Test your wine knowledge with quiz questions from our expert.
Which country ranks ninth on the list of the world's largest producers of wine?
South Africa
According to Wines of South Africa, South Africa (as of 2015) is the 9th largest producer of wine in the world. That country exports around 450 million litres of wine, and has over 100,000 hectares of vineyards.
What grape accounts for over eighty percent of all Madeira wine grape plantings?
Tinta Negra
Madeira's workhorse grape is Tinta Negra, which accounts for 83 percent of the island's wine grape plantings, and by regulation can be vinified in any style (dry to very sweet). Generally, any Madeira without a grape name on the label is probably made primarily from Tinta Negra; as of 2015, Madeira wines can legally state the Tinta Negra grape on the label.
As of 2015, Madeira producers can use what new aging category on labels of Madeira wine?
50 years
Technically not an average blend age but a stylistic certification, in 2015 an "over 50 years" category has been added to Madeira, joining the previously existing 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 year old categories. The new category is meant to represent the pinnacle of Madeira aging before release.
True or False: The smallest grape supplier on the Portuguese island of Madeira farms only three plants?
True
Most of vineyard sources on Madeira island are small (the average vineyards size is only one acre), but according to Portuguese wine authority Rui Falcao, the smallest of those suppliers is quite small, indeed - it consists of grapes farmed from only three plants.
During the end of the seventeenth century and the start of the eighteenth century, what type of wine accounted for two-thirds of the wine consumed in the United States?
Madeira
According to the Madeira wine institute, the fortified wines from the Portuguese island of Madeira accounted for fully two-thirds of the wine consumed in the United States in the time just after that country's inception. New York was the primary Stateside destination for the wine around that time, drinking up half of Madeira's exports between 1785 and 1787.
What is the the term for the settling of freshly pressed grape juice during Champagne production?
Débourbage
The settling of freshly pressed grape juice prior to fermentation is called débourbage, and is common for white wine production (not just for Champagne).
True or False: In 2014, the largest export market for Douro table wines was Canada?
False
According to the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP), in 2014 the largest market for table wines from Portugal's Douro region was the southern African nation of Angola (Canada came in second).
In what way does Flor - the protective layer of yeast that forms on top of some Sherry wine while in barrel - help Sherry develop?
All of the above.
The layer of flor that coats some Sherry in the barrel helps develop the classic Spanish fortified wine in several ways. It prevents the Sherry from too much oxygen exposure, resulting in a pale color and yeasty aromas; it metabolizes some of the sugars in the wine, making the Sherry dry; and it increases acetaldehydes, which give Sherry some of its distinctive aromas.
True or False: The famed To Kalon vineyard in Napa Valley was first planted in 1966?
False
Robert Mondavi selected the To Kalon vineyard as the home of his Napa Valley winery in 1966, but that's not when it was first planted. According to Robert Mondavi Winery, the famous vineyard was first planted by Hamilton Walker Crabb nearly one hundred years earlier, in 1868.
Throughout the 19th century (and into the early 20th century), how was Champagne sweetness described?
By country of destination
Before the current scale, Champagne sweetness was referenced by destination country "style," from Goût anglais ("English taste"), through increasing levels of sweetness: Goût américain ("American taste"), Goût français ("French taste"), and Goût russe ("Russian taste", the sweetest, between 200 and 300 grams of sugar).
