|
FUN FACTS ABOUT Wine
by Robyn James, Proprietor
The Wine Cellar and Tasting Room
Whenever I attend industry wine tastings in Raleigh or Charlotte, it’s always a good time to be reunited with my peers who are retailing wine in other markets. We have the most fun drilling each other with obscure facts, jokes and trivia that pertain to wine. We’re all Wine Geeks, so that’s what we do when we aren’t working, we surf the net or scour books trying to find some little fact to stump each other. I though it would be fun to present my favorite wine trivia, jokes and facts as somewhat of a Wine Geek Primer.
So, did you know………….
The United States is third in the total amount of wine consumed. France is first and Italy is second. However, the United States is only 36th in the amount of wine consumed per person.
The pressure in a bottle of Champagne is 90 pounds per square inch about three times that in your auto tire.
All the essential vitamins are found in a glass of wine.
Grape varieties do not determine the degree of sweetness in wine; the winemaker does. Any grape can be made into wine as sweet or dry as you like.
Ideally, a wine should be stored on its side at a temperature of 55 degrees, but most wines will keep perfectly well at up to 70 degrees (a cellar or interior closet works well). A wine's worst enemies are heat and fluctuations in temperature.
The tradition of offering hosts a "first sip" of a bottle of wine comes from the necessity in times past of proving to the gathering that the wine was not only fit to drink, but more importantly that it was free of poisons.
Marilyn Monroe is said to have taken a bath in 350 bottles of champagne and named her poodle Cliquot, after the famous Champagne house.
When Lief Eriksson first landed in what is now North America, he and his crew were so impressed at finding grapes growing on the new land that he named it Vinland-or Wine Land.
In 1990, the New York Times reported that 400 copies of Little Red Riding Hood were locked in a public school district storage room in Empire, California. Why? The fairy tale mentions that the little girl brought her grandmother a bottle of wine.
Grandma, what big, bloodshot eyes you have.
In 2002, the Associated Press reported the firing of five bankers employed by Barclay’s Capital. Their offense? The prior summer they celebrated a business deal by going out to dinner. The total bill was $62,679 – called the most expensive meal per capita every by Guinness World records. It included a $16,500 bottle of 1945 Petrus Bordeaux; a $13,400 bottle of the 1946 vintage; and a $17,500 bottle from 1947. The dessert wine cost $13,100.
“In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
“Beer is made by men, wine by God.”
Martin Luther
“Sir, if you were my husband, I would poison your wine.”
Lady Astor to Winston Churchchill
“Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it.”
Winston Churchill
A young professional on his first date with a stunning woman, wanted to impress her with his knowledge of wine. “Bring me a bottle of 1985 Sterling Cabernet from the Carneros District.”, he commanded the wine steward. Upon tasting the wine, the man complained, “This is a 1987 vintage from the North Coast Vineyards near Calistoga. Now bring me what I ordered.”
The steward fetched and poured another bottle of wine. Once again the man was upset. “This is 1985 all right, but it’s from the Mount Helena vineyards!”
Watching the drama from the bar, an old drunk came up to the table and said, “Wow, that’s an impressive ability. Can you tell me what’s in my glass?
Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to impress his date, the young professional sipped at the drunk’s glass. “This tastes like urine!” he exclaimed and spat the mouthful out.
“That’s exactly right,” said the drunk. “Now tell me when and where I was born.”
|
