Arts & Entertainment
Are You A Wine Trivia Expert?
By Charles B. Rubinstein
"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask?"
Scott Adams, U.S. Cartoonist
Shafer vineyards is well known to connoisseurs of California wine, particularly for the Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon Hillside Select, Stags Leap District from the Napa Valley. The winery is also known wine trivia lovers for Shafer Line on Wine, which is a collection of what the winery calls "interesting and oddball facts about the international world of wine making." In March, July, and November, Shafer sends postcards containing about nine questions related to wine to those on their mailing list. The questions are the sort that would be challenging even to an expert in wine trivia, but they are fun to try to answer nonetheless.
Most of the questions that follow are from the most recent three years of Shafer's postcards. Write down your answers as you go through the questions. The correct answers are given at the end of this column. No peeking allowed until you are finished. My comment or a hint follows each of the questions.
(1) An Australian woman embroiled in a messy divorce did what with one of her husband's $1,000 bottle of rare wine? The husband was unscathed so don't think she hit him.
(2) A New York man was arrested last year about this time for running an illegal dental surgery out of his house using jug wine as what? Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the first century, used wine made from the mandrake plant to produce the same effect in patients undergoing what passed for surgery at that time.
(3) A hotel in the Netherlands salvaged what to create cozy little rooms? The guests could probably detect a familiar bouquet in the room.
(4) In what state is it illegal for wine shops to sell wine gift bags? It's close to home.
(5) A ton of grapes makes how much wine? It's more than 20 cases and less than 100 cases.
(6) The grape Viognier derives its name from the Latin "via gehennae," which means what? It's the destination and the path to get there that is often paved with good intentions.
(7) What is the longest recorded flight of a Champagne cork? For football trivia addicts, it's three yards, three inches under the record for the longest field goal in professional football.
(8) In 1997 Americans spent $15 million for wine storage units for their homes; ten years later in 2007 that number was? Think big.
(9) The oldest winery in the U.S., located in the Hudson Valley town of Washingtonville, NY, began operation in what year? It's 16 years earlier than the year of the famous classification of the wines of the Medoc.
(10) You've seen warnings about drinking and driving. But one wine label in South Africa goes a step further warning against drinking and what? It's sometimes paired with chewing gum in a phrase about ability to do two things.
(11) He was a sculptor, painter, architect, and inventor. But Leonardo da Vinci's resume also includes what? As far as I know nobody has uncovered a label that he painted for his fruit.
(12) Until the mid 1700s, Champagne was imported into England without what? It was missing a key ingredient.
(13) A major pawn broker in what city lends money against wine as collateral? The city was a center of education and ideas during the Age of Enlightenment.
(14) The world of wine drinkers use how many natural wine corks a year? Think higher than millions.
(15) According to a study in 2007, the biggest wine drinkers among sports fans are fans of what sport? I guess beer wasn't appropriate for this sport.
Answers:
(1) She made spaghetti sauce.
(2) Anesthesia.
(3) Wine casks, which once held 14,500 liters of Beaujolais.
(4) New York.
(5) Approximately 720 bottles, or 60 cases, of wine.
(6) Road to Hell.
(7) 177 feet, 9 inches, or 59 yards, 9 inches. For those who are curious about the record for the longest field goal, it's 63 yards.
(8) $800 million.
(9) 1839.
(10) Drinking and walking.
(11) Vineyard owner. His vines were located in what is now part of Milan.
(12) Bubbles. It was imported in barrels as still wine. The second fermentation giving the wine its characteristic bubbles took place in England.
(13) Paris.
(14) 20 billion.
(15) Fans of women's golf. Anybody answering more than nine questions correctly qualifies as a wine trivia expert.
If you have questions about wine write to me at The Two River Times™ or email me at trtwineman@aol.com.
