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Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, April Fools Roundup, Win a Trip To Sonoma
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #96, Grape Trivia – Alicante Bouschet. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about the red grape called Alicante Bouschet, also known in Spain as Garnacha Tintorera.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: True or False: according to the 2010 data, Alicante Bouschet is one of the 15 most planted red grapes in the world?
A1: True. In 2010, it was the red grape #15 with 38985 acres planted worldwide
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Alicante Bouschet-based wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
A2: There is a number of Alicante Bouschet wines with the WS ratings of 90 and above, so the answer is False.
Q3: Alicante Bouschet makes a very popular addition (albeit in miniscule quantities, about 5% or less) to some of the very well known and popular California varietal wines. Can you name two of those popular California grape varieties?
A3: Zinfandel and Petite Sirah. Because the quantities are really miniscule, you would very rarely read about addition of Alicante Bouschet on the back label – but many producers do add the grape.
Q4: Below is the list of countries growing Alicante Bouschet/ Garnacha Tintorera. Based on 2010 data, sort that list from the biggest area plantings to the smallest:
a. Chile, b. France, c. Italy, d. Portugal, e. Spain
A4: The right order is Spain (19551), France (4957), Chile (4228), Portugal (3322), Italy (645), so it is e,b,a,d,c
Q5: Which one doesn’t belong and why?
a. Carlisle, b. Francis Ford Coppola, c. Ridge, d. Turley
A5: All wineries in this list produced at least once single varietal Alicante Bouschet wines – with the exception of Turley, which only uses Alicante Bouschet for blending.
The only person who attempted to solve the quiz was Suzanne of apuginthekitchen – she definitely deserves an honorable mention for the effort! The next week we will change gears – for a little bit, we will be talking about the blends instead of single varietals. After all, most of the wines produced in the world today are blends – so blending the grapes together hopefully will produce more courageous responses on your part.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First of all – happy past April Fools day! Yesterday was April 1st, and the number of bloggers took advantage of that fun day, and wrote interesting, witty and funny blog posts. Here is a small collection for your enjoyment:
Joe Roberts, a.k.a. 1WineDude, wrote a hilarious piece about Robert Parker and Wine Advocate apologizing for their raunchy behavior as of recent – yeah, you can only dream of that stuff on the April 1st… Here is the link for you to read. Dave McIntyre, the wine columnist for the Washington Post, wrote an excellent post about the end of wine blahgging – you can read it here. Harpers, a wine and spirits trade publication out of UK, shared an excellent article about bee-o-dynamics and use of the bees to improve aging of the wines – very cool idea, hopefully someone will look at it for real!
Few years back, I was happily reading all the April Fools day posts, and was absolutely convinced I can never write anything of that nature. Then I took a stub last year, and I liked it (ohhh, it actually makes me uneasy to say that I like my own writing). And I felt that I had to do it again this year, so this was the news update I posted yesterday. There is a mix of things in my post – yes, Coravin technology allows you to taste the wine without opening it, but while someone might be dreaming of the computerized wine analysis technology, that actually doesn’t exist. Yes, while Burger King indeed offered to supply the food for the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian wedding, the Korbel so far was not involved (hmm, may be they will like my idea, though?).
This finishes my April Fools day post roundup – if you came across something hilarious, please share in the comments section.
So, how about all paid Sonoma Wine Vacation for you and three of your friends? Yes, you can have it – if you win Underground Cellar Sonoma Winecation Getaway. Underground Cellar is the new concept wine selling site, where you can participate in the bidding for the rare wines directly from the wineries, and once you win the bid, you even have an option of upgrading your wine! I didn’t have a chance to try it yet, but it sounds very cool. In the effort to promote their new concept, Underground Cellar is sponsoring the Sonoma Winecation getaway – please use this link to enter the contest – who knows, you might soon be heading to the Sonoma county for the fun time!
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #96: Grape Trivia – Alicante Bouschet
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!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, still focusing on the red grapes, and today’s subject is Alicante Bouschet, or Alicante Henri Bouschet, if we want to use the full and official name.
