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Weekly Wine Quiz #88: What Is It?
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
I was planning to go back to the grape trivia series with this quiz, but then I was shown an object so peculiar that my immediate thought was – I have to make a quiz out of it! Here we are: take a look at the picture below – you don’t need to name the object (not sure if it has any specific name), but you have to explain what it is for and how it is used. Sorry – I know, this is not the best photo ever, but it shouldn’t be a problem for solving this quiz.
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #86: How Well Do You Know Your Wines?
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
Similar to the last week, today’s quiz will be visual again. And I have to tell you upfront, that I can’t take the full credit for it – I got the idea from Ryan Sorrell, an artist who is creating pictures from the top foils of the wine bottles (take a look at his web site here). Ryan posted this picture on twitter and asked people to guess what wine it belongs to. I know that many people pay attention to the wine labels – but how many people pay attention to the top of the foil, while they are cutting that foil out? Let’s find out! Below are 6 different foil tops – you will need to identify the wine producer behind each one of those tops (note – click on the pictures to zoom).
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
And the bonus one (as this one is harder than the others):
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer And A Few Things To Read On This Christmas Day
Meritage Time!
First of all, Merry Christmas!
Let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #85, What is it? In the quiz (a very difficult one!) you were supposed to guess an object shown in the picture. This was the picture you had:
and here is the answer:
Champagne Tsarine
Until a few days ago, I didn’t even know that Champagne Tsarine exists. When I saw a beautiful case and the bottle, the idea of the quiz was born. It appears that Champagne Tsarine was created in 1730, with the square aim on Russian Tzar (Tzar = Tsar, hence the name “Tsarine”, meaning “belonging to Tzar”) and his royal court, and their insatiable appetite for all things French. You can find more details at the Champagne Tsarine web site. No, I didn’t try this champagne yet, it is in the plans for the New Year celebration.
As I said, this was a very difficult quiz. A number of people suggested that this was a bottle, which was definitely the right direction. I was hoping that all the curves will point in the direction of Russian architecture – this was a purposeful design behind the bottle. In case you will not care going to the Champagne Tsarine web site, so here are few sentence which describe the design: “Its exclusively designed, long, curved bottle bears certain similarities to the architecture of the great Russian monuments. Its emblematic colours, its rounded label and its evocative name are all redolent of the period of the great Russian dynasties.”
Anyway, we don’t have a clear winner today, but I have to give honorable mention to Wine And History, who came in the closest, only suggesting that this was a bottle of Prosecco, and not the Champagne. Well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web.
I have a few interesting reads to bring to your attention. First, have you ever heard about 27-liter ( 3 cases worth) bottle of the wine called Primat? I personally have not. Here is a link to the article from Mike Veseth, where he is talking about his extreme wines of the year – that Primat bottle sounds very extreme to me, but there is a lot more to read there.
Next I want to bring to your attention a few posts from Dr. Vino, where is covering latest happenings around the counterfeited wines, Rudy Kurniawan trial and more. Just go and read (and watch) them – CBS Sunday Morning episode, Outtakes form the trial, the verdict.
Last but not least – a great collection of Christmas wine cartoons, as presented in the Wine Wankers blog. No other comments needed here.
And we are done! The glass is empty, but the refill is on the way. Open some great bottles tonight! Happy Holidays and Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #85: What Is It?
The Wine Quiz series is not meant to intimidate. The whole idea here is to have fun and learn something new. When answering the questions, it is fully encouraged to use all available sources of information, including Google or any other search engine. There are no embarrassing answers – the most embarrassing thing is not giving it a try…
Welcome to the weekend and your new wine quiz!
As I’m taking the break from the Grape Trivia series, today’s quiz is one of my favorite types – it is a picture quiz. What you see in the picture below is definitely wine-related – you need to identify what it is and provide as many specific details as possible.
This is a difficult quiz, no questions – but you got nothing to lose and there are no bad answers!
Good luck, have fun, enjoy your weekend and cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #56: What Is It?
It is Saturday, and wine quizzes are back at Talk-A-Vino!
I will continue the grape series with the next quiz (we already covered 3 grapes, so there are only about 200-300 left), but for today, I want to play one of my most favorite games – the one with the picture, you know?
Below is the picture which is very relevant to the wine world – do you know what it is, what it is for and how to use it?
Good luck, enjoy your weekend and don’t forget that Mother’s Day is tomorrow. Cheers!
And The Answer Is …
And here is the answer to the last “what is it” post.
Confused? No, there was no whisky in that ice cream. I’m just trying to be allegorical here. I understand that unless you taste or at least smell this Balcones Brimstone Texas Scrub Oak Smoked Corn Whisky, it is hard to pick up what the allegory is. This whisky had a perfect smoked bacon nose and beautiful round palate – very different from traditional Islay smoke, like Caol Ila or Laphroaig, which have a lot more acidity and accompanying roughness with it. This Texas Whisky had bacon or slow-smoked rib on the palate, full-bodied with a hint of sweetness. Very nice.
Did you get my allegory by now? Yep, it was bacon. Actually, it was Maple-Bacon ice cream, and I have to admit, it was delicious.
Those of you with the ice cream making machines – give it a try. And for the rest of you – take my word for it, or visit Biga in San Antonio. Or at least have a glass of Balcones Brimstone. Cheers!
What Is It?
Here is one of my favorite short posts again, this time with a slightly different angle. Of course you see an ice cream bowl on the picture below. There are three different ice creams there, and while one of them is absolutely basic, two others presented quite unique combinations for me. On top of that, I never tasted one of the ingredients in the ice cream before. Can you guess what ingredient was it?
Here is the Answer
So here is the answer for the last “what is it” question. Little glass ball in the Japanese soda bottle looked so fascinating right after the bottle was popped, so I couldn’t resist to play the game. Here is a picture:
Until the next time – cheers!
What is it?
It’s been a while since we played this game, so here is a picture for you – try to guess what it is. I can even give you a hint – in contrast with two previous “what is it” questions, this one is beverage-related:
Comment away…
About Coffee, Plus Some Updates
Why coffee? 
First, this is the answer to the last “What is it” post – it is actually Kona coffee berries (picture taken at Greenwell Farms in Kona, Hawaii). The reason to chose that picture was simple – I was fascinated by a number of similarities in coffee production and wine making – in both cases I’m talking about very good coffee ( Kona is one of the best coffee types in the world) and very good wines. Coffee berries are picked by hand, and also they are picked selectively – only individual ripe berries are taken from the bunch, and the rest is left to ripen. Coffee beans have their skin removed (sounds familiar?), and then they are left to dry under the sun (same as the grapes used for production of Amarone, one of my favorite wines). Once the coffee beans are dried and cleaned, they are left to rest for at least a month or two, before they will be roasted – and this is the step which is enforced by the years of experience and tradition, and nobody asks for explanations – this have to be done just because it has to be done. Again, the same element of mystery and tradition as in production of a good wine. And last, but not least – complexities of the final beverage. Good coffee, similar to the good wine, has layered complexity and brings a lot of pleasure. Anyway, I will look for more obvious picture for the next “what is it ” game.
Now, let’s talk about updates. First, the Treble certificate from the Wine Century Club has finally arrived! Not that I want to brag, but let me share the picture with you:
‘nuf said – getting to the Quattro level will not be too easy, so don’t expect to see a picture of another certificate any time soon.
Lastly, I’m continuing writing posts for The Art of Life Magazine. Last two posts were in “Forgotten Vines” series, talking about Jerez (Sherry) and Madeira, both wines are hard to find, but worth seeking – you can find posts here and here.
That’s all for now, folks. Cheers!
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