96 Fun Facts About Wine

Which sweet-wine estate was the only 'Premier Cru Supérieur' in the 1855 Bordeaux classification?

Château d'Yquem alone was ranked Premier Cru Supérieur in 1855, above the other Sauternes and Barsac first growths; it picks berry by berry and released no wine at all in 2012.

What term refers to aging wine, often in oak barrels, to develop its flavors?

Élevage, French for 'raising', covers everything between fermentation and bottling, including months or years of maturation in oak barrels.

Which widow of a sparkling-wine house invented riddling in 1816?

Madame Clicquot (Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin) devised riddling in 1816 with her cellar master, tilting bottles in a pierced table so the sediment slid into the neck for removal.

Which grape variety is the principal component of Chianti, the classic red of Tuscany?

Sangiovese must make up at least 70% of Chianti and 80% of Chianti Classico; it is Tuscany's most planted grape and the sole variety in Brunello di Montalcino.

Wines from which region beat top French bottles in both red and white at the 1976 'Judgment of Paris' tasting?

Both winners were from Napa County: Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Cabernet and Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay topped the blind tasting Steven Spurrier staged in Paris on 24 May 1976.

Which renowned sweet white wine of Bordeaux is made from grapes shrivelled by a beneficial mould?

Autumn mists off the Ciron river encourage the mould, and the top estates may pick a single vine several times over the harvest.

Which country's Douro Valley gives the world Port?

Port is made in Portugal's Douro Valley, where spirit is added part-way through fermentation; the Douro was demarcated in 1756, making it one of the world's oldest protected wine regions.

Pinotage, a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, was created in which country?

Pinotage was bred in South Africa in 1925 by Abraham Perold at Stellenbosch University, crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault, then known locally as Hermitage.

What common wine fault is often described as having aromas of damp cardboard, mold, or a musty basement?

Cork taint is caused by a compound from contaminated corks that some tasters detect at a few parts per trillion; it is the main reason Australia and New Zealand switched largely to screwcaps.

Which thin-skinned, fussy red grape makes the famous reds of the Côte d'Or in eastern France?

Pinot Noir mutates readily and is notoriously hard to grow, yet the Côte de Nuits holds 24 of the region's 25 red grand cru vineyards.

What is the flattering name for the grey mould that shrivels grapes for sweet wines?

Noble rot is the winemaker's name for the fungus when misty mornings and dry afternoons let it shrivel grapes without spoiling them; in persistently wet weather it turns to grey rot and ruins the crop.

What is the process of removing solid particles from wine to improve clarity before bottling?

Fining is a winemaking technique that involves adding a substance to wine to bind with and remove suspended particles, thereby clarifying and stabilizing the wine.

Which red wine component binds to saliva proteins, causing a drying, puckering feel?

Tannins, the same compounds that make strong tea astringent, bind to saliva proteins and help red wine age; the fat in a steak softens their grip, which is why big reds suit red meat.

What is the space of air between the wine and the cork in a bottle called?

Ullage is the air gap between wine and cork; the level drops as a bottle ages, and a large ullage warns buyers of evaporation or a failing cork.

What do winemakers call steeping crushed grape skins in the juice to draw out colour?

Maceration is the skin contact that gives red wine its colour and tannin: hours for a rosé, but for big reds it can run on for weeks after fermentation has finished.

What is the primary characteristic that defines a 'vintage' wine?

A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were primarily grown and harvested in a single specified year, which is typically indicated on the bottle's label.

Which winemaking process softens a wine's sharp acidity and can give Chardonnay a 'buttery' note?

Malolactic fermentation converts sharp malic acid to softer lactic acid; lactic bacteria rather than yeast do the work, and the by-product diacetyl is the compound used to flavour buttered popcorn.

What French term describes leaving wine on its dead yeast cells after fermentation for richness and texture?

Sur lie, 'on the yeast deposit', is how Muscadet from the western Loire is matured and may be stated on its label; the practice also gives long-aged sparkling wines their bready notes.

Which Italian region produces Barolo and Barbaresco from the Nebbiolo grape?

Piedmont is a prestigious wine region in northwest Italy, renowned for its full-bodied red wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco, both made exclusively from the Nebbiolo grape.

What is the technique called in which Prosecco gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in pressurised tanks?

