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And The Answer For The Wine Quiz #14 Is…
When I create a wine quiz, my goal is to strike a balance (hmmm, how strange, isn’t “balance” my favorite characteristic of a good wine?). If 10 people answered the quiz, and they all answered correctly, it probably was too easy. If out of the same 10 people nobody got it right, or even worth, there are 0 answers instead of 10, it was either too difficult or too boring. Considering this criteria, this wine quiz #14 was one of the most successful ones – on the date of this writing, 3 answers out of 7 were correct, and even incorrect answers seems not to be randomly chosen.
Anyway, the correct answer for the wine quiz #14, True American Grape, is Norton. Norton’s history goes all the way back to beginning of 19th century, when it was created as a result of hard work of Dr. Daniel Norton in Virginia (you can read the book by Todd Kliman, The Wild Wine if you want to get a full story). The grape was a staple of the winemaking in Virginia and Missouri until the Prohibition hit, and now it is slowly trying to restore to its old glory. I had an encounter with Norton wines at Chrysalis Vineyards in Virginia about two years ago (you can read my blog post here), and the wines were very good.
That’s all I have for now, folks. Until the next wine quiz coming out on Saturday – cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #14: True American Grape
Cabernet Sauvignon. Pinot Noir. Syrah. Chardonnay. If you would be asked to name a region which makes world class wines out of those grapes, I’m sure many of you would think of California or may be Washington or Oregon first. Yes, we are fully considering all of these grapes to be “local” here in the United States. At the same time, none f those grapes were born here, they were all brought in from Europe (after all, Europe has about 7,500 years of winemaking advantage over the Americas).
Ever since the first colonists arrived to America, making wines was a fascination for many of them, including our forefathers such as Thomas Jefferson. Of course there were actual local grapes growing here, and needless to say that every possible effort was made to produce wines out of those grapes. The wines didn’t come out very drinkable, as the grapes were lacking one “minor” component – time in training to become the true wine grapes.
Determination, dedication and countless years of hard work produced its results. If you travel today through many wine trails throughout this country, you will find many wines produced from variety of actual American grapes. Yes, I agree, lots of those wines will not make you say “wow” as their big European brothers do – however, there is one grape which truly stands out on its own, making wonderfully rich and concentrated wines. The story of this grape is closely intertwined with the history of this country, following its ups and downs, so this grape is often deservedly referred to as the “true American grape”. Do you know the name of that grape?
Have a fun filled weekend. Cheers!
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