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Weekly Wine Quiz #55 – Grape Trivia: Pinot Noir
Image source: Wikipedia
And the time has come for the new wine quiz. Continuing with our Grape Trivia theme, the new quiz is about Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir. The grape behind some of the most expensive and thought after wines in the world. Almost never blended with other grapes. A major weapon in the hands of ABC oenophiles (Anything But Cabernet). At the same time, one of the most finicky, difficult to deal with grapes. To produce great wines, Pinot Noir requires ideal growing conditions. It is genetically unstable, and can easily mutate in the vineyard, producing grapes which look nothing like their parents. It can also “throw a fit” during fermentation and take the process out of control. But – all of it worth the “goodness in the bottle”, so today there is no shortage of great Pinot Noir wines coming in from all over the world.
Pinot Noir is one of the oldest known Vitis Vinifera grapes, specifically grown to be used in winemaking, with historical references going all the way back to the 4th century in Burgundy, France. Today Pinot Noir is growing literally in every winemaking country in the world, with the wines taking on wide range of expressions depending on the location’s climate and soil. Taste profile of Pinot Noir often includes lighter red fruits and berries – cranberries, strawberries, tart cherries, with hint of smokiness and mushrooms (earthiness).
Now, to the quiz!
Q1: Can you explain the source and meaning of the grape’s name “Pinot Noir”?
Q2: True or False: Burgundy has the biggest plantings of Pinot Noir in France?
Q3: Match the wine/producer with its country/region:
| A. Mt. Difficulty | 1. Burgundy |
| B. Evening Land | 2. New Zealand |
| C. Fleury | 3. Champagne |
| D. Hamilton Russell | 4. Oregon |
| E. Clos de Tart | 5. South Africa |
Q4: Which major wine-producing country is literally unknown as a Pinot Noir producer?
Q5: From 1990 to 2010, annual Pinot Noir harvest in California increased approximately:
a. 2 times
b. 3 times
c. 5 times
d. 7 times
e. 9 times
Have fun, good luck and enjoy your weekend. Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Asnwer, Balance in Wine, Malbec Day, Food Happenings and more
Meritage time!
Boy, is the glass full today… I got a lot of stuff to share, hopefully your glass is big enough.
First things first – here is the answer for the wine quiz #54, Grapes trivia – Merlot. In this quiz you were supposed to answer five questions related to the Merlot grape:
Q1: Merlot was named after a: A. town, B. person, C. bird, D. song
A: C, bird. The name “Merlot” comes after French “Merle”, which means “young blackbird” – the play is on the similarity of the color of Merlot grape and the bird.
Q2: Name the movie where Merlot was dissed on uncountable number of occasions
A: Sideways
Q3: One of the grapes from the list below was assumed to be a Merlot – but it was not. Do you know which grape was mistaken for the Merlot? Bonus question – name the country where confusion took place: A. Mourvèdre, B. Carignan, C. Carménère, D. Cinsault
A: C, Carménère – for a while, some of the wines produced in Chile were thought to be made out of Merlot – until 1990s, when genetic studies were conducted and concluded that the grape thought to be Merlot actually was Carménère.
Q4: Some place, some time ago, Merlot successfully crossed (by accident) with Cabernet grape, and formed a new grape which produces pretty unique wines. Can you name that grape?
A: Caberlot – a very unique grape growing in Tuscany, a cross of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Wine is called Il Caberlot and produced by Il Carnasciale, only in magnum bottlings
Q5: Chateau Petrus in Pomerol, France makes some of the very best (and most expensive) wines in the world, and those wines are 100% Merlot. Then there is another 100% Merlot wine, made in another country, which is considered a successful competition to Petrus and done very well against it in a number of blind tastings. Can you name that wine?
A: This was definitely a controversial question, where more than one answer was expected. The wine I had in mind was legendary Masseto, a super Tuscan produced by Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia, but Tua Rita Redigaffe and Le Macchiole Messorio (also Super Tuscan wines) are equally qualified – all three made out of 100% Merlot and can give Petrus good run for the money.
Thus EatwithNamie becomes our champion, as she correctly answered all five questions, but thedrunkencyclist gets honorable mention with 4 correct answers out of 5. Great job and enjoy your unlimited bragging rights!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the net!
