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Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Rant-and-a-half, Wine Spectator Top 100 and more
Meritage Time!
Let’s start with the answer for the Wine Quiz #37 – About History of Wines and Holidays. First, you were supposed to identify the US president who signed the bill fixing Thanksgiving celebration to the 4th Thursday in November. In the second part of quiz, you were supposed to add a missing name to the list of great contributors, or may be even “founding fathers” of the California wine industry. I’m glad to tell you that we have a winner for the first question – wineeveryday was correct to answer C, Franklin D. Roosevelt – while Lincoln was the first president to officially issue Thanksgiving Proclamation, the holiday was floating until FDR actually singed the bill fixing the date to the 4th Thursday in November – here is the link if you want to read more.
The second part of the quiz was harder. Actually, the list of people, all of them been extremely instrumental in upbringing of the California wine industry, was taken from the Culinary Institute of America Vintners Hall of Fame inductees of 2007 – and the missing name was of Agoston Haraszthy, Hungarian immigrant who in 1857 planted some of the first European varietals in California on Buena Vista property.
Now, let’s talk about interesting stuff. On November 19th, Wine Spectator published their 2012 Wine Spectator Top 100 list (here is the link). You can explore all of the Top 100 information freely until November 27th, after which date the information will be available only for subscribers. From that Top 100 list, I find the Top 10 group quite interesting (not necessarily a positive word here) – the cheapest wine is $40, and practically none of those wines are available anywhere in the country, and if they are available, it would be from a different vintage. Wine of the year is Shafer Relentless Napa Valley 2008 (96, $60) – should be a good wine, but good luck finding it. In the top 10, there are 2 wines from California, 4 from France, and 1 each from Italy, Oregon, Australia and Argentina. If you care to share it, what is your take on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list?
So by now, you probably already heard about invigorating review of Guy Fieri’s new restaurant called Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square – but in case you missed, it makes quite an exciting reading. Guy Fieri is most famous as a host of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives ( triple-D) program on Food Network, which I personally enjoy watching. The review, which appeared last week in the New York Times, became an instant sensation, reaching 100,000 views/shares within the first hour. My friend Emil rightfully called the New York Times’ review a “rant-and-a-half” – it takes the form of an open letter and definitely worth reading – the amount of critique from this one review would be enough to kill 5 restaurants. Mr. Fieri came up with an answer, which is lame at the best in my opinion – and it seems that Yelping community concurs with New York Times’ opinion.
Considering that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I still have a lot of things to do, this is all I have for you for today. Ahh, yes – don’t miss WTSO’s Magnum Monday on November 26th – should be very interesting.
Happy Thanksgiving and Cheers!
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Weekly Wine Quiz #37 – About History of Wines and Holidays
Is it seriously Saturday again? Where did the whole week go? Okay, yes, Happy Saturday, folks – and it is time for the new quiz.
I was back and forth on the theme for this quiz. It is last Saturday before Thanksgiving, big holiday in US, and I really wanted to connect together the subject of Thanksgiving and wines in some meaningful way. It seems that everybody everywhere are talking about Thanksgiving wines, but none of that stuff is quiz-worthy.
Therefore, you will be faced with two completely unrelated questions, with one small exception – both relate to US history.
Let’s start with Thanksgiving question, which will be our Question 1. As you probably know (even if you don’t live in US), Thanksgiving is the holiday where we give thanks to our country and life in general with the abundance of food, wine, and families getting together. Traditions of celebrating Thanksgiving in US go all the way back to the first pilgrims, and based on the historical records, it was usually celebrated between September and November. For the long time, each US president would declare the date for Thanksgiving holiday for each year – until Thanksgiving holiday became fixed to the fourth Thursday in November. Do you know which president signed that bill into law?
A. Abraham Lincoln
B. Woodrow Wilson
C. Franklin D. Roosevelt
D. John F. Kennedy
And now, let’s switch to the Question 2, which will be again about people, but this time it will relate to the history of California wine. There were many people who greatly contributed into making California wine industry what it is today. Below is the list of people, all pioneers of California wine industry – and this list has specific logic behind it – with one name missing. Who do you think is missing in that list?
André Tchelistcheff
Harold Olmo
Gustave Niebaum
Charles Krug
?
Robert Mondavi
Maynard Amerine
Brother Timothy
Georges de Latour
Please provide your answers in the comments section.
