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An Oenophile Walks Into A Wine Store…
An oenophile walks into a wine store…
I guess you are expecting a joke to follow, right, something along the lines of “A cowboy walks into a bar…”
No, that’s not the intention here.
The oenophile (yours truly) did walk into a wine store today (I stopped by my friend Zak’s Cost Less Wines store in Stamford), and saw a bunch of novelties worth sharing.
I rarely visit wine stores, so the novelty factor might be simply due to not being kept abreast of the latest and greatest in the wine world, but hey, I still want to share my observations with you.
Now, some pictures will follow.
First, I saw this beautiful display of Halloween-related wines and spirits, which is always fun (some might even taste decent).
Next, I saw Halloween spirits at, shall we say, the next level?
I definitely applaud the artistic nature of these bottles, but even then, $1,900 for a bottle, even with the Día de Muertos designation? Maybe it is all for the special effects…
Now, moving from Halloween to the wine-selling ingenuity…
Forget wine in the can. Welcome, wine in the Tetra Pak. Apparently, Barefoot was one of the very first to introduce wine in the Tetra Pak. It is 200 ml, and for the next month, it is on sale for 99 cents per packet. 99 cents for a glass and a half of wine (200 ml)? I guess it is not a bad deal. One important advantage of this packaging: unlike wine in cans, you can actually close this package, so you don’t have to gulp it all at once.
Barefoot was one of the first, but others followed:
And now, just a couple of label observations.
First, beautiful new packaging for the Ken Wright Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Oregon – at least this was the first time I saw these labels.
To finish off, a very intriguing label – Master & Servant Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, produced by 689 Cellars:
Can you tell me who is the master and who is the servant here? What is this label trying to say? Asking for a friend… If you have an idea, please leave a comment.
What have you found at the intersection of wine, art, and sales lately? Do tell!
Wine Quiz #142 – 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 your weekend and your new wine quiz!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #141. You had to identify producers and, sometimes, wines by the fragment of the wine label. Here are the full labels of the wines included in that quiz:
And our bonus:
Bonus: 2012 Ornellaia L’Incanto (artist series)
As suggested – figure out one, figure out them all. All of these are the finest Super Tuscan Italian wines, including the rare bird as a bonus – artist series Ornellaia bottling from 2012 – L’Incanto.
We had two players who correctly identified all the wines from the main group – Zak and Jeff Kralik, Mr. Drunken Cyclist himself. Both get the grand prize of unlimited bragging rights. Jeff also correctly identified the bonus wine, so he gets a super grand prize of super-bragging rights (note to self: upgrade prize selection).
Today’s set is very easy – hope to see many, many winners.
Here we go:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
There is a perfect connection between all of these wines – figure out one, figure out all of them.
Good luck, enjoy your weekend and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #141 – 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 your weekend and your new wine quiz!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #140. Once again, you needed to identify producers and, sometimes, wines by the fragment of the wine label. Here are the full labels of the wines:
I didn’t call the wines iconic for nothing – you will be hard pressed to find wines of higher pedigree in the world – 5 of the legendary First Growth Bordeaux, plus First Growth from Sauternes.
There were still not as many answers as I would want, but there were two perfect answers, thus we have two winners – Jason Brandt Lewis and Frankie both properly identified all the labels, so they both get the grand prize of unlimited bragging rights.
Today’s set is also not too shabby, I have to say – I would be absolutely ecstatic to drink any of these wines any day. I hope my readers will share my enthusiasm and play along.
Here we go:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
To make it even more interesting, I’m including a bonus fragment. The wine is perfectly related to the others shown here, but it is a perfect curveball, thus it will not affect your grand winner standing even if you will not recognize this wine:
7. 
Once again, there is a perfect connection between all of these wines – figure out one, figure out all of them.
Good luck, enjoy your weekend and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #140 – 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 your new wine quiz!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #139. Once again, you needed to identify producers and, sometimes, wines by the fragment of the wine label. Here are the full labels of the wines:
These are all well-made and well-known Spanish wines, nothing obscure here.
Sadly, there were no takers for this wine quiz, so I will have to keep all of the prizes to myself.
Today’s set is as iconic as it gets. You can argue how well-known Dominio de Pingus is, but nobody can argue that today’s set represents some of the best-known wines in the world. I expect to get lots of answers (yeah, as always).
Here we go:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
There is a perfect connection between all of these wines – figure out one, figure out all of them.
Good luck, enjoy your Sunday and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #139 – 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!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #138. Once again, you needed to identify wines (producers) by the fragment of the wine label. Here are the full labels of the wines:
I love each and every wine shown here – but this is not the point, of course. These are all different Rioja wines from Spain, representing 3 iconic producers – CVNE, La Rioja Alta, and R. Lopez de Heredia.
