan Coombs founded the town of Napa on eighty acres purchased from Nicholas Higuera. Its wine history, however, begins in 1880, when Antonio Carbone opened a winery on Coombsville Road.
Antonio Carpene, widely regarded as the father of Prosecco, named some of his children after terms from what field of study?
Chemistry
Carpene, one of the pioneers of Prosecco, studied chemistry at the University of Pavia. He named one of his sons Rubidium, and a daughter Etile (Ethyl), who went on to manage his wine company. Another daughter, Mary, named her first son Iridium, in homage to her father.