The Charmat method (also called Martinotti, after the Italian who first patented it in 1895) runs the second fermentation in pressurised tanks, so Prosecco can be ready in about a month and stays fresh and fruity.

Which German wine region is famed for Riesling grown on slate soils?

The Mosel's steep riverside vineyards sit on slate that stores daytime heat, and its Rieslings are typically light, high in acidity and low in alcohol.

What does AOC stand for in the context of French wine regulations?

AOC is Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée — Appellation of Controlled Origin — the French certification that ties a wine to its geographical origin and regulates grapes, yields and methods.

Which northern Rhône grape goes by a different name in Australia, where it is the most planted red?

Syrah is called Shiraz in Australia, where it is the most planted red; Australians also called it Hermitage until the late 1980s, when that French place name became protected.

What is a 'puncheon' in the context of wine aging?

A puncheon holds roughly 450 liters — about twice a standard 225-liter Bordeaux barrique — so it gives the wine a gentler dose of oak.

Which white grape varietal is primarily used to produce Sancerre wine from the Loire Valley, France?

Sancerre's whites are 100% Sauvignon Blanc, crisp and mineral from the flinty, chalky hills of the upper Loire; the appellation also makes a little Pinot Noir red and rosé.

Cloudy Bay Vineyards, whose 1985 release won New Zealand wine acclaim, is in which region?

Cloudy Bay sits in Marlborough at the top of the South Island, where Montana Wines only began large-scale planting in 1973; within two decades its pungent, gooseberry-and-passionfruit whites were New Zealand's calling card.

Muscadet, the bone-dry white of the western Loire, is made from which grape variety?

Melon de Bourgogne, as its name says, originated in Burgundy; it was widely replanted around Nantes after the great frost of 1709 and, despite the wine's name, is unrelated to Muscat.

Which Hungarian sweet wine, "Wine of Kings, King of Wines", is made from botrytised grapes?

Tokaji Aszú earned the 'Wine of Kings' epithet traditionally attributed to Louis XIV; its sweetness was graded in puttonyos, the baskets of botrytised berries added to each cask of base wine.

Michel Pouget introduced Malbec in 1853 to which country, where it became the national grape?

Argentina adopted Malbec after French agronomist Michel Pouget brought cuttings in 1853, a date now marked as Malbec World Day on 17 April; the grape comes from Cahors, where it is called Côt.

What is 'Brix' a measurement of in winemaking?

Brix is a scale used in winemaking to measure the sugar content of grapes or grape must, which indicates the potential alcohol level of the finished wine.

Which viticulture follows Rudolf Steiner's ideas, timing work to an astrological calendar?

Biodynamic viticulture follows Rudolf Steiner's 1924 lectures: growers bury manure-filled cow horns over winter, spray the resulting preparation on the vines, and treat the farm as a single living organism.

What winemaking technique pumps fermenting juice from the tank bottom over the floating cap to extract colour?

Remontage, 'pumping over' in English, wets the cap that carbon dioxide pushes to the surface to extract colour and tannin; punching the cap down by hand is the gentler alternative.

What is the breakdown of dead yeast cells in bottle-aged sparkling wine called?

Autolysis, the slow self-digestion of spent yeast, releases compounds that give long-aged sparkling wines their brioche, toast and nutty notes.

Which aromatic white grape is known for intense perfumed notes of lychee and rose petal?

Gewürztraminer is a highly aromatic white grape varietal, typically producing full-bodied wines with distinctive notes of lychee, rose petals, and exotic spices.

Which Spanish system ages Sherry by blending it down through tiers of barrels?

Bottles are drawn only from the oldest tier of barrels and topped up from younger ones, so a solera may contain traces of wine laid down more than a century ago.

Which Spanish wine region is the home of the Albariño grape?

Rías Baixas in Galicia is the home of Albariño; vines there are traditionally trained on high granite-post pergolas to keep the thick-skinned bunches clear of the damp ground.

What is the main grape varietal used in red Bordeaux wines?

Merlot is Bordeaux's most planted grape, covering roughly two-thirds of the red vineyard, and it dominates Right Bank blends such as Pomerol and Saint-Émilion.

What is the term for a concentrated, sweet dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine?

Icewine is pressed while the berries are still frozen, so the water stays behind as ice and only a little intensely sweet juice runs off; harvests often happen at night in mid-winter.

Which grape makes the great white wines of Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault?