Have fun and good luck! Have a great weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Judgement of Where?, Beaujolais Nouveau, Magnum Monday and more
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer for the Wine Quiz #36 – Stomping the grapes. I made an effort to simplify the quiz – I guess full uncertainty with the right answer, which I mentioned a number of times, greatly reduced the interest on the side of the participants. Anyway, I’m happy to report that we have a winner! Have you ever heard the expression “whistle while you work”? According to Wiki Answers, etymology of the “whistle while you work” goes all the way to the slave days – when salves were carrying food, they were supposed to whistle – while you whistle, you can’t eat. In our case, while you whistle, you can’t eat grapes, so you had to be able to whistle in order to get the job! Thus the winner of the Wine Quiz #36 is Pablo, who gets unlimited bragging rights. And if you have a problem with this solution – I will be very happy to listen to your version.
Moving on to the interesting stuff. Let’s start with the Judgement of … no, not Paris. Yes, of course you know about famous 1976 Judgement of Paris, which became pivotal moment for the California wines. Now we are going to talk, out of all things, about (bet you would never guess) … Judgement of Princeton and Judgement of Richmond! I learned about both events from the Daily Sip e-mail. Both events took place during this year and were modeled precisely after the Judgement of Paris, only one was done for the wines of New Jersey versus France, and in the second event, Virginia wines were compared with the wines from all over the world. You should definitely judge for yourself – my experience with New Jersey wines is extremely limited (and negative), so I can’t really comment on the results ( but would be very glad to try those great wines from NJ). I have much more successful experience with wines form Virginia, though I would definitely question selection of the world wines for the competition. If you will find time to read about the events ( or if you knew something about them already) – I would be very happy to read your comments.
This coming Thursday, November 15th, is the 3rd Thursday of the month – which means that 2012 Beaujolais Nouveau will be available in the wine stores near you! This year is the 30th anniversary of the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomena as created by Georges Duboeuf, so the event will be celebrated accordingly. For this celebration, Georges Duboeuf produced a special web site, called 30 Years of Magic, where you can watch a special movie and download a special application for your mobile device, so you can join the festivities, anywhere, any time. I plan to report on the wine as soon as I will be able to get a hold of a bottle.
Last, but not least – WTSO, one of my all times favorite online wine shops, has done it again! Well, to be precise, they didn’t do it yet – but Monday, November 26th, will be a brand new whole day event called Magnum Monday, where WTSO will offer for sale about 20 different wines, all in the magnum (1.5L) size. This is all we know at the moment, but if this event will be anything like WTSO’s past marathons, you better get ready (and get some space in the cellar), as this will be a no-nonsense event.
That’s all I have for today for you, folks. The glass is empty. Until the next time – cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #36 – Stomping The Grapes
It is Saturday, therefore, it is wine quiz time!
It seems that my last couple of quizzes generated quite a bit of controversy in terms of right/wrong answers (you can scroll through the comments in the “answer” posts for #33 and #35). So this quiz will top that, as it doesn’t have the right answer, or at least it would be possible to argue forever whether my answer will be right or wrong. Nevertheless, I hope it will be fun for all, as it will not require any knowledge of grapes, regions or winemakers.
Let’s get to it. Imagine that in the older times (doesn’t matter precisely when) you come to apply for the job as a grape stomper at a winery. There is one skill (you can call it requirement or ability) which you have to have in order to be hired for that job.
Just to be clear – this is not a body feature, like big feet, for instance – it is something which you have to be able to do in order to get the job.
As I mentioned at the beginning, this quiz doesn’t have an absolute answer – so I’m asking for your forgiveness upfront, just in case you will not like my version : )
Have fun and good luck! Have a great weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Thursday(s) Celebrations and more
Meritage Time!
It seems that the weeks are flying – I know that I prefer them at the crawling pace, but – not much I can do, right? Okay, let’s start with the answer to the Wine Quiz #35, What is missing. The wine quiz was dedicated to Tempranillo as we will celebrate tomorrow (November 8th) an International Tempranillo Day, and it was asking to fill the gaps in the group of numbers which were related to Tempranillo.
Of course it was obvious that the chain of numbers represented years. And both VinoinLove and thedrunkencyclist figured out that the years represented the best vintages of Rioja – however, they both only got one of the “best vintages” correctly. The 2001 was a great vintage, absolutely, but the vintage of the last century was 1964, not 1970. Here is the reference to the best Rioja vintages from the Vibrant Rioja web site, so you can check all the great vintages for yourself. We don’t have a winner this time, but hey, there is always a next time…
Now, I need your help with something. If you read the Meritage post from the last Wednesday, I mentioned that I’m fighting the writer’s block and trying to write a post for the wine blogging competition. So I managed to overcome the block and wrote the post (here is the link) – and if you like it, I need your vote! You can vote for it here – just scroll down to the bottom of the page and find the link to my blog there. Thank you!
