Test your wine knowledge with quiz questions from our expert.
What percentage of harvested Rhone Valley wine grapes are for white wines?
7 percent
As of 2017, only seven percent of the grapes harvested throughout the Rhone Valley were for white wine production. 13 percent were harvested for Rose, and a whopping 80 percent (approximately 2 million hectolitres) were for red.
True or False: 12 bottles of Rhone Valley wines are consumed every second?
True
According to Inter Rhone, every second twelve bottles of wine from the Rhone Valley are consumed worldwide. In 2017, 371 million bottles of Rhone Valley wine were sold, eventually to be consumed in 193 countries.
Which of the following ranks in the top fifteen countries for U.S. wine imports by volume?
All of the above
According to Comtrade, as of 2017 Canada, Portugal, Israel, and the United Kingdom were all within the top fifteen countries for U.S. wine imports by volume. With 76,000 tons imported in total, all four of those countries are far eclipsed by the countries in first and second place - Italy and France, respectively, who combined accounted for over a million tons of wine imports.
True or False: Within Italy, Sicily has more vineyard area than either Tuscany or Puglia?
True
As of 2016, Sicily is in the number one spot of all Italian regions as measured by vineyard area, with over 107,000 hectares of vines. With almost 85,000 hectares, Puglia was in second place, while Tuscany came in fourth with 53,570 hectares.
True or False: It took twenty-five years after the area's first plantings for Oregon's Ribbon Ridge to become an official American Viticultural Area?
True
Ribbon Ridge, contained within the Chehalem Mountains AVA, became an official AVA in 2005. According to the Oregon Wine Board, Harry Peterson-Nedry planted the first wine grapes on Ribbon Ridge at Ridgecrest Vineyards in 1980, 25 years before the area became an AVA. The first commercial vineyard in the area was established in 1982, when 54 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were planted, with Yamhill Valley Vineyards using those grapes to make wine shortly after, in 1985.
Which of the following American Viticultural Areas is part of the Willamette Valley AVA?
Van Duzer Corridor
The Van Duzer Corridor AVA, which became official in January of 2019, is contained within the Willamette Valley AVA, approximately 50 miles from Portland and 40 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. The AVA, which has predominantly marine sedimentary soils, takes its name from the Van Duzer Corridor, a Coast Range break that channels in strong afternoon winds.
In the 1700s, which Rhone Cru began branding their wines with "C.d.R." on their barrels to protect against fraud and to certify their contents?
Lirac
Lirac wine in the 16th Century was exported to Paris, Holland, and England. In 1737, a kingly order demanded that casks of Lirac wine shipped from the river port of Roquemaure needed to be branded with the letters C.d.R. (representing "Cotes du Rhone"), an early form of guaranteeing the origin of the wine from the region.
True or False: Rhone Valley vineyards represent over 20 percent of all French vineyard plantings?
False
Rhone Valley vineyards represent approximately 9 percent of all of the vineyard volume in France. The area does, however, rank as the second largest French AOC wine region by volume.
In what year was California's Santa Clara Valley recognized as an AVA (American Viticultural Area)?
1989
The Santa Clara Valley AVA extends south of the San Francisco Bay, along the Santa Cruz Mountains, in California's Central Coast area, and has winemaking and viticultural history dating back to the Spanish missionaries of the area in 1798. During the gold rush of the 1850s, European immigrants from France, Italy, Germany, and Spain recognized the potential of the area for grape-growing, and planting well-known varieties from their countries. It was recognized as an AVA in 1989. Today, the Santa Clara Valley AVA is home to about 30 wineries.
