Well, I was surprised by all of the interest in last week’s quiz in a good way.  It was also clear that several of you did extensive research, even bringing in reserve relatives to help with the question.  Briefly, I asked why the cathedral in Strasbourg, France only had one spire.  There were several possible answers and I will start with those that were clearly wrong:

1. The other spire did not burn down.

2. It was not damaged/destroyed in any war.

3. The original design did call for two spires, but the second was never built.

Why? Initially, the city struggled raising money to build the spire.  Thus, the correct answer was #5.

Now, as the great researcher Talkavino correctly pointed out, there were elements of truth to the other two answers as well.  Years after the decision had been made based on finances, there was some interest in putting the second spire up, but there were concerns about the structure being able to support the weight.  There was also a time when the city was under German rule, that the city government wanted to ‘complete’ the cathedral (given the German need for order and symmetry, no doubt). They wanted to add another spire, but the town resisted since the single spire had since become a symbol of the city.

Here is a picture I took of the most famous cathedral probably anywhere, Chartres, with its different spires:

This week’s quiz stays in Alsace, and involves pictures, but we go back to the vino (one of these days I will have to do some cycling trivia):

Here are four pictures (all sourced from public websites) of different grape varieties in Alsace.  In a previous quiz (Quiz 10) I asked about the Grand Cru varieties in Alsace.  This time, just a simple matching game.  Match the picture with the variety, that’s all.  Good luck!

A.

B.

C.

D.

1. Gewürztraminer
2. Muscat
3. Pinot Blanc
4. Pinot Gris
5. Pinot Noir
6. Riesling
7. Sylvaner