Test your wine knowledge with quiz questions from our expert.
What Greek figure once wrote the following about wine: "The best measure of Bacchus is that which is neither great nor very little, for he is the cause of either grief or madness?"
Euenus
Euenus penned those words when describing how to dilute wine in order to mitigate its intoxicating effects.
True or False? King Alexander III of Scotland once had to bargain for payment of a debt that involved Bordeaux wines?
True
In the 1200s, Scotland was a substantial importer of Bordeaux claret. King Alexander III at once point was forced to pledge all revenues from the port of Berwick in order to promise payment of debts owed to a Bordeaux merchant, including about 115,000 litres (400 hogsheads) of wine.
Which of today's top wine producing countries had hit a low point of wine production at the end of the Napoleonic wars?
Italy
According to historian Rod Phillips, in the early 1800s France was on top of the wine world with two million hectares of vineyards and commanding forty percent of world wine production. In contrast, Italy - now one of the world's top producers by volume - at the time had only about 400,000 hectares (one fifth of France's area under vine).
Some of the earliest evidence of viticulture and winemaking were found in what wine region of Turkey?
Anatolia
In central Turkey's Anatolia region, evidence of viticulture dates back 7000 years. At the time, each vintage may have celebrated with a holiday as a matter of custom.
Which country is the world's largest consumer of Champagne?
United Kingdom
Over 17 million bottle of Champagne are exported to the United States, but it's the UK that is number one when it comes to Champagne imbibing: a recent export count to the United Kingdom clocked in at 30,786,727 bottles of Champagne.
True or False: South Africa has more red wine grapes planted than white wine grapes?
False
While South Africa has no shortage of red wine grapes planted (with Cabernet Sauvignon taking the top slot), those make up 45 percent of the country's grape plantings. White wine grape varieties, led by Chenin Blanc, make up 55 percent of the total.
True or False: South Africa has the most Chenin Blanc plantings in the world?
True
Chenin Blanc makes up just over eighteen thousand hectares of plantings in South Africa, giving that country the number one spot worldwide for the grape as of 2012.