Chardonnay is the grape of white Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault on the Côte de Beaune; the same variety makes Chablis, the region's northernmost outpost.

What is opening a bottle of sparkling wine by striking its neck with a sword called?

Sabrage slides a sabre up the seam of the bottle to knock off the lip and cork together; legend credits Napoleon's hussars, who celebrated victories by opening bottles from horseback.

Which grape variety is the foundation of red Rioja?

Tempranillo, named for ripening early (temprano), takes on the vanilla of the American oak traditionally used in Rioja; across the border in the Douro it goes by Tinta Roriz.

Under Spanish law, 'sherry' must come from the 'Sherry Triangle' in which Andalusian province?

All three corners of the triangle — Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María — lie in Cádiz province; 'sherry' is an anglicisation of the old spelling Xerez.

Which tiny vine pest devastated 19th-century European vineyards, forcing growers to graft vines onto American rootstock?

Phylloxera is a tiny sap-sucking aphid relative that kills Vitis vinifera by attacking its roots; grafting European vines onto resistant American rootstock, adopted from the 1870s, became the standard defence.

Which sparkling wine, mostly made around Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, must ferment a second time in bottle?

Cava takes its name from the Catalan for cellar; Spanish producers adopted the term to set their bottle-fermented wine apart from French bubbly, and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in Penedès hosts the biggest houses.

What is the meaning of 'dry' when describing a wine?

Nearly all the grape sugar has been fermented into alcohol; under EU rules a still wine can be labelled dry with up to 4 g/L of sugar left, or a little more if the acidity balances it.

How many standard 750ml wine bottles are typically equivalent to one magnum bottle?

A magnum is a large format wine bottle that holds 1.5 liters of wine, which is equivalent to two standard 750ml bottles.

Which fortified island wine is deliberately heated as it ages, in a process called estufagem, to mimic long sea voyages?

Madeira shippers noticed the wine improved after crossing the tropics in ships' holds, so they began storing it in hot rooms called estufas. Once opened it keeps almost indefinitely.

Which red grape, at about 341,000 hectares in 2015, is the world's most planted wine grape?

Cabernet Sauvignon, a natural cross of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, is planted in dozens of countries, led by China, France, Chile and the United States.

Which country is widely recognized as the historical birthplace of winemaking?

Georgia holds the oldest evidence: residue on pottery from sites south of Tbilisi dates winemaking to roughly 6000 BCE, and its qvevri method of fermenting in buried clay vessels was inscribed by UNESCO in 2013.

What is the term for allowing wine to "breathe" to enhance its aromas and flavors?

Aeration exposes an opened wine to air, letting some aroma compounds volatilise and softening a young red, though a few swirls in the glass do as much for most wines.

In winemaking, what is the step of gently breaking grape skins to start releasing the juice called, once done by foot?

Crushing breaks the skins so juice begins to flow; mechanical crusher-destemmers replaced treading by foot, and the resulting mix of juice, skins and seeds goes on to fermentation.

What is the neutral grape spirit added mid-fermentation to make port sweet called?

Aguardente, a 77% grape spirit, is added when roughly half the sugar remains, lifting the alcohol to around 20% and killing the yeast; a similar trick makes vin doux naturel in France.

Which technique makes sparkling wine via a second fermentation in the bottle it is sold in?

The traditional method adds sugar and yeast to a finished still wine before sealing it, so the carbon dioxide from that second fermentation is trapped as bubbles in the very bottle sold.

What animal appears on the neck seal that marks a bottle as Chianti Classico?

Legend says a black rooster settled a medieval border dispute between Florence and Siena by crowing before dawn, letting Florence's rider get a head start.

Which Greek island grows Assyrtiko in low basket-trained vines on volcanic soil?

Santorini's Assyrtiko vines are coiled into low basket shapes called kouloura that shelter the grapes from fierce winds and trap moisture on the island's volcanic soils.

Which compound causes an estimated 80–85% of cork-taint cases in wine?

Trichloroanisole (TCA) forms when chlorine compounds meet moulds living in cork bark or wooden pallets; some tasters detect it at a few parts per trillion, which is why cork producers abandoned chlorine bleaching.

What is adding sugar to grape juice to raise the finished wine's alcohol called?

Chaptalization is legal in cool regions such as Alsace and England but banned in warmer ones like Italy and California, where ripeness is rarely a problem.

