Well, it is Wednesday again, and time for the Weekly Wine Quiz. Last week, the Quiz was comprised of a few general wine knowledge questions, which we need to address first.
1. True or false: There is a town in Burgundy named “Chardonnay.”
True. There is a town in the Mâcon (Southern Burgundy) named Chardonnay where some believe the variety originated–but no one really knows.
2. Which of the following was the first French-owned sparkling wine venture in the U.S?
a. Domaine Carneros b. Domaine Chandon c. Mumm Napa d. Roederer Estate
B. Domaine Chandon was the first French-owned sparkling wine venture in the U.S. It was opened by the huge Champagne house Moët et Chandon in 1973.
3. Which of the following AVA has the most acres of Syrah planted?
a. Central Coast AVA: 1,181 acres of Syrah out of 99,515 acres total b. Columbia Valley AVA: 170 of 1,667 acres c. Paso Robles AVA: 731 of 28,117 acres d. Russian River AVA: 77 of 16,235 acres
A, Central Coast. The key here are the words “most acres“. While there might be a larger percentage of Syrah in the Columbia Valley and Paso, the Central Valley appellation in California is huge and the number of acres under Syrah there is almost double anywhere else (source: http://www.everyvine.com/).
4. Approximately what percentage of wine is water?
Of course there are several factors at play here, but most wine is between 80-85% water.
Extra Credit–Who is this?
Contextual clues people, contextual clues! See that building in the background? This is a picture of Robert Mondavi from some time in the 70’s.
That means there are three winners this week (and that Frank Di Michale’s impressive winning streak has ended–time to start another one Frank!): TheFoodAndWineHedonist, VinoInLove, and Foxress. Nice work everyone!
On to this week’s quiz. Once again, instead of focusing on one wine region, the quiz this week is a hodgepodge of wine trivia. So in no particular order:
1. What is “Brett“?
a. bacteria b. fungus c. parasite d. virus
2. Which of these red wines should be served at the coldest temperature?
a. Beaujolais b. Chianti c. Dolcetto d. Zinfandel
3. Which of the following wines typically has the lowest level of tannin?
a. Barolo b. Cabernet Sauvignon c. Chianti d. Zinfandel
4. Describe how each of the following is related to wine (use no more than six words for each)?
a. conundrum b. fiasco c. roshambo d. thief
Bonus question: who is this?
Good luck answers next week!
the drunken cyclist 
1 b, Fungus
2. a. Beaujolais
3. c, Chianti
d. conundrum – wine produced by Wagner family
fiasco – traditional straw warp on Chianti bottle
roshambo – winery
d. thief – winemaker’s tasting accessory
Bonus: Randall Grahm, winemaker at Bonny Doon winery
By the way, I have a question for you regarding your last quiz – outside of using “huge” and “not so huge”, do you