Now, let’s proceed with “interesting stuff” part of the Metritage. First, the next three Thursdays, we will be celebrating different holidays – of course, they are drastically different in scale, but nevertheless, they all fall on Thursday. Tomorrow, November 8th, we are celebrating International Tempranillo Day. It is very easy to take part in the festivities – just find a bottle of Tempranillo wine (Rioja or Ribera del Duero from Spain, or may be some Texas wine?), pull the cork and enjoy (and if you really like it, write a blog post about it or tweet about it, or leave the comment in this blog).
The next Thursday, November 15th, is Beaujolais Nouveau 2012 Day. This year will actually mark 30th anniversary of the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration – you should definitely look for the festivities around you, and as usual, get a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau (I have to say that the wine had been steadily improving its quality over the past few years) and enjoy!
And then the Thursday after that, November 22 is…what, Thanksgiving is already here? Yep, Turkey day is arriving in mere two weeks. There is always a question of wines for the Thanksgiving celebration, so here is my post from the last year – I’m sure the actual wines will be different this year, but the ideas will be the same.
Last (but may be not least) – do you think wine reviews can get you sued? Here is the post by Steve Heimoff – if anything, it is an interesting read.
That’s all for today, folks – the glass is empty. Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #35: What is Missing?
It is Saturday, people, and therefore it is time for the wine quiz!
Next Thursday, November 8th, will be an International Tempranillo day. As Tempranillo makes some of my all time favorite wines, I think it would be only appropriate to dedicate this quiz to the Spain’s “noble” grape.
When I was thinking about this post, I went over a lot of interesting facts about Tempranillo, and I couldn’t come up with the right question or a set of questions to ask. As I didn’t come up with the straightforward question, I will have to ask you for the straightforward answer (my logic is perfect, isn’t it).
Below is a group of numbers which have a direct relationship to the Tempranillo. You will need to figure out what those numbers mean and tell me what two numbers are missing and why do you think they should be there:
1934, 1948, 1952, 1955, 1958, ?, 1982, 1994, 1995, ? 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011
If you like Tempranillo wines this quiz will not be too difficult.
Have a great weekend and good luck! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, International Tempranillo Day, Beaujolais Nouveau, Bad Wine Reviews and more
Meritage Time – and Happy Halloween!
Let’s start our meritage post from the regular place – an answer for the last week’s Wine Quiz #34 – Hello, my name is… I would like to say that I’m quite happy with this quiz, as there was a very good participation, and there was a full range of answers, covering all available options.
And the winners are (drum roll, please) PSsquared, VinoinLove and thedrunkencyclist as they all correctly guessed that Predicament is not a wine name. Believe it or not, but the rest of the names on the list are for the real wines. I don’t have the labels to show you for all of them, but here is some information and the links.
if you see kay: the wine is made by Jason Woodbridge, and yes, the name is controversial – here is one of the articles on the subject.
No girls: an actual wine by Christophe Baron, the winemaker behind Cayuse – here is the link to the winery’s web site, and here is the link to my short post about that wine (I’m a happy owner of a few bottles from the inaugural release).
Frequency: I can’t show you the label or a good link, as 2011 Frequency Central Coast GSM is the first release of the wine. You can search for it on Wades Wines web site (I guess this is the only merchant carrying it right now).
To the rescue: an actual wine by legendary Sine Qua Non, California’s cult Rhone style winemaker. The full name of the wine is Sine Qua Non Grenache To The Rescue, and you can look for it on Wine-Searcher (don’t be shocked at the prices, and if you will get a bottle for yourself, can you get one for me too, please?).
Let’s move on to the interesting news from around the vine. First, I want to bring to your attention that November 8th is International Tempranillo Day – if you read this blog for a while, I’m sure you know that I’m very impartial to the Spanish wines, and Rioja in particular, and Tempranillo is a star there. Tempranillo is also successfully grown in many other regions of the world – Australia, California and Texas come to mind first. Find a bottle of Tempranillo and join the celebration on November 8th!
Talking about celebrations – Beaujolais Nouveau 2012 is almost here! The new harvest celebration, originated by the French wine maker and wine merchant Georges DuBoeuf, takes place on third Thursday in November, which this year will fall on November 15th. The Beaujolais Nouveau arrival is celebrated with parties and events all around the world, and celebration this year will be special, as it will be the 30th celebration of this tradition. Look for the events in your area – I’m sure you will find some interesting places to visit and celebrate in style. At the very least, make sure to pick up a bottle of that young wine and celebrate in the comfort of your home.