Which tier of Italian wine law requires a government tasting and a numbered neck seal?

DOCG, Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, is Italy's top tier: each bottle carries a numbered state seal and the wine must pass a tasting panel; Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello di Montalcino were among the first, in 1980.

Tuscany's dominant red grape takes its name from a Latin phrase meaning the 'blood' of which god?

Sanguis Jovis became the grape's name; it is the backbone of Chianti and the sole variety in Brunello di Montalcino.

From which French region does the world-renowned sparkling wine bearing its name originate?

Champagne, in northeast France, gives its name to the sparkling wine; under EU law and most trade agreements only wine from that delimited region may carry the name.

Which Portuguese wine, bottled young and lightly spritzy, comes from the Minho region?

Vinho Verde, 'green wine', comes from the Minho in Portugal's rainy north-west; it is released months after harvest, often with a light spritz and a low 8–11% alcohol.

Rioja's Mazuelo grape is the local name for which variety better known in southern France?

Carignan (Cariñena in Spanish) adds colour and acidity to Rioja blends and is thought to be named after the village of Mazuela in Burgos.

The Loire appellation Vouvray is devoted almost entirely to which white grape?

Chenin Blanc's high natural acidity lets Vouvray from good vintages age for decades, in styles from bone-dry to sweet moelleux and sparkling.

Which Italian grape, renamed in 2009, goes into Prosecco?

The grape was itself called Prosecco until Italy renamed it Glera in 2009; rules allow up to 15% of other permitted varieties.

Which province in the eastern Andean foothills is the heart of South American Malbec?

Vineyards there sit at an average of 600–1,100 metres, among the highest in the world, in the shadow of Aconcagua.

What process slowly pours wine into another container to separate it from sediment?

Decanting separates older reds and vintage ports from the deposit they throw: the bottle is stood upright, then poured slowly into a decanter, stopping when sediment reaches the neck.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a famous appellation of which French wine region?

Châteauneuf-du-Pape lies in the southern Rhône near Avignon, seat of the 14th-century popes; its reds may blend up to 13 permitted grape varieties, led by Grenache.

What term describes the soil, climate and topography that give a wine its character?

Terroir is a French term referring to the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors like soil, topography, and climate, all of which contribute to the wine's unique qualities.

Which spoilage yeast gives affected red wines aromas of Band-Aids, barnyard and horse stable?

At low levels some winemakers welcome the funk as complexity, and a whiff of 'Brett' is part of the signature of certain famous old-school reds.

What is a common effect of aging wine in oak barrels?

Toasting the inside of the barrel adds vanilla, clove and coconut aromas, and the slow trickle of oxygen through the wood softens the wine.

What phenomenon creates the 'legs' or 'tears' that drip down a wine glass after swirling?

The Marangoni effect: alcohol evaporates faster than water from the film on the glass, so surface tension pulls liquid up until it beads and runs back down; prominent legs say nothing about quality.

Which red-winemaking step, separating liquid from solids, is usually delayed until fermentation is nearly over?

For whites the order is reversed and the juice is squeezed off before fermentation; the free-run fraction is prized, while harder pressings are more bitter and astringent.

Apart from oak barrels, which parts of the grape are the main source of red wine's astringent phenolics?

Pip phenolics are harsher than those from the skin, which is why winemakers avoid grinding them; oak barrels add a softer, sweeter tannin of their own.

What is the primary role of sulfites (sulfur dioxide) when used in winemaking?

Sulfur dioxide guards against both oxygen and bacteria, and yeast produce a little of it naturally, so even 'no added sulfite' wines contain some.

Which country makes more ice wine than all other countries combined?

Canada's Ontario makes over 90% of the national output; by law the grapes must be picked at −8 °C or colder, so harvests often happen at night in December or January.

A 2001 DNA match traced Zinfandel to Crljenak Kaštelanski, a grape from the Dalmatian coast of which country?

Croatia's Dalmatian coast is Zinfandel's homeland: Crljenak Kaštelanski was matched by DNA in 2001, after Puglia's Primitivo had been shown to be the same grape in 1994; the discovery revived Croatian plantings.

Most large-format wine bottles carry biblical names; a Nebuchadnezzar holds how many litres?

A Nebuchadnezzar holds 15 litres, twenty standard bottles; below it sit the Balthazar (12 L), Salmanazar (9 L), Methuselah (6 L) and, in Champagne sizing, the Jeroboam (3 L).