How many of you ever heard of Alicante Bouschet, let alone tasted the wines made from that grape? How about Garnacha Tintorera? Still nada? Yes, I know – at this point, I’m reaching into the obscure grapes territory, the dark side of the wine world. But this grape, Alicante Bouschet, is so unique and different, in its past and present, that I can’t pass an opportunity to learn about it together with you.
Alicante Bouschet grape was created in 1866 by Henri Bouschet as a cross between Petit Bouschet and Grenache. To make things a bit more interesting, it is worth noting that Petit Bouschet was created by Louis Bouschet, the father of Henri Bouschet, this time as a cross between two ancient varietals, Teinturier du Cher and Aramon. Talking about unique – Alicante Bouschet is one of the very few red grapes in the world which are classified as teinturier – the grape which makes the juice of red color. Take any of the well known red grapes – Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, most anything – and break it apart. The juice which will be coming out will be clear. It is the skin which gives the color to majority of the red wines. When it comes to Alicante Bouschet (and other teinturier grapes, which are very few), the juice will be coming out as red.
After being created in 1866, Alicante Bouschet somewhat rapidly spread out all over the world. It was used in France to replant vineyards after the phylloxera devastation. It made it to Portugal and Spain, where it is known under the name of Garnacha Tintorera, and continued its successful journey further into Italy, Australia, Chile, United States and the number of other countries.
Alicante Bouschet is known to produce not even large, but rather huge crop. It is also an early ripening grape, which creates somewhat of a problem, as it doesn’t accumulate enough flavor depth and enough sugar to make it into the single-varietal wine. As the result, it is often used as part of the blend just with the purpose of adding the color (and the color it got!). Another important characteristic of the grape is a very thick skin, which helps it to withstand the long distance transportation. This quality of Alicante Bouschet made it extremely popular grape during prohibition times in the US, as it could sustain the long railroad voyage from west coast to the east. In addition to handling the long distance transportation quite well, Alicante Bouschet think skin and juicy flesh was allowing for it to be pressed three times (most of the common grapes will allow for one, or an absolute maximum of two pressings), thus one could get more decently colored wine from much lesser amount of grapes.
Today, the plantings of Alicante Bouschet decreased in the countries like France and United States, where it is used mostly for blending. However, the grape is increasingly popular in Portugal, where it makes wonderful concentrated wines in the Alentejo region. Southern Spain also has very substantial plantings of Garnacha Tintorera, and with controlled yield produces outstanding single-varietal wines.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: True or False: according to the 2010 data, Alicante Bouschet is one of the 15 most planted red grapes in the world?
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Alicante Bouschet-based wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
Q3: Alicante Bouschet makes a very popular addition (albeit in miniscule quantities, about 5% or less) to some of the very well known and popular California varietal wines. Can you name two of those popular California grape varieties?
Q4: Below is the list of countries growing Alicante Bouschet/ Garnacha Tintorera. Based on 2010 data, sort that list from the biggest area plantings to the smallest:
a. Chile
b. France
c. Italy
d. Portugal
e. Spain
Q5: Which one doesn’t belong and why?
a. Carlisle
b. Francis Ford Coppola
c. Ridge
d. Turley
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC8 Time to Vote, Bordeaux 2013, Wine-y States, When Wine Critic Attacks
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #95, Grape Trivia – Tannat. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about the red grape called Tannat.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Tannat was the reason for one specific winemaking technique to be invented relatively recently. Do you know what technique is that?
a. Malolactic fermentation, b. Micro-oxygenation, c. Carbonic maceration, d. Reverse osmosis
A1: Micro-oxygenation was developed in the 1990s specifically as a method to soften otherwise harsh Tannat wines to make them more approachable while young.
Q2: True or False: Tannat is primarily harvested by hand and not by the machine. Provide an explanation for your answer.
A2: True. Tannat is primarily harvested by hand, but not because of the hilly terrain. The machine is generally harvests the grapes by shaking the vine – Tannat grapes are growing in such a tight bunches and attached to the vine so well that shaking simply doesn’t help, and the grapes have to be harvested by hand.
Q3: Name 3 grapes, often used as blending partners when Tannat wines are produced in France
A3: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Fer are often blended with Tannat in Madiran.
Q4: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Tannat-based wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
A4: False. There are quite a few Tannat based wines with the 90+ ratings from the Wine Spectator, with the 2001 Montus Bouscassé Madiran La Tyre having the highest rating of 94.
Q5: Tannat ripens at about the same time as Cabernet Sauvignon. Assuming you have Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon which are both slightly underripe, which grape would you make the better wine from, Tannat or Cabernet Sauvignon? Why?
A5: Slightly underripe Tannat doesn’t show those aggressively green notes as Cabernet Sauvignon does, so all other things been equal, Tannat has a better chance of producing more palatable wine.
Talking about the results, two people played in this round – Bill of Duff’s Wines and Julian from Vino in Love – they both correctly answered four questions out of five, so they definitely get the favorable mention. Well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First of all, the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #8, with the theme “Luck“, has concluded. Now it is time to vote for your favorite entry! While Kara The Sweet Sommelier was the host of #MWWC8, she is using Blogspot as her platform, which apparently doesn’t allow the inclusion of the polls in the blog post, thus Jeff a.k.a. The Drunken Cyclist hosts the poll on his blog. Click here to read all the entries and cast your vote in the poll. Don’t delay – the voting will close by the end of the week.
It was a very difficult growing season in Bordeaux – Mother Nature threw a tantrum (or a few) – cold spring and hailstorms definitely took its effect. Now winemakers facing a tough dilemma. The 2013 vintage is expected to be of a medium quality (despite all the tantrum’s), so it would be necessary to reduce the selling prices across the region to be able to sell the wines. At the same time, the crop was small, so reducing the prices will definitely affect the small and even medium producers. Well, En Primeur tastings will take place soon, and this is where the prices will be set – for more information please read this article on the Wine-Searcher.
Dr. Vino published a very interesting map in his blog. This map outlines the wine consumption in the United States on the state by state basis. Dr. Vino also took all the wine numbers a bit further – he also included the map of state’s electoral votes from the 2012 elections (democrats versus republicans), as well as the map of income per capita in all 50 states. There are some interesting correlations between all three maps, but I will leave it for you to make any type of conclusions as you will see fit.
And last but not least is latest feud in the wine critics world – which is mind boggling in my opinion. The wine world is huge – there is enough space for all the people who wants to professionally review the wines, and its okay to have a difference of the opinion. But Robert Parker and his company, Wine Advocate, apparently don’t think so. In the fight for the dominance of the opinion, it seems that Robert Parker lashes out at anyone who promotes the wines less bombastic than his palate requires. Last week, Robert Parker attacked Eric Asimov ( New York Times wine critic) and Jon Bonne ( San Francisco Chronicle) for conducting the tasting of the wines which were not to his liking. You can read a general overview of the issue here, but then you need to turn to the blog post by Dr. Vino. After the legal attack from the Wine Advocate lawyers, Dr. Vino had to drastically modify the content of his blog post, which you will be able to see here. And lastly, here is an excellent summary by the W. Blake Gray, explaining the reason for the “vicious attack” . Even if you largely ignore all the wine critics populace, I think this story still worth a few minutes of your time.
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #95: Grape Trivia – Tannat
Tannat Grapes. Source: Wikipedia
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!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, with the focus still on the red grapes, and today’s subject is Tannat.
It is interesting how different the grape stories are. Some grapes, like Bonarda/Charbono, have very convoluted history with changing names and uncertain origins. Some grapes, like Tempranillo, have a page-long list of synonyms, different names they are known under in the different parts of the world and even in the different parts of the same country. The Tannat story is a lot more straightforward. Wikipedia doesn’t list any synonyms for the name Tannat, which is quite rare – most of the grapes have some alternative names listed, and there are no confusions surrounding the Tannat grape.
Tannat originated in the Southwest France, in the area close to Pyrénées. Area surrounding village of Madiran was and still is the main wine growing area for Tannat, but today Tannat is growing in the number of countries in the world (albeit not in the major quantities). In the second half of 1800, Tannat made it to Uruguay, where today it is literally considered the national grape. In addition to Uruguay, the grape is successfully grown in United States – California is increasing its plantings quite a bit, and some other states are experimenting with the grape. Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Italy are all also have some plantings of Tannat.
Tannat is a late ripening grape, with the thick black skin. That skin makes the grape resistant to the mildew rot, and also becomes a source of tannins. Tannat wines are generally known to make firmly structured, tannic and powerful wines, which require quite a bit of aging to soften those tannins up – however this is changing nowadays as many winemakers focus on making the Tannat wines more approachable while young. Similar to the other grapes with likewise characteristics (think thick skin/tannins), Tannat has very high level of procyanidins, which according to the Wikipedia are “good for reducing blood pressure, lowering cholesterol and encouraging healthy blood clotting”.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: Tannat was the reason for one specific winemaking technique to be invented relatively recently. Do you know what technique is that?
a. Malolactic fermentation
b. Micro-oxygenation
c. Carbonic maceration
d. Reverse osmosis
Q2: True or False: Tannat is primarily harvested by hand and not by the machine. Provide an explanation for your answer.
Q3: Name 3 grapes, often used as blending partners when Tannat wines are produced in France
Q4: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Tannat-based wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
Q5: Tannat ripens at about the same time as Cabernet Sauvignon. Assuming you have Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon which are both slightly underripe, which grape would you make the better wine from, Tannat or Cabernet Sauvignon? Why?
Bonus: Have you ever had any Tannat wines? What do you think of them?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, National Wine Week, Las Vegas Wine Happenings, French versus American – Really?
Mount Palomar Charbono
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #94, Grape Trivia – Bonarda/Charbono/Douce Noir. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about the red grape called sometimes Bonarda, sometimes Charbono, but should be called Douce Noir.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: True or False: Bonarda is one of the 30 most planted red grapes in the world?
A1: True. At least as of 2010 it was, and there is an upswing curve in the Bonarda plantings in Argentina, so this definitely should hold true in 2014.
Q2: These are some of the grapes growing in Argentina. Sort this list by the area plantings in the descending order:
a. Bonarda, b. Cabernet Sauvinon, c. Criola Grande, d. Malbec
A2: The correct sequence is: Malbec, Bonarda, Criola Grande. Side note – I heard about Criola Grande grape for the first time while researching information for this quiz. Interesting to note that if we would be talking about year 2000, Criola Grande would be grape #1 on the list.
Q3: Which one doesn’t belong and why?
a. Turley, b. Bonny Doon, c. Robert Foley, d. Mount Palomar
A3: Bonny Doon is the one. The rest of the wineries produce Charbono wines today, but not Bonny Doon (side note – they were making Charbono in the past).
Q4: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Charbono wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
A4: False. But it is false by the tiny, tiny margin – Robert Foley Charbono has the highest rating of 90 and the only Charbono wine with that rating.
Q5: True or False: From year 2000 to 2010, plantings of Bonarda in Argentina have increased by more than 20%
A5: True. The plantings went from 14989 acres in 2000 to 18127 in 2010.
It is interesting that participation in the wine quiz is very different from the week to the week – I’m sure that at this point as I’m playing in the land of the rare grapes, it makes people afraid to take a risk (where there is none!) and answer the quiz’s questions. Only Bill of Duff’s Wine made an attempt to answer the questions, so I definitely would to acknowledge him. At this point I have a few rare grapes lined up for the quizzes, so I plan to continue with that – but I hope that you, my readers, will make an effort to answer the questions in any case – you have nothing to lose, and will only get the benefit of learning.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
Heard for the National Wine week? If you are like me, than the answer is no. Meanwhile, it appears that one of the well known restaurants in US, Smith & Wollensky, is celebrating 54th National Restaurant Week! Yes, this is somewhat of a late notice, but if you live in a close proximity to one of the Smith & Wollensky restaurants, you still have about 2 days to go there and taste 10 different wines for only $20 with the purchase of the lunch entree. Here is the link to the web site with more information.
Las Vegas is probably one of the most “happening” places on Earth – a city which exist with only one purpose – to entertain. Music, Art, Food – everything is big in Vegas. As you might expect, wine is also happening in Vegas. If Las Vegas is the part of your travel itinerary over the next few weeks, here is the blog post from the blog hosted by Vegas.com, which will help you to properly plan your travel itinerary and not to miss any of the wine events.
Last but not least for today is a very peculiar article by Tom Wark, a well known figure in the wine industry, who also writes the blog called Fermentation. Why peculiar? The blog is titled “Why French Wine Will Never Be as Interesting as American Wine” – tell me, what do you think of it? What I find peculiar, is that Mr. Wark is a wine professional – thus I would really expect that if anyone, he should really have an appreciation for the wine world as a whole and not make cheap tabloid type of statements, which are generally intended only to attract instant, but short living publicity. In his post, which you can find here, it seems that Mr. Wark got upset over someone else’ opinion about French wines being more superior to the American wines, and that is what prompted Mr. Wark’s post where he has a fictional dialog proving his point about American wines being interesting and I guess French wines being boring. I’m not even going to comment on that blog post here, as in today’s world, each and every country produces phenomenal wines which are only getting better and better, and winemakers everywhere – France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Georgia or California – are crossing the boundaries and test the limits literally every day. But I would suggest that you will read the post and shitload of comments it generated – I guarantee you will have fun. I also want to mention that Chris Kassel of Intoxicology Report took a pity on Mr. Wark and wrote the commentary to his post which he titled “Why American Wine Will Never Be As Interesting As French Wine” – you can find it here. Again, a fun reading and well worth your time.
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #94: Grape Trivia – You Say Bonarda, I Say Charbono
Bonarda Grapes, Source: Wikipedia
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 summer time (for those of you in US – and no, don’t worry, I didn’t say “summer”, it is only a day saving time) and your new wine quiz!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, with the focus still on the red grapes, and today’s subject is the red grape called Charbono, also known as Bonarda, and … wait for it … Douce Noir!
If we are looking for the grape with the most confusing story of its origin, this well might be the winner. For the long time Bonarda, which is how the grape is known in Argentina, was considered to be the same as Bonarda Piemontese, the red grape from Piedmont in Italy. Charbono, which has almost the cult status in California (not in term of prices, but in terms of availability), even today is written up on some wine sites as “unique California grape of unknown origin”, however it was considered to be brought to California by Italian immigrants as Barbera. To complete the round of confusion, Douce Noir, a nearly extinct variety in France with only 5 acres planted today, was considered to be related to Italian Dolcetto (Douce in French and Dolce in Italian both mean sweet).
Douce Noir became known in France in Savoie region at the very beginning of the 19th century, and by the end of 19th century, it was the most planted grape in Savoie. It is also known in Jura under the name of Corbeau, which means “crow”, as the grape often has a shiny black color. About 15 years ago, based on DNA research it was established that both Bonarda and Charbono are in reality are Douce Noir grape!
Douce Noir is a very late ripening variety, it ripens after the Cabernet Sauvignon. It is known to have a very think black skin and has very high phenolic content, as well as high acidity, so it is capable of producing deeply flavored and concentrated red wines. It is found that the grape produces the best results in the areas where there is a substantial difference between day and night temperatures. While it is hard to find in France, the grape grows plentiful in Argentina (yes, as Bonarda). The plantings in California are small (less than 50 acres), but the resulting wines are quite unique and equally hard to find due to the very limited production.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: True or False: Bonarda is one of the 30 most planted red grapes in the world?
Q2: These are some of the grapes growing in Argentina. Sort this list by the area plantings in the descending order:
a. Bonarda
b. Cabernet Sauvinon
c. Criola Grande
d. Malbec
Q3: Which one doesn’t belong and why?
a. Turley
b. Bonny Doon
c. Robert Foley
d. Mount Palomar
Q4: Wine Spectator calls wines with 90-94 ratings “Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style”. True or False: There are no Charbono wines rated as Outstanding by Wine Spectator.
Q5: True or False: From year 2000 to 2010, plantings of Bonarda in Argentina have increased by more than 20%
Bonus: have you ever had Charbono wines (talking specifically California here)? What do you think of them?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC8 Theme, Water into Wine???, Wine in Numbers, About Champagne and more
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #93, Grape Trivia – Norton. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about the red grape called Norton.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Which of the following are synonyms of Norton?
a. Cynthiana, b. St. Croix, c. St. Vincent, d. Virginia Seedling
A1: While looks standard, this was a tricky question – did anyone noticed the plural on the “synonyms“? The correct answer here is Cynthiana and Virginia Seedling – both are synonyms for Norton, even though it seems that Cynthiana might be a slightly different clone rather than identical grape under a different name.
Q2: The winery in which state holds the trademark The Real American Grape®:
a. Arkansas, b. Missouri, c. Pennsylvania, d. Virginia
A2: This phrase was trademarked by Chrysalis winery in Virginia
Q3: Norton is an official State Grape of:
a. Arkansas, b. Mississippi, c. Missouri, d. Virginia
A3: Norton is a staple of wine production in Missouri, so yes, the correct answer is c, Missouri.
Q4: Norton grape generally classified as:
a. Vitis Aestivalis, b. Vitis Cinerea, c. Vitis Labrusca, d. Vitis Vinifera
A4: While there are some competing opinions, it seems the Norton is generally classified as Vitis Aestivalis (Summer Grape), which according to definition in Wikipedia is a “species of grape native to eastern North America from southern Ontario east to Vermont, west to Oklahoma, and south to Florida and Texas”.
Q5: As you know, Riedel is the best known wine glass maker, which creates wine glasses designated for different varietals. True or False: Riedel makes a special varietal glass designated to Norton
A5: Riedel created a Norton-specific glass (a stemware, to be called properly) in 2009
I’m glad to report that we had good participation in this quiz. Nobody was able to provide a full answer to the first question – but then again, it was somewhat of a tricky question so I’m accepting the partial answers here as well. Thus we have three winners – Suzanne from apuginthekitchen, Kirsten The Armchair Sommelier and Julian from Vino in Love – they all get the prize of unlimited bragging rights. Well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First of all, the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge, now in its 8th reincarnation, has a new theme. As announced by Kara The Sweet Sommelier, winner of the round #7, the new theme is Luck. You might need some luck to connect it to the wine, unless you have a lucky bottle, lucky cork or may be a lucky corkscrew – but in any case, put your lucky hat on and start writing. For all the details, including submission and voting timeline, here is the link to Kara’s post.
Remember Jesus? Yep, The One. Supposedly, he was able to make wine out of water, and this was definitely the miracle. So the new startup, called The Miracle Machine (hint, hint), intends to do exactly that – bring that miracle to all of us, mere mortals. A special device, a little bit of magic and, of course, an iPhone to control the magic, and the founders promise the wine which will rival Screaming Eagle, all done on your kitchen countertop, at a fraction of a fraction of a price. You can read more about the miracle device and watch the video here – as for me, I will take my chances with the local liquor store.
Number junkies, rejoice – I have a new set of numbers for you. As many times in the past, they come from Mike Veseth, who writes the blog The Wine Economist. The point of the numbers is really to illustrate the economic concept called disintermediation, which here has to do with a simple question – how many people does it take to produce a bottle of wine? Some wine businesses prefer to own vineyards, and the whole process of winemaking, and some are “outsourcing” as much of the process as possible to the other specialized businesses (like mobile bottling line, for instance), and this is what disintermediation is all about. The numbers are very interesting, if you think that it takes 4,000 people at E&J Gallo Winery to produce about 85M cases of wine worldwide, and then it takes only 95 people to produce 1.7M cases at Bogle Vineyards. But – take a look for yourself here, I think this is a very interesting read.
Next up – a very interesting article by Jancis Robinson, talking about what the wine drinkers are asking to have more and more in Champagne – in a few words, the demand is to have Champagne more complex (longer aging time on the lees), and more dry (like no added sugar at all). Of course you are better off reading it for yourself here.
Last, but not least at all, I want to bring to your attention an article about wine serial entrepreneur, Charles Banks. I’m always fascinated by the stories of the people who are told that they better give up, and they achieve their best results despite all odds ( Charles Banks was told that asparagus is all he can hope for to grow on the patch of land he acquired – and he managed to produce a great wine on that patch of land). I suggest you will find 5 minutes in your busy day and read this article – definitely worth your time.
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #93: Grape Trivia – Norton
Norton Grapes growing in Missouri. Source: Wikipedia
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!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, with the focus still on the red grapes, and today’s subject is Norton, a uniquely North American grape.
When you ask people what is the America’s signature red grape, most probable answer you will get is Zinfandel. However, we need to remember that Zinfandel was actually brought here from Croatia and it still has its ancestors happily growing there – it doesn’t make it any less an American Signature Grape – but – there is actually a grape which is called The Real American Grape®, and this grape is Norton.
What makes Norton so special? The origins of the grape are somewhat unclear, most often associated with the work of Dr. Daniel Norton, who spent lots of time and efforts to create the grape which would survive in Virginia. You see, despite the similarities in the climate conditions between Virgina and Bordeaux, most of the European grape cuttings coming from France would simply die in Virginia soil. Norton, which was born some time around 1820, became the first cross of European and native American grapes which not only survived, but also produced very palatable wines. Actually, the wines were that good, that in 1873 at the worldwide competition in Vienna, the Norton wine from Missouri was declared the “Best Red Wine of All Nations“. I guess another mystery associated with Norton is the fact that even with such a high designation, it didn’t spread violently all over the United States. The fact that the Norton vines are very particular to the types of soil they grow in, plus mass destruction of the Norton vineyards during Prohibition (they were replaced with plantings of Concord), were some of the key factors standing in the way of Norton’s success. Today, Norton is successfully growing in many of the Mid-Atlantic states in US, but it is still mostly known locally, particularly due to the draconian wine shipping laws in US.
Norton has deep-blue colored skin, and it is known for the very high anthocyanin content, which in turn is associated with the number of health benefits, such as “antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anti-carcinogenic”properties, according to the Wikipedia. Norton wines are generally full-bodied, with an interesting earthy profile, good structure and showing off a red fruit notes. Norton wines can age quite well, and they actually require a few years in the cellar to be enjoyed fully.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: Which of the following are synonyms of Norton?
a. Cynthiana
b. St. Croix
c. St. Vincent
d. Virginia Seedling
Q2: The winery in which state holds the trademark The Real American Grape®:
a. Arkansas
b. Missouri
c. Pennsylvania
d. Virginia
Q3: Norton is an official State Grape of:
a. Arkansas
b. Mississippi
c. Missouri
d. Virginia
Q4: Norton grape generally classified as:
a. Vitis Aestivalis
b. Vitis Cinerea
c. Vitis Labrusca
d. Vitis Vinifera
Q5: As you know, Riedel is the best known wine glass maker, which creates wine glasses designated for different varietals. True or False: Riedel makes a special varietal glass designated to Norton
Bonus: have you ever had Norton wine? What do you think?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC7 Few Days Left, Cali Crush Report, Wines At State Dinner, And More
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #92, grape trivia – Montepulciano. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about indigenous Italian grape called Montepulciano. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: In the number of regions, Montepulciano is often blended with … [name that grape]
A1: Sangiovese is a popular blending partner of Montepulciano.
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines rated in 95-100 range Classic (the highest and the most prestigious category). True or False: there are no Montepulciano – based wines rated in the Classic category
A2: False. There a few Montepulciano wines with the ratings of 95 or above. For example, 2000 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo got 97 points from the Wine Spectator.
Q3: From the list below, which state in US doesn’t make any Montepulciano wines of notice:
a. California, b. Maryland, c. North Carolina, d. Texas, e. Washington
A3: Interestingly enough, Washington so far doesn’t have any Montepulciano plantings of notice.
Q4: True or false: from 2000 to 2010, plantings of Montepulciano in Italy increased by more than 15%
A4: True. Plantings of Montepulciano in Italy increased from 28,679 acres in 2000 to the 34,824 in 2010.
Q5: Best known Montepulciano wine comes from Abruzzo in Italy and it is known as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Do you know the name of the white wine commonly produced in Abruzzo?
A5: Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is a white wine from the Abruzzo region.
When it come to the results, first of all, we had very good participation in the quiz, quite a few answers. And, most importantly – we have a winner! Tracy Lee Karner answered all 5 questions correctly, so she gets the top prize of unlimited bragging rights! Great job! I also would like to acknowledge Suzanne of apuginthekitchen and Mario Plazio (no web site), who both got 4 questions out of 5 correctly. Very well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
Boy, I have a lot of interesting reads for you. First of all, there are only a few days left to submit your entry for #MWWC7, “Devotion”. Over the past few days there were quite a few submission, which is great. I have a problem to come to grips with this theme, as “devotion” doesn’t trigger any mental image for me – I would much happier deal with “obsession” or at least a “dedication”. Anyway, may be my muse will still come, all covered in the snow? No matter – get your wine devotion story going! Here you will find rules and submissions to the date.
Like the grapes and the numbers? I personally do – I don’t even know why. Anyway, the California Agricultural Statistics service just released the numbers for the 2013 grape crush report – 4.23 million tons of grapes were crushed last year, up 5% from the 2012. The most crushed grape in California was Chardonnay, closely followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and then Zinfandel. For all the numbers please take a look at this article at WineBusiness.com.
Now, I want to share with you two interesting articles from the Dr. Vino’s blog. First, it is always interesting to know what the other people drink, right? Don’t you try to glance at the label of the wine been served at the table next to you? So this is not just some other random people we are talking about here – Dr. Vino analyses selection of the wines from the State Dinner given by US President in honor of the high guest from France. Here is the article – and similar to the Dr. Vino’s opinion, my question is – really? These are the best wines made in US? Okay, okay – I didn’t taste either one of the particular 3 wines served at that dinner – in case you have, I would be really interested in your opinion.
Last, but not least for today is another article from Dr. Vino’s blog – a short post about the sale of the wines at the auction in Chicago. Considering all the stories about the counterfeit wines nowadays, it is not surprising that the wines with the guaranteed provenance are sold at the premium nowadays. But for me personally, it is the data in that old receipt which is very interesting – $78.99 for the Echezeaux or $68.99 for Vosnee-Romanee – sigh, and another sigh – are those days gone forever?
And we are done here. The glass is empty – but the refill is on its way! Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #92: Grape Trivia – Montepulciano
Montepulciano grapes Source: Wikipedia
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!
We are continuing our grape trivia series, with the focus still on the red grapes, and today’s subject is Montepulciano.
Montepulciano is an indigenous Italian grape variety, recommended for use in 20 out of 95 wine regions in Italy, and one of the most planted red grapes in the country. The origins of Montepulciano are hard to pinpoint, with some sources citing the grape been growing on the hills of Abruzzo since the ancient times, and some sources suggesting that the grape was brought into the Abruzzo region from the neighboring Tuscany at the end of the 18th century. Also an interesting “gotcha” is associated with the name of the grape itself. It seems that the name of the grape, Montepulciano, is given after the town in Tuscany, also called Montepulciano, where the grape supposedly came from. But the problem is that the wine produced in Montepulciano has nothing to do with Montepulciano grape! Town of Montepulciano produces the wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is made out of 100% Sangiovese grape! Yep, that’s what I call confusing.
Montepulciano is a late ripening variety, with thick black skin and relatively low acidity. It produces wines which are quite dry, with cherry and cherry pit (did you ever try to eat the content of the cherry pit?) flavors, full bodied and easy to drink. While a lot of Montepulciano wines are easy to drink but not necessarily memorable, proper care and reduced yields can result in the world-class wines. Absolute majority of Montepulciano wines are produced in Italy, with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Rosso Piceno and Rosso Conero probably been best known areas, but Montepulciano plantings also exist in Argentina, New Zealand and the United States.
And now, to the quiz!
Q1: In the number of regions, Montepulciano is often blended with … [name that grape]
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines rated in 95-100 range Classic (the highest and the most prestigious category). True or False: there are no Montepulciano – based wines rated in the Classic category
Q3: From the list below, which state in US doesn’t make any Montepulciano wines of notice:
a. California
b. Maryland
c. North Carolina
d. Texas
e. Washington
Q4: True or false: from 2000 to 2010, plantings of Montepulciano in Italy increased by more than 15%
Q5: Best known Montepulciano wine comes from Abruzzo in Italy and it is known as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Do you know the name of the white wine commonly produced in Abruzzo?
Good luck, enjoy the quiz and your weekend! Cheers!
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