Test your wine knowledge with quiz questions from our expert.
True or False: The Verband Deutscher Qualitäts und Prädikatsweingüter (thankfully shortened to the much more manageable "VDP") in Germany is the world’s oldest association of wine estates.
True
Founded in 1910, the VDP claims to be the oldest association of wine estates in the world. It now comprises roughly 200 of Germany's best producers, and uses a stylized eagle with circles reminiscent of a grape bunch (mandatory use of that symbol only dates back to 1982, however).
In what year was the first Spätlese (late-harvested) Riesling vintage in Germany?
1775
According to Stephan Reinhardt's "The Finest Wines of Germany" the first generally recognized Spätlese vintage was in 1775, when Schloss Johannisberg picked late and made wine from the grapes that included rot. The results were so good that it didn't take long before Spätlese was recognized as a Riesling style in its own right.
The term aldehydic refers to dehydrogenated alcohol, or the oxidation of organic compounds. During Sherry fermentation, a layer of yeast called flor converts the sugars into ethanol, until all of the sugar is gone. At that point, the yeasts transform and kick off an aerobic process, converting remaining acids into acetaldehyde. A waxy coating then develops on the yeast, causing them to float and form a protective layer over the developing Sherry that protects it from alcohol, which looks quite odd but is responsible for the magic that is a good Sherry. The entire process drastically lowers the wine's total acidity and makes Sherries one of the most (if not *the* most) aldehydic wines.
It's known that ice wines were produced in Franconia, Germany in the late 1700s. But evidence suggests that ice wines might have been made as far back as what time-frame?
1st Century AD
While the first *post-Roman* icewine was likely made in Franconia in Germany in 1794, but evidence suggests that some form of ice wine (in terms of wine being made from frozen grapes) was produced as far back as the 1st Century, AD. For example, writings attributed to Pliny the Elder, who lived during that time, indicate that certain grape varieties should not be harvested before the first frost of the season had occurred.
The concentration of Hungarian Tokaji Aszú sweet wine was traditionally measured in the amount of puttonyos (or doughy grape paste) added to a Gönc cask to produce that batch of wine. What is the storage capacity of a Gönc?
136 liter
Gönc barrels can hold 136 liters (okay, technically 136.6 litres!), and they are rarely tightly sealed. Fermentation in the Gönc can take years, usually happening in maze-like underground cellar carved out of rhyolite tuff.
Joseph Haydn, Bram Stoker, Louis XV and Voltaire all had at least one thing in common - they all loved what wine?
Tokaji
Hungarian Tokaji drinkers boast some impressive company, including not only those famous people listed above but also Frederick the Great, Gustav III, Madame de Pompadour, Goethe,and composers Beethoven, Liszt, & Schubert.
The grape Tinta Cao represents what percetnage of plantings in Portugal's Port-producing regions?
1%
Tinta Cao, which produces juicy, fruity wine with spicy notes, is the rarest of the many grapes used in blending Port, accounting for a mere 1% of plantings.
True or False: Wine-making in Japan dates back only to the 20th Century?
False
Japan now grows wine grapes in 23 prefectures, but its modern wine-making history dates back to the 19th century in Katsunuma. Before that, evidence suggests that grapevines came to Japan as early as the 6th Century (along with Buddhism, and the Kanji writing system, from China).
True or False: during Roosevelt's first administration, the federal government entertained the idea of providing subsidies to plant muscadine vines in the Southern U.S., as a means of stirring economic growth by producing a cash crop for farmers and providing low-cost wine for sale?
True
Entrepreneur Paul Garrett proposed such an idea when the Roosevelt staff sought input into ideas for boosting the then-depressed U.S. economy. The plan was given only a modest try, however, with a small amount of vines being planted int he early 1930s, after which the idea died on the vine due to lack of support and growing Dry opposition in Washington, D.C.
Slate-rich soils, such as those found in the more northerly wine-making areas in Germany, are thought to impart what characteristic aroma to Riesling wines?
Green apple
Slate is common in the soils of the Mosel, Mitelrhein and Rheingau regions of Germany, and assists ripening by storing a bit of the sun's warmth. According to the book Riesling by Christina Fischer and INgo Swoboda, these soils are most often marked by the aromas of fresh green apples in wine made from Riesling grown on them.