What is the Italian term for drying grapes for months before fermentation, as for Amarone della Valpolicella?

Appassimento dries the grapes, mainly Corvina, on racks or in lofts for around three to four months, concentrating sugar into a full-bodied dry red often above 15% alcohol.

What is the primary organic acid in grapes, giving wine its crisp taste?

Tartaric acid is the predominant organic acid in wine grapes, crucial for wine's stability, color, and its refreshing, tart taste, and it remains largely unmetabolized during fermentation.

On which day is Beaujolais Nouveau legally released for sale in France each year?

The third Thursday of November was fixed by the INAO in 1985, replacing the earlier 15 November date, and the annual race to get bottles to Paris and beyond became a marketing event.

What is the trained professional who runs a fine restaurant's wine programme called?

A sommelier is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, typically working in fine dining, who specializes in all aspects of wine service, including cellaring, selection, and pairing.

What defines a 'natural wine'?

There is no legal definition: growers typically farm without pesticides, ferment with wild yeast, and add little or no sulfur dioxide, leaving the wine unfined and unfiltered.

The Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits make up the Côte d'Or in which French wine region?

The Côte d'Or is the heart of Burgundy; villages there such as Gevrey-Chambertin appended the names of their most famous vineyards to their own for marketing, a practice Gevrey started in 1847.

What is the term for the dead-yeast sediment that collects in a wine bottle during aging?

Lees refers to the spent yeast cells and other solid particles that settle at the bottom of a wine vessel after fermentation, and they can contribute to flavor and texture during aging.

What is the typical alcohol by volume (ABV) range for most dry table wines?

Most dry table wines, both red and white, typically fall within an alcohol by volume (ABV) range of 11% to 15%, though variations exist based on grape ripeness and winemaking style.

Which ancient civilization is often credited with spreading viticulture and winemaking throughout Europe?

The Romans carried vines along their roads and rivers into Gaul, Germania and Britain, founding vineyards along the Rhône, Moselle and Rhine that became Europe's classic regions.

What is the winemaking name for freshly crushed grape juice, solids and all, before fermentation begins?

Must is the freshly crushed grape juice that contains skins, seeds, and stems (though some solids may be removed), which is then fermented to produce wine.

Which famous Australian wine region is particularly noted for its Shiraz wines?

The Barossa Valley in South Australia is globally renowned for its powerful and concentrated Shiraz wines, often from very old vines.

In wine tasting, what term names the sensations and flavours that linger after a sip is swallowed or spat out?

A long finish is read as a sign of quality and complexity, since the wine's flavours and aromas keep going after it has gone.

Which light-bodied, aromatic red grape is the primary variety of Beaujolais?

Gamay's thin skin and low tannin suit the whole-berry fermentation that gives young Beaujolais its bubblegum fruitiness; Philip the Bold banned the grape from the Côte d'Or in 1395.

What is a wine called when oxygen exposure gives it nutty or bruised-apple aromas?

Oxidized wine is a common fault where excessive exposure to oxygen causes the wine to lose its fresh fruit characteristics and develop undesirable nutty, sherry-like, or bruised apple notes.

Which wines are served at what was once 'room temperature' rather than chilled?

Red wines are the ones served 'chambré'; the phrase dates from unheated rooms of perhaps 16–18 °C, so a modern living room is usually too warm, while sparkling and sweet whites are served coldest.

The Jura's oxidative 'vin jaune' is made from which white grape?

Savagnin is the sole grape of vin jaune: the wine ages at least six years under a veil of yeast in unfilled barrels and is bottled in the squat 62 cl clavelin.

Which thin-skinned white grape is the main variety in Bordeaux's botrytised sweet wines?

Sémillon's thin skin makes it especially prone to the shrivelling mould those wines depend on; in Australia's Hunter Valley it is picked early and made dry, ageing for decades.

What is the term for the cloudiness seen in natural wines bottled without filtering?

Turbidity is the haze from suspended yeast and protein scattering light; natural-wine makers skip the clarifying steps that would remove them, so the cloudiness is often left in on purpose.

What is the French term for stirring spent yeast sediment to build a wine's texture?

Bâtonnage, from bâton (stick), pushes a rod or paddle through the bung hole to rouse the sediment; the practice is common for barrel-aged whites and adds a creamy weight.