Holiday wine Quiz

Holiday Wine Quiz 2007

(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 ________________ .
California
New Mexico
Arizona
(2) The first wine produced in he US was a sacramental wine known as __________ .
Constantia
Angelica
Domenica
(3) In South Africa a Cape blend is a blend of Bordeaux grapes plus _____________ .
(4) True or False: Unlike other wine countries grapevines are cultivated in every region of Italy
(5) __________ is the flattest, driest wine producing country in the world with the oldest, most depleted soils on our planet.
South Africa
Australia
Spain
(6) In Moonstruck, what did Loretta pop into her glass of champagne? ______________
(7) True or False: One tablespoon of TCA could destroy every bottle of wine in the world?
(8) A bottle of champagne contains __________ bubbles?
4900
49,000
49 million
(9) What is the most heavily planted red grape in Bordeaux? _____________________
(10) __________ has the largest grape acreage in the world.
Italy
Spain
Australia
(11) The name of which wine region in Italy means “at the foot of the mountain”? ____________________
(12) Brunello, Morellino and Prugnolo are all clones of ________________ .
(13) True or False: By law, traditional Chianti may contain only red grapes in the blend.
(14) The name of the Italian Christmas donkey is _______________________ .
(15) Which of the 3 Wise Men lends his name to a wine bottle of a particular size? ________________________
(16) True or 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”? ________________________

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Salute

(1) California
(2) Angelica
(3) Pinotage.
(4) False
(5) Spain
(6) ??
(7) True
(8) 49 million
(9) Merlot
(10) Spain
(11) Piedmont
(12) Sangioves
(13) False
(14) Robin Garr.
(15) Melchior - but Caspar's middle name is Methuselah
(16) False
(17) ??

at least half are sheer guesses, and in two cases I thought Victor was trying to be tricky, we'll see

OK, quick googling shows 2 of my guesses were wrong (one if them I should have gotten if I had thought about it). Not saying which ones, let someone else have a shot

(5) Spain

Nope, Australia, I'd say: Oz's geological age is in the billions of years

(14) Robin Garr.
(15) Melchior - but Caspar's middle name is Methuselah

Mark Lipton

Question 5 actually stumped me too Dale, I thought it was Spain also. But Mark is correct it is Australia (the driest wine producing country in the world). Question 15 actually has two answers, Dale’s, Melchoir is correct, but there’s one more Biblical Wise Man, whose name is used to define a wine bottle of a particular size.

Salute

Yes, 5 is the the one I thought about and realized I was wrong, and confirmed through Google.

Yes, Balthazar is also a wine bottle size. But real men drink Melchiors.

6) Sugar cube. Loretta was played by Cher. The champagne was Mumm Brut.

Victor: are you quite sure about #3? 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. 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 _____.

#4. I know what you're going for, Victor, but as a wine geek, pedant, nit picker, and former educator having sat through far too many classes in Educational Testing Methodology and Philosophy and then created way too many test questions, tsk, tsk, tsk: sloppy wording. Are you trying to say that Italy is the ONLY wine producing country in the world that produces wines in all its regions? Hmmmm?

Good stuff. Thanks for making me try to think on a Monday morning.

(7) True

Actually, this answer should be False. 1 teaspoon = ~5 mL. At a human detection threshold of 2 ppt, that's enough to spoil 2.5 million litres of wine, which is but a fraction of the world's annual wine production figure. The EU alone produced 194,358,000 hectolitres in 2004, so you'd need more like a gallon of TCA to ruin a year's supply of wine, let alone all the wine in the world.

Mark Lipton

Damn, Mark, I didn't want to get out a calculator (though in my defense it was a tablespoon in question, not teaspoon).

Hoke, I answered "false" for #4 because of the "unlike other countries" part. I seriously doubt that there are many areas without cultivated grapes. Certainly every state of US.

Damn, Mark, I didn't want to get out a calculator (though in my defense it was a tablespoon in question, not teaspoon).

Hoke, I answered "false" for #4 because of the "unlike other countries" part. I seriously doubt that there are many areas without cultivated grapes. Certainly every state of US.

Well, you see, Dale, that's exactly why true/false questions are so damned tricky (and some are meant to be tricky). Each and every element of the statement/question has to be precise in what is meant. Otherwise, it becomes a question of what's 'tricky' or not. If you use a general statement such as "unlike other countries", you're immediately comparing Italy to each and every country which cultivates grapes.

Now mind you, for years now it's been a staple part of my Italy presentations to emphasize that Italy is divided into 20 wine region/states, and that each one of those has wine production. And I'll also say that that's unlike most countries, which tend to have specific regions for wine productions, but generally the wine production is more significant in some regions than others. But that's different from saying that Italy, "unlike other countries", cultivates wines in all its regions. Like I said, sloppy wording.

And are you sure that the wine grape is cultivated (and let's leave it at commercial cultivation, not some backyard-in the-greenhouse-for-personal-use or Jenise-decorative-arbor stuff) in all the states of the US??? Mind you, I didn't say wine-making or bonded wineries, I said commecial winegrape cultivation. Again, are you sure?

No, I'm not sure that there commercial winegrape cultivation, I just said there are cultivated grapevines . Before asking if I'm "sure," please consider what I wrote. If you can point out a state without grapevines, I'll happily be corrected. Thanks!

[David M. Bueker]

How do you define a region? There's got to be some piece of Italy with no grape vines...no...wait...we're talking about Italy...