As you know, I’m a little REALLY obsessed with the concept of balance in wine, where all the taste components – acidity, tannins, fruit, alcohol – are in full harmony, and none of them stands out more than another. I remember once reading an article about “harmony points” in taste of the wine, and then for the long time I couldn’t find it again. So finally I spent time and found a lot of interesting reading materials evolving around the concept of “balance”. Here are two articles (first link and second link) regarding the reverse osmosis process which allows you to achieve precise alcohol content in wine, which seems to be completely changing the perception of balance – as an example, exact same wine tastes completely different at 13.5%, 14.1% and 14.5% alcohol. I think these articles are worth reading. On related subject, here is a link to the article from the Wine Spectator, talking about balance in wine – be sure to read through the comments section, there is a lot of interesting polemics among professionals and not.
Today is 3rd annual World Malbec day! Did you have your glass of Malbec yet? If you did not, don’t worry, you can still celebrate in style. Here is the link to the Malbec celebration events around the globe.
Now, a few words about food. First, here is an interesting article about five foods which can rev things up in the bedroom, coming from the Eat and Sip in the City blog. One out those five foods sounds a bit surprising to me – but read the post first, I wonder what you would think.
I also want to bring to your attention a series of events called Dishcrawl – you can buy a ticket for a certain date and time, which allows you to take a “tasting tour” of a group of restaurants located in close proximity to each other. You don’t know what restaurants you are going to until 48 hours prior to the event, so there is an interesting surprise element here. Tickets are reasonably priced – here is an example of the event in Greenwich, CT, which is unfortunately sold out – but you will get the idea.
And one more food-related note. The Capital Grille, one of my favorite restaurant chains, is starting their Spring $18 three course lunch – I took the advantage of these events in the prior years, and it definitely worth your attention.
That is all I have for you for today. The glass is empty. Until the next time – cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #54 – Grapes Trivia: Merlot
Here comes our next quiz in the Grape Trivia series. Today’s subject – Merlot.
Merlot is one of the most popular grapes in the world, used both for blending and single-varietal wines. Merlot has thin dark blue colored skin, and its taste profile typically includes plums, blackberries, chocolate and tobacco notes. As it is often compared with Cabernet Sauvignon, one of its most popular blending companions, Merlot ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon, has higher sugar content and lesser level of tannins. While France has the biggest plantings of Merlot in the world, Merlot is universally grown in literally every wine producing country – great Merlot wines are produced in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, California, Washington, Long Island, Spain, Chile, Argentina and many other places.
Done with basic facts – let’s proceed with our quiz now, shall we?
Q1: Merlot was named after a:
A. town
B. person
C. bird
D. song
Q2: Name the movie where Merlot was dissed on uncountable number of occasions
Q3: One of the grapes from the list below was assumed to be a Merlot – but it was not. Do you know which grape was mistaken for the Merlot? Bonus question – name the country where confusion took place.
A. Mourvèdre
B. Carignan
C. Carménère
D. Cinsault
Q4: Some place, some time ago, Merlot successfully crossed (by accident) with Cabernet grape, and formed a new grape which produces pretty unique wines. Can you name that grape?
Q5: Chateau Petrus in Pomerol, France makes some of the very best (and most expensive) wines in the world, and those wines are 100% Merlot. Then there is another 100% Merlot wine, made in another country, which is considered a successful competition to Petrus and done very well against it in a number of blind tastings. Can you name that wine?
Have fun, good luck and enjoy your weekend! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #53 – Grapes Trivia: Cabernet Sauvignon
Image from Wikipedia
And the has come for our weekly wine quiz!
I like to organize things, when possible. So far my quizzes where a little bit (just kidding – really a lot) all over the place – from auctions to riddles to history; left, right and beyond. At the same time, I really would like to run a series of quizzes somehow related to each other. So I thought of this grape series, and that is the best I can come up with at the moment, so let me run with this.
This will be a series of posts dedicated to different grapes. Don’t wait for any substantial gotchas – at this point, there no plans for quizzes solely dedicated to Fiana or Romorantin (hmm, on the other side…). Instead, the quizzes will be dedicated to the mainstream grapes majority can attest to, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and so on.
Today we are starting with the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. Cabernet Sauvignon needs no introduction – it is a mainstream grape in production of many of the best (and not) red wines in the world. In a few words Cabernet Sauvignon can be described as late ripening variety with thick skin and somewhat of a small berry. Flavor profile of Cabernet Sauvignon wines often includes eucalyptus, green bell peppers, mint and black currant (cassis). Cabernet Sauvignon has great affinity to oak and the wines are usually age very well. Cabernet Sauvignon is grown all over the world with most famous wines coming from Bordeaux, California, Australia, Argentina, Chile, Italy and Washington.
Here come the quiz questions:
Q1: Which two grapes are the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon?
Q2: The world’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines are located in (name winery and/or vineyard for extra credit):
A. Bordeaux
B. Chile
C. California
D. Australia
E. Georgia
Q3: True or False: Since 2000, plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon increased in Bordeaux?
Q4: The second largest in the world plantings (by area) of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are located in:
A. Australia
B. California
C. Chile
D. Hungary
E. Moldova
F. South Africa
Q5: Absolute majority of Bordeaux wines are blends. Name four grapes which are traditional blending companions of Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux
Have fun and good luck! Enjoy your weekend and cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Round and Around WBC and more
Meritage Time!
Let’s start fromt he answer for the Wine Quiz #51 – Hiding in the plain sight, part 2.
In that quiz, you were supposed to identify as many wines/wineries as possible in my fictional writing. Here is the same fragment, with the actual wines shown in bold and underlined:
– Hey, Gloria, Mr. Giribaldi is here. You really have to tell me if you are going to Sicilia with him. The ticket will cost only $890. Your aunt Elena and cousin Ben will be excited to see you. Your great-grand aunt Olga is turning hundred! Everybody will be there. Remember Livio, the blue eyed boy? He was such a little angel… Anyway, he is coming with Virginia, and I’m sure you will have lots of catching up to do.
– okay, mom, I will go. By the way, if you see Kay, tell him that I’m through with him.
Now, in the order of appearance:
Chateau Gloria – Famous French winery from Saint-Julien
Mario Giribaldi – winery and winemaker in Piedmont
Vega Sicilia – legendary winery from Ribero del Duero, Spain
La Rioja Alta “890” Gran Reserva – one of the top wines from La Rioja Alta
Elena Walch – great winery and winemaker in Alto Adige region
Olivier Cousin – rebel natural wines wine maker in Anjou area of Loire
Ben Ryè – spectacular sweet wine produced by Donnafugata in Sicily
Olga Raffault – great winery in Chinon
Turning Leaf – Vineyard in California
Hundred Acre – a cult wine from California
Livio Felluga – great Italian producer from Friuli
blue eyed boy – name of the Shiraz wine from the great Australian producer Mollydooker Wines
Ballet of Angels – white wine produced by Connecticut winery Sharpe Hills
Virginie de Valandraud – second label of legendary Château Valandraud (had a mistake in the spelling – should be Virginie and not Virginia, sorry about that)
if you see Kay – red wine from Lazio region in Italy, produced by Jason Woodbridge
Whew, this was a very long answer. I guess it was a tough quiz, as there were not that many players, but – I can tell you for sure I had lots of fun putting it together. VinoInLove came up with 10 good answers, even though many of the names he came up with didn’t match my intended answers, but as I mentioned in the description of the quiz, this will be still qualified. Thus VinoInLove is our winner, and Frank from WineTalks get honorable mention for coming up with 5 right answers. Great job!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine web. I got an e-mail from Wine Bloggers Conference, and it lead me to the collection of noteworthy information on Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC) web site. First, a few weeks ago I got an invitation from WBC to complete the wine blogging survey, which I did. Preliminary results are already available here, and you can learn there a few interesting things. For instance, it appears that average wine blogger has 3,418 follower on twitter – I guess I’m well below of an average wine blogger, as I have less than one third of that number. Another interesting fact is that less than 19% of the wine bloggers had being blogging for 6+ years. Anyway, check it out for yourself, and if you didn’t take the survey, you still have time to do it ( you can found the link on that same page with preliminary results). WBC site holds other interesting links – for instance, here is the link for so called Citizen Wine Blogs in America ( which includes both US and Canada) – the WBC web site is definitely worth exploring.
Another important news is that the call for nominations for 7th Annual Wine Blog Awards is now open! It will be open until Sunday, March 31st, so if anyone thinks this very blog worth a nomination, you can do so using this link (needless to say that I will be forever grateful).
Moving on, I still have a few interesting things for you. There are new wines on the market from the state of Washington, produced by Paul Gregutt, who you might know by his blog called Unfined and Unfiltered. The wines are produced under the label of Waitsburg Cellars. While I’m sure it will be difficult to find those wines, at least you can enjoy the descriptions coming under the theme called The Aromatics.
While this might be an old news for many of you, but it is interesting to see that now Parker is suing Antonio Galloni for the breach of contract. The world of wine, as everything else under the sun, becomes anything but boring once the big money start talking. Not sure if wine lovers will benefit, but the lawyers will be able to afford a few extra bottles of Petrus.
Last for today is a local update. I added a few links to the blogroll for the blogs I follow, and I also created a new link category called Wine Travel. American Winery Guide, To-Tuscany, Winerist and Napa Now are the four web sites listed there. If you have a blog or site dedicated to the wine travel, please let me know and I will be glad to add it to the blogroll.
It was a long post – but the glass is finally empty. Enjoy your Wine Wednesday and until the next time – cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #51 – Hiding in the Plain Sight, Part 2
It is Saturday again, therefore, it is time for the wine quiz!
I want to continue the theme of the previous wine quiz #50, where you were supposed to find as many wine and winery names as possible in a small fragment of [poorly written] fictional dialog. The quiz seemed to be successful, but it happened to be focused mostly on California wines. Below you will find the text where I really made an effort to include the wines from all over the world. Just to give you some clues – it is possible that some of the words will lead to multiple wine/winery names – you will need to name at least one. Also, a lot of words (but not all) below will be a part of the two-word wine/winery name – you will need to name the full two-word name for it to count. To give you an example – if you would see the name Phelps in the text, the right answer would be Joseph Phelps, as it is an official name of the California winery. Capish? I thought so. Last note – it is okay to use Goggle – I think it will be a fun game in any case. Let’s proceed.
– Hey, Gloria, Mr. Giribaldi is here. You really have to tell me if you are going to Sicilia with him. The ticket will cost only $890. Your aunt Elena and cousin Ben will be excited to see you. Your great-grand aunt Olga is turning hundred! Everybody will be there. Remember Livio, the blue eyed boy? He was such a little angel… Anyway, he is coming with Virginia, and I’m sure you will have lots of catching up to do.
– okay, mom, I will go. By the way, if you see Kay, tell him that I’m through with him.
Again, there should be more than ten wines (and I will also wait for someone to tell me about the wines I even didn’t know exist) – but even if you can’t find any – your comment will be loved in any case.
Good luck, have fun, have a great weekend and cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #50 – Hiding In The Plain Sight
And yet another week is becoming a history – but – the weekend is still mostly ahead of us, and – the new wine quiz is here!
As you probably noticed, my wine quiz themes are usually pretty random. Very often, I have no idea what the quiz will be all about before I sit down to write it. Or in many cases, I think I know what the quiz will be all about, only to change the idea completely right before I will start writing it.
This was the case today – I actually had the idea, which I thought was somewhat decent – but then different idea came to mind, and now the first one will have to wait for its time.
In today’s quiz, you will need to look for some wines – the wine names, to be more precise. Below is a little fragment from he unwritten fiction, which I’m sure will help you to appreciate that I’m only writing the wine blog and not the novels. In this fragment, there are many wine names, hiding in the plain sight. Can you find them?
– Hey, Justin, see that skinny girl standing there?
-Which one, the one in the “to the rescue” t-shirt, almost naked?
– No, the other one, with the cupcake in her left hand.
– Ahh, that is Patrina, she is one of the three girls in the Bryant family, the middle sister. Let me introduce you.
– Hey, Patrina, please meet my friend Kris – he is the worshiper of Orpheus, the poet.
I’m sure SAHMmelier would execute this better, considering her writing talents (take a look at her poem), but I honestly tried.
I will give you a hint – there are at least ten wines ( actually more, but okay) hiding in that little dialog – so get your magnifying glass and start looking. But please, don’t feel bad if you will find only one or even none – it is your comment that matters, even if you only want to say “hi”.
Good luck and enjoy both the quiz and your weekend! Answers are coming on Wednesday. Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Lighter Wines from California?, WBC2013 and more
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #49, Once upon a time. In the quiz, you were presented with three well known expressions ( okay, of course “honeymoon” is just a word), and you were supposed to explain the origins of the expressions as it connects to the world of wine (or any other type of alcohol). So the expressions were:
- Honeymoon
- Wet your whistle
- Rule of thumb
To tell you honestly, I wanted to play this quiz for a while. What was stopping me is the fact that all of the “right answers” are just some forms of legend – the exact source of the expressions will stay the subject of prolonged debates. But – I’m glad that I finally decided to ignore my doubts – judging by the number of answers, this was definitely a fun quiz.
Let me give you my version of the answers, which I will call the “correct answers” for the lack of the better term.
Honeymoon: both armchairsommelier and thefoodandwinehedonist provided the correct answer – in the ancient times, when the couple was married, the father of the bride was supposed to provide the month-long supply of the honey-based alcoholic beverage called mead. As months were measured by the lunar calendar in those times, hence the reference to the “moon” – honeymoon.
Wet your whistle: according to the version I like, in the old but not such a distant times, England pubs were serving beer in the mugs with the whistle baked in as part of the mug, like in this modern version shown here – when you want a refill, you just use a whistle. I like this version despite a lot of dismissal over this version on the internet – the other version has to do with one simply being thirsty and “whistle” being used as a reference for one’s throat – this is again what both armchairsommelier and thefoodandwinehedonist offered as an explanation. I still like my version more, so there.
Rule of thumb: I appreciate all the versions offered, however, even if they are true, I can’t connect beating one’s wife with the wine (unless someone way too much of it, but this is definitely way off). Many of you correctly assumed that the thumb is a measuring device, however, not for the size of pour – instead the thumb was used in the beer brewing to measure the right temperature.
To round it up – I was glad to see many people playing, and the honorable mention definitely goes to the armchairsommelier and thefoodandwinehedonist.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the web. Have you heard that there is a new movement in California to make lighter, more food friendly and easier to love wines? Whether you did or not, the phenomena is there, as requested by many consumers. Here is an interesting blog post by W. Blake Gray, talking about an article in Hemispheres magazine, which in turn is discussing the subject of the lighter California wines. As it is the case with many blog posts, be sure to read the comments – that is the most entertaining part.
Next subject – Wine Bloggers Conference 2013, or WBC2013 for short. WBC2013 will be taking place in Penticton, British Columbia, on June 6-8. What I really want to know – who is going? Despite blogging for almost 3 years, I never attended any of the WBCs. But – if there is a good company, I’m ready : ) Let me know if you are planning to attend – that will give me a good reason to do the same : )
Somewhat related subject – Wine Blog Awards. While I respect and appreciate all the Versatile, Creative and all other blogging awards, Wine Blog Awards are something else. They are awarded in the number of different categories, based on both popular vote and decision of panel of experts. Why am I talking about it here? Two reasons. One: Nomination period for Wine Blog Awards 2013 will open on March 25th (very soon!) and will last for one week. Two: Yes, I would love to get a Wine Blog Award, and therefore, would greatly appreciate a nomination!
Last “news” for today – totally not related to wine. Spring is here!
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty. Until the next time – cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #49 – Once Upon A Time…
Saturday is here again, therefore it is time for the wine quiz!
This week’s quiz will be very different from the last one – and I really really hope to see more people participating.
Today’s quiz doesn’t really have much of the right answers – but I hope this will even make it more fun.
Below you will find some words and expressions, which are well known – and connected to the world of wine at least as the legend has it. So this is the legend I’m looking for – please tell me how the following words are connected to the world of wine (and here I’m including all things alcohol into the word “wine” – whiskey, sake, beer – all is “wine” in this context):
- Honeymoon
- Wet your whistle
- Rule of thumb
Remember – there are no wrong answers, so unleash your imagination…
Have fun and good luck! Have a great weekend and cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #48: Let’s Get A Little Technical
The Wine Quizzes are back at Talk-a-Vino! Be honest – I know you missed them, right? Okay, never mind. But – let’s proceed, shall we?
For today’s quiz I decided to play a game of pairing of the wine terms with the wines. What you will find below is the list of the wines (very random), and the list of wine terms associated with production of the wines. You will need to match the terms with the wines, considering typical and generic use (note the bold font here – it is an important disclaimer) – there are always exceptions to the rules. Note that one and the same term can be associated with different wines, and it is possible that few terms can be associated with one wine. As the bonus question, briefly explain what the term mean and how it relates to the wine. Note – you might encounter some strange surprises along the way.
Wines:
A. Cabernet Sauvignon
B. Champagne
C. Chardonnay
D. Jerez
E. Madeira
F. Port
G. Riesling
H. Valtellina Sfursat
I. Vin Jaune
Wine Terms:
1. Appassimento
2. Estufagem
3. Flor
4. Malolactic fermentation
5. Noble Rot
6. Solera
7. Vintage
As a side note, a lot of these wine terms had being discussed in this very blog.
Have fun and good luck! The answers are coming on Wednesday.
Have a great weekend and open something good tonight! Cheers!
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