Talk-A-Vino

Meritage time!

Let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #92, grape trivia – Montepulciano. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about indigenous Italian grape called Montepulciano. Here are the questions, now with the answers:

Q1: In the number of regions, Montepulciano is often blended with … [name that grape]

A1: Sangiovese is a popular blending partner of Montepulciano.

Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines rated in 95-100 range Classic (the highest and the most prestigious category). True or False: there are no Montepulciano – based wines rated in the Classic category

A2: False. There a few Montepulciano wines with the ratings of 95 or above. For example, 2000 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo got 97 points from the Wine Spectator.

Q3: From the list below, which state in US doesn’t make any Montepulciano wines of notice:

a. California, b. Maryland, c. North Carolina, d. Texas, e. Washington

A3: Interestingly enough, Washington so far doesn’t have any Montepulciano plantings of notice.

Q4: True or false: from 2000 to 2010, plantings of Montepulciano in Italy increased by more than 15%

A4: True. Plantings of Montepulciano in Italy increased from 28,679 acres in 2000 to the 34,824 in 2010.

Q5: Best known Montepulciano wine comes from Abruzzo in Italy and it is known as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Do you know the name of the white wine commonly produced in Abruzzo?

A5: Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is a white wine from the Abruzzo region.

When it come to the results, first of all, we had very good participation in the quiz, quite a few answers. And, most importantly – we have a winner! Tracy Lee Karner answered all 5 questions correctly, so she gets the top prize of unlimited bragging rights! Great job! I also would like to acknowledge Suzanne of apuginthekitchen and Mario Plazio (no web site), who both got 4 questions out of 5 correctly. Very well done!

Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!

Boy, I have a lot of interesting reads for you. First of all, there are only a few days left to submit your entry for #MWWC7, “Devotion”. Over the past few days there were quite a few submission, which is great. I have a problem to come to grips with this theme, as “devotion” doesn’t trigger any mental image for me – I would much happier deal with “obsession” or at least a “dedication”. Anyway, may be my muse will still come, all covered in the snow? No matter – get your wine devotion story going! Here you will find rules and submissions to the date.

Like the grapes and the numbers? I personally do – I don’t even know why. Anyway, the California Agricultural Statistics service just released the numbers for the 2013 grape crush report – 4.23 million tons of grapes were crushed last year, up 5% from the 2012. The most crushed grape in California was Chardonnay, closely followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and then Zinfandel. For all the numbers please take a look at this article at WineBusiness.com.

Now, I want to share with you two interesting articles from the Dr. Vino’s blog. First, it is always interesting to know what the other people drink, right? Don’t you try to glance at the label of the wine been served at the table next to you? So this is not just some other random people we are talking about here – Dr. Vino analyses selection of the wines from the State Dinner given by US President in honor of the high guest from France. Here is the article – and similar to the Dr. Vino’s opinion, my question is – really? These are the best wines made in US? Okay, okay – I didn’t taste either one of the particular 3 wines served at that dinner – in case you have, I would be really interested in your opinion.

Last, but not least for today is another article from Dr. Vino’s blog – a short post about the sale of the wines at the auction in Chicago. Considering all the stories about the counterfeit wines nowadays, it is not surprising that the wines with the guaranteed provenance are sold at the premium nowadays. But for me personally, it is the data in that old receipt which is very interesting – $78.99 for the Echezeaux or $68.99 for Vosnee-Romanee – sigh, and another sigh – are those days gone forever?

And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!