Test your wine knowledge with quiz questions from our expert.
True or False: during Roosevelt's first administration, the federal government entertained the idea of providing subsidies to plant muscadine vines in the Southern U.S., as a means of stirring economic growth by producing a cash crop for farmers and providing low-cost wine for sale?
True
Entrepreneur Paul Garrett proposed such an idea when the Roosevelt staff sought input into ideas for boosting the then-depressed U.S. economy. The plan was given only a modest try, however, with a small amount of vines being planted int he early 1930s, after which the idea died on the vine due to lack of support and growing Dry opposition in Washington, D.C.
Slate-rich soils, such as those found in the more northerly wine-making areas in Germany, are thought to impart what characteristic aroma to Riesling wines?
Green apple
Slate is common in the soils of the Mosel, Mitelrhein and Rheingau regions of Germany, and assists ripening by storing a bit of the sun's warmth. According to the book Riesling by Christina Fischer and INgo Swoboda, these soils are most often marked by the aromas of fresh green apples in wine made from Riesling grown on them.
Apart from its location, which of the following is the most important factor in the classification of Port vineyards in Portugal?
Altitude
According to the Center For Wine Origins, Altitude is the most important factor for the "grade" (A through F) given to a Port vineyard by Portugal's IVDP (which governs and promotes the quality and quantity of Port wines produced). It accounts for 21% of the points that make up a vineyards grade in their classification system, edging out Yield which accounts for 20% of the grade.
True or False: Biodynamic vineyard farming preparations include flower heads of yarrow fermented in the bladder of a stag.
True
Believe it or not, Biodynamic farm preparations do, indeed, include flower heads of yarrow fermented in a stag's bladder (it's known as Preparation #502). It's meant to be applied to vineyard compost along with other preparations that include ingredients such as chamomile, nettle tea, oak barks and dandelion heads (the latter fermented in cow intestine).
The dreaded vine louse Phylloxera, which mostly impacts the roots of grape vines, attacked vineyards in California in the 1980s. Which of the following vine rootstocks was incorrectly thought to have been immune to the pest?
AxR-1
California grape growers made a costly error when they grafted vine plantings onto AxR-1 rootstock (an abbreviation for a name based on its parentage, "Aramon Rupestris Ganzin No. 1") - turns out that it was not actually entirely resistant to Phylloxera, requiring expensive replanting when the louse swiftly infected vineyards in the 1980s.
Which of the following grapes are cultivated mostly on the Greek island of Crete?
Romeiko
Romeiko is a red Cretan grape variety with relatively high alcohol content, and relatively low acidity. It's primarily used to produce traditional wines that are often similar to an Oloroso style Sherry.
The U.S. is no stranger to winning wine awards. One of the most decorated wines from the U.S. in the 1800s was made from what grape?
Norton
According to Richard Leahy's book Beyond Jefferson's Wine, the Monticello wine company, founded in Charlottesville in 1873, won numerous national and international awards for its Norton-based "Virginia claret."
Pick the fastest wine chilling combo from the items below.
Ice + Water + Salt
Ice alone is relatively slow way to chill a wine down to serving temperature, but will do in a pinch. MOre effective is to increase the surface area of the cooling agent (in this case the ice) by adding water to the ice bucket. Better still is to reduce the melting temperature of the ice, which you can do by adding a bit of salt tot he mix; this will keep the ice & water mixture (and by extension your wine bottle!) cooler longer, and should speed up the cooling a bit since the mixture won't heat up as quickly when the bottle is placed inside of it (typically you can get from warm to drinkable in around 10 minutes this way).
True or False: One of the best ways to pair dessert wines with dessert is to make sure that sweetness of the wine matches of exceeds the sweetness of the dessert.
True
According to wine educator Marnie Old, mismatching the sweetness of the dessert and the dessert wine will cause the less sweet of the two to taste thin or sour in comparison; but two items of relatively equal sweetness will have nary an impact on one another in terms of sugar perception. Your best bet is to serve less sweet dessert wines with low-sugar treats, and unctuous dessert wines with sweeter fare.
The most expensive bottle price for a current-release wine hails from what wine region?
Barossa
Penfolds; 2004 Kalimna Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon, made form what are believed to be the oldest continually-producing Cabernet Sauvignon vines on the planet, currently sells for $168,000 USD per bottle. Only 12 bottles were produced, and each comes with custom artwork and opening & pouring services by one of Penfolds' winemakers.