One of my favorite wine bloggers, W. Blake Gray, is back from vacation, so I’m offering to your attention an interesting blog post about bad wine reviews.
Last but not least, here is the post by Joe Roberts, a.k.a. 1WineDude, where he is defending usage of oak in the wines. I’m also curious what do you think about oak in your wines, so feel free to use comments section and express yourself.
That’s all for today, folks. The glass is empty. Happy (and spookingly exciting) Halloween Wine Wednesday! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #34: Hello, My Name Is…
It is Saturday, and therefore, it is time for your Saturday wine entertainment (no, you don’t get to drink wine yet – first, you have to solve a puzzle, and if you don’t – no wine for you! Okay, I’m only kidding…)
Last wine quiz #33 caused some controversy – but you know what – this one might do the same. Or not.
Anyway, I have to thank Vino in Love for the idea for this wine quiz. In his last wine quiz, he used a made up name for the grape. Below you see a list of names of the wines – except one of them was made up by me. Do you know which name is a made up name?
A. If you see Kay
B. No girls
C. Frequency
D. Predicament
E. To the rescue
Give it a try! You don’t have much to win (outside of pride), but you have even less to lose.
Please provide your answer in the comments section. Have fun and good luck! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, To Terroir or Not To Terroir, Halloween for Adults and more
Meritage Time!
Let’s start from the answer for the Wine Quiz #33 – Right place, Wrong vineyard. In the quiz you had a list of 5 wineries from California, and you had to figure out why one of them shouldn’t be on the list. Two answers seemed to single out Pride Mountain as the winery which shouldn’t be on the list, as it is supposedly located in Sonoma and the rest are in Napa. However, this answer is incorrect. All the wineries on the list (or at least their vineyards) are so called “mountain wineries”, as they are all located in the mountains (Bryant, Colgin and Sloan are located on Howell Mountain, and Pride Mountain is on Diamond Mountain), except Araujo, which is so called “Valley floor” winery. So the right answer is Araujo – but it also means that nobody won this time (time to get upset about the huge prize you missed out on…).
Let’s move on to the “interesting stuff” department. First, we are exactly one week away from the Halloween (I guess next Wednesday social media buffs will wish each other happy “Halloween Wine Wednesday”, or #HWW in the twitter terms). As you know, Halloween was invented by dentists and candy makers, and it is all about about sugar consumption by the kids. But – it doesn’t mean that us adults are left out in the cold. First, we can participate by converting plain sugar into a scary one. Need suggestions? Here is the blog post with some scarily wonderful ideas (brrr, careful, those fingers might give you shivers). Then, to celebrate in style, while little monsters are diligently working on future contribution to the college fund for your family dentist’s kids, you can also have a celebration with an arsenal of the spookingly crafted adult beverages. Here is an example – this is what my friend Zak has available at his Cost Less Wines store in Stamford:
Black Vodka, anyone?
Are you blood thirsty?
And here is some Vampire delight
To take it to the next level, here is a great post by Chris Kassel of Intoxicology Report, explaining why Ravenswood is a perfect Halloween wine. If you are not following Intoxicology Report – you should.
Okay, let’s move on. Here is an article by Steve Heimoff, talking about terroir, or may be an absence of it in California Cabernets and Pinots. I had to refrain from commenting in his blog, as I realize that my comment will probably be of a size of a good blog post – but in any case, it is interesting to read.
Next subject – Italian wines. Here is a blog I just discovered, called On the Wine Train in Italy by Alfonso Sevola – it is well written and will be well worth your attention. Then there is a blogging competition dedicated to the wines of Tuscany – sorry for bringing it to your attention so late (submission deadline is November 4th), but you still have a few days to submit your entry. I was thinking about the blog post for this competition for a while, but muse was not kind to me and didn’t visit, and I can’t produce anything worth sharing. But – the major prize is 6 bottles of a very good Chianti – you should definitely think about joining in.
And with this, we are done here – the glass is empty, folks. Happy Wine Wednesday! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #33: Right Place, Wrong Vineyard
It is Saturday, and therefore it is time for the new wine quiz. I expect that you will not have much difficulty with today’s quiz. Here we go.
Below you will find a list of wineries, all of them from California, and all of them quite famous, if not legendary. While famous, one of those wineries doesn’t belong to the list. You need to figure out which one and why.
Here is the list:
A. Bryant family
B. Colgin
C. Araujo
D. Sloan
E. Pride Mountain
Please provide an answer in the comment section below.
Have fun and good luck! Have a great weekend! Cheers!
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