Holiday wine Quiz

Must it be Bordeaux varieties. I thought Cape Blend was a blend of that standard and much abused SA grape plus red wines...but not necessarily Bordeaux reds.

Original thinking was Bx varieties, but now there's enough Syrah being grown there are surpluses, that is also making its way into the mix, e.g. Warwick Estate's Three Cape Ladies

And for the Bonus Geek extra points: What is the maximum/minimum of that particular SA grape variety content? As in no less than ____ and no more than _____.

Correct answer is whatever amount they want.

Yup, Peter, I noticed that the PA initially came out with the 30/70 'rule', and it seems like everyone congenially ignored it. Maybe they thought the rule was like an Italian stop sign?

So, what do you think of the Cape Blend...as it is realized, not how it was visualized? And are there any you particularly like? I'm familiar with Three Cape Ladies, a couple of others; that's it.

Ya, Hoke, and everyone else, some of the questions are very “sloppy” or miss-leading, but I’m not going to complain. I’m one of the three that walked away with a sparkler (Crèmant De Bourgogne Brut Simonnet-Febvre). BTW I’m neither the author nor grader of the questions.

I agree Hoke questions #3 and #4 are poorly stated, but knowing what the author of the questions meant I answered them correctly - #3 Pinotage (no less than 30% no more than 70%) and #4 true. As far as question #6 (which I had no idea) a cube of sugar or a dash of bitters was correct.

Surely as Mark pointed out, one would need much more than 1 tablespoon of pure TCA to contaminate every bottle of wine in the world. But I remembered reading an article about TCA which quoted a Dr Butzke, who stated “less than 1 tablespoon of pure TCA could destroy all of the wine produced in the United States”. So in reality I answered question #7 incorrectly but it was scored correct, the author of the quiz must have read the same article but worded the question incorrectly.

Salute

Good for you, Victor!

Hey, the object of taking a test (from the test taker's point of view) is just to pass the test. Being correct has little to do with it.

Yup, Peter, I noticed that the PA initially came out with the 30/70 'rule', and it seems like everyone congenially ignored it. Maybe they thought the rule was like an Italian stop sign?

So, what do you think of the Cape Blend...as it is realized, not how it was visualized? And are there any you particularly like? I'm familiar with Three Cape Ladies, a couple of others; that's it.

The mistake the PA made was not first registering/trademarking the name Cape Blend. The 30/70 rule makes a ton of sense, but almost immediately it was mooted someone who didn't agree with the 30/70 rule registered a CapeBlend domain name to argue the case for no min/max, others said that a Cape Blend was any blend of anything made in the Cape (i.e. meaningless). The Veritas (major SA competition) uses 30/70 as its Cape Blend category but I don't believe there is any impediment to any wine having the words Cape Blend on the label.

Beyerskloofs 'Synergy' is a goof Cape Blend, but maybe the best is Steytler's 'Vision', a recent vintage of which won Best SA Red wine Trophy at the IWSC a couple of years ago.

And I tasted a good 'cape blend' in New Zealand a couple weeks ago

The Pinotage sweetness can fill out a BX blend and make it very attractive.

Holiday Wine Quiz 2007 (Answers)

1- In defiance of a ban by the Spanish government, the first vines were planted in the New World in 1633 in the state of New Mexico.
2- The first wine produced in he US was a sacramental wine known as Angelica.
3- In South Africa a Cape blend is a blend of Bordeaux grapes plus Pinotage.
4- True Unlike other wine countries grapevines are cultivated in every region of Italy.
5- Australia is the flattest, driest wine producing country in the world with the oldest, most depleted soils on our planet.
6- In Moonstruck, what did Loretta pop into her glass of champagne? Cube of sugar or dash of bitters.
7- True: One tablespoon of TCA could destroy every bottle of wine in the world. (This should be all the wine produced in the US).
8- A bottle of champagne contains 49 million bubbles.
9- What is the most heavily planted red grape in Bordeaux? Merlot
10- Spain has the largest grape acreage in the world.
11- The name of which wine region in Italy means “at the foot of the mountain”? Piedmont.
12- Brunello, Morellino and Prugnolo are all clones of Sangiovese.
13- False By law, traditional Chianti may contain only red grapes in the blend.
14- The name of the Italian Christmas donkey is Dominick.
15- Which of the 3 Wise Men lends his name to a wine bottle of a particular size? Balthazar or Melchior
16- False Italy has exceeded France in the production of wine and is now #1 in the world.
17- What city uncovered by archeologists was called the “Bordeaux of Roman Italy”? Pompeii

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Salute

I'm confused by the Moonstruck answer. Did she put both in at different times?

I'm confused by the Moonstruck answer. Did she put both in at different times?

Or even worse, TOGETHER?

-Paul W.

I'm confused by the Moonstruck answer. Did she put both in at different times?

Or even worse, TOGETHER?

-Paul W.

As I recall, she only plopped the sugar cube into the Mumm's. Family tradition, apparently; learned it from her father. Of course, they were Italians from Lahn Gighland, so maybe they were trained on Asti.

Moonstruck: from the script:

INT. THE CASTORINI HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

Loretta and Cosmo sit at the kitchen table. It's a big tin
table with a black-and-white design. Loretta has put two old-
fashioned champagne glasses on the table, the split of
champagne, a bag of sugar cubes, and a bottle of bitters.

She pours the champagne, drops a little lump of sugar into
each glass, and adds a dash of bitters. She hands one of the
drinks to Cosmo.

LORETTA
Here.
(She Toasts)
Ti amo.
(Translated: I love
you.)

COSMO
Ti amo.

My bar book calls this a London Special.

London Special (Cocktail)
Bitters, Champagne, Sugar Cube

I stand corrected, Bob.

Not an unusual place for me to stand either.

You are a researcher of the first order, sir.

Ooh, shucks ....

High praise from a teacher of your caliber Hoke -- a very nice holiday present. Thanks.

It was a product placement, an early one; Mumm paid.

It was a product placement, an early one; Mumm paid.

And the product placement business is booming these days.

So what movies have you placed your wine in lately, Oliver?