Seriously though - if we're talking wine regions then of course they all have grapes. But then it's a rigged/trick question.

OK, I'll bite

1) California
2) Domenica
3) Pinotage
4) False (Luxembourg, e.g., I think produces wine in "every" region too)
5) Australia
6) No idea
7) False
8] 49 million
9) Merlot
10) Spain
11) Piedmonte
12) Sangiovese
13) False (Now, I believe. But it certainly used to be legal)
14) No idea
15) Balthazar
16) False (But it certainly was Italy recently)
17) Pompeii

No, I'm not sure that there commercial winegrape cultivation, I just said there are cultivated grapevines . Before asking if I'm "sure," please consider what I wrote. If you can point out a state without grapevines, I'll happily be corrected. Thanks!

Well, I can't prove there are, and I can't (or sure don't care to) prove there aren't, Dale.

I do know the last state in the Union to have a bonded winery, North Dakota, is only just now producing wines from grapes actually grown there (versus berry wine, honey wine, or imported grape concentrate or juice). And that's either hybrid or native, so it only peripherally counts as "wine", unless you're Paul B.

On the other hand, I don't believe there is, as yet (or as far as I know) any grape vine cultivation for commerical puposes in Alaska. There are three or four wineries, yes, but they all state upfront they don't have any home-grown grapes (either berries or import juice/concentrate).

Oh, wait...do we get to count Puerto Rico or D.C.?

I don't think the question is whether there are any commercially cultivated vineyards in all states, Dale. I think the question is, "Why should we even care?"

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

Dale wrote:
(14) Robin Garr

?????????
Is he even Italian?

Think of a holiday song played frequently over the radio.

Salute

...I do know the last state in the Union to have a bonded winery, North Dakota, is only just now producing wines from grapes actually grown there (versus berry wine, honey wine, or imported grape concentrate or juice). And that's either hybrid or native, so it only peripherally counts as "wine", unless you're Paul B. ...

Hey! I resemble that remark! Actually, I believe the wineries in Alaska import all their grapes from the lower 48.

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.

In the same spirit, here are questions from the recently concluded "Wine IQ Test" put on by Sam's Wine and Spirits of Chicago (The winner won a $1000 Sam's shopping spree -- not a bad first prize!):

1. True or False: The Willamette Valley of Oregon is best known for growing the Pinot Meunier grape.

2. Which of these names is not a synonym for the grape Tempranillo?
A. Cencibel
B. Ull de Llebre
C. Bobal
D. Aragonez

3. What is the name of the French wine that is often compared to Spanish Fino Sherry, although it is not fortified and is capable of lasting up to 100 years?

4. You're having Thai food and white wine is not available. Which of these red wines would work best overall?

A. Beaujolais-Villages
B. Amarone
C. Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
D. California Zinfandel

5. Rolle is a Provençal grape, but what is it known as in Italy?

6. In this list, which is the most southerly winemaking district in Italy?
A. Campania
B. Calabria
C. Toscana
D. Lombardia

7. What is the Freemantle Doctor (or the “Freo Doctor”), and in which wine growing region is it found?

A. A cool afternoon sea breeze; Swan Valley, Western Australia
B. An insect pest in the Maipo Valley, Chile.
C. A strain of yeast used for Shiraz in Australia’s Barossa Valley.
D. The white garment worn by grape pickers in Mendoza, Argentina.

8. What is the name of the grape that usually makes up the largest proportion of the red wine of Châteauneuf-du-Pape?

9. True or False? Château Grillet is not only a producer but also an appellation.

10. What is another name for remuage?

11. Are the following a winemaking region or a wine grape?
A. Xynomavro [zee-noe-MAH-vroe]
B. Monferrato [moan-feh-RAH-toe]
C. Gaglioppo [gah-lee-OH-poe]

{There were also three blind tastings and two regional identifications from maps, but without the props it makes no sense to reproduce them}

Mark Lipton

Actually, this answer should be False. 1 teaspoon = ~5 mL. At a human detection threshold of 2 ppt, that's enough to spoil 2.5 million litres of wine, which is but a fraction of the world's annual wine production figure. The EU alone produced 194,358,000 hectolitres in 2004, so you'd need more like a gallon of TCA to ruin a year's supply of wine, let alone all the wine in the world.

Ah, but how much of that EU production gets trundled directly to the government distilleries? One could argue that much of the Euro Wine Lake annual production might be improved by TCA.

-Paul W.

Definitely not a bad first prize!

1- False
2- C
3- Vin Jaune
4- A
5-Vermentino
6- B
7 –B
8- Grenache
9- True
10- Riddling
11 – A- grape
B- region
C- grape

Salute

Victor, glad you got the prize, didnt think the sloppy questions sounded like you.

Hoke,
I think there are a lot of places grapes are grown that I want no part of. But I just didn't want to get drawn into a No True Scotsman argument, I meant there isn't a Steve P posting here.

Mark, much better quiz questions. Except for #4 - I agree with all of Victor's answers, but 4 is purely subjective, and should have "conventional wisdom says" or the like.

Mark, much better quiz questions. Except for #4 - I agree with all of Victor's answers, but 4 is purely subjective, and should have "conventional wisdom says" or the like.

Yup, #4 really annoyed me since Thai food is far from monolithic and it is such a subjective call (Bojo with Beef Panang Curry? Nothankyou). What struck me was what a mix of the simple and the esoteric their quiz was. Victor's was more consistent -- it was all esoteric

Mark Lipton

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.