I’m happy to report that Jason Brandt Lewis correctly identified all wines as Rioja, and he got 5 out of 6 wines correctly – thus he gets on honorable mention with distinction (newly minted prize :)). Lynn also was able to figure out that these are all Rioja wines, and she gets honorable mention for correctly identifying 3 out of 6 wines.
Here is a new set of fragments of the wine labels, with the wine producers who should be reasonably familiar, and some even carrying good (excellent?) hints with them:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
Again, there is a common thread between all of the fragments – once you will figure it out, the rest should be a bit easier.
Good luck, enjoy your weekend and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #138 – 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!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #137. Once again, you needed to identify wines (producers) by the fragment of the wine label. Here are the full labels of the wines:
All of these are well-known producers, all from Australia, and all are mainstream wines.
I’m happy to report that Anthony correctly identified 4 out of 6 wines and he gets on honorable mention – with distinction, shall we say? I need more of the prizes to go around, maybe it will make more people play 🙂
Here is a new set of fragments of the wine labels, with the wine producers who should be reasonably familiar, and some even carrying good (excellent?) hints with them:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
There is something in common between all of these fragments – once you will figure it out, the rest should be reasonably straightforward.
Good luck, enjoy the week ahead of you and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #137 – 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!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #136. Once again, you needed to identify wines (producers) by the fragment of the wine label. Here are the full labels of the wines:
All of these are well-known producers, all from California, and all are mainstream wines.
I’m happy to report that once again, Zak correctly identified all of the wines and he gets the grand prize of unlimited bragging rights. I also want to mention Suzanne who correctly identified The Prisoner. It’s the game that counts – really you have nothing to lose – just give it a try.
And here is a new set of fragments of the wine labels, with the wine producers who should be reasonably familiar, and some even carrying good hints with them:
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
There is something in common between all of these fragments – once you will figure it out, the rest should be reasonably straightforward.
Good luck, enjoy the weekend and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #136 – 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!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #135. Once again, you needed to identify wines (producers) by the fragment of the wine label. I’m making an effort to ensure that the fragment of the label will be telling enough to allow for the producer to be identified. Here are the full pictures of the labels so you can compare:
All of these are well-known producers, most from California with the exception of Chateau Ste. Michelle from the State of Washington.
Sadly, nobody attempted to answer this quiz, so I have to keep all the prizes where they are.
Here is a new set of fragments of the wine labels, with the wine producers who should be reasonably familiar, and some even carrying good hints with them:
1.
2. 
3.
4.
5.
6.
Good luck, enjoy the weekend and your new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #135 – 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 your new wine quiz!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #134. That was the second quiz in the new series, where instead of identifying the wines by the top foil or the top of the cork, I’m now asking you to identify the producers by the fragment of the wine label. I’m making an effort to make sure that the fragment of the label will be telling enough to allow for the producer to be identified. Here are the same pictures, now with the producers identified (point to the picture to see):
As I suggested in the last quiz, all of these producers and wines can be called iconic, and they all come from the same region – Washington. Also worth noting that 4 wines here are produced by Christophe Baron (Cayuse, Hors Categorie, Horsepower, No Girls).
Only one player attempted to answer the quiz, and he did it quite successfully – Zak correctly identified 5 wines out of the 6, so he gets almost unlimited bragging rights.
This week, I’m offering you another set of 6 fragments of the wine labels, with a similar hint as before – all wines are reasonably famous/iconic (again, some might be hard to find, though).
Here we go:
1.
2. 
3.
4.
5.
6.
Good luck, enjoy the new quiz! Cheers!
Wine Quiz #134 – 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!
Let’s start with the answers to the last quiz #133. That was the first quiz in the new series, where instead of identifying the wines by the top foil or the top of the cork, I’m now asking you to identify the producers by the fragment of the wine label. I’m making an effort to make sure that the label fragment will be telling enough to allow for the producer to be identified. Here are the same pictures, now with the producers identified (point to the picture to see):
As I suggested in the last quiz, all of these producers and wines can be called iconic, and they all come from the same region – California.
Now, I”m happy to say that there were more players this time, and even more importantly, we have a winner – Zak correctly identified all 6 producers, so he gets the unlimited bragging rights. Mika correctly identified 3 producers, so he definitely gets an honorable mention.
This week, I’m offering you another set of 6 fragments of the wine labels, with the same set of hints – all wines come from the same region, and all are quite famous/iconic (some might be hard to find, though).
Here we go:
1.
2. 
3.
4.
5.
6.
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and enjoy your weekend! Cheers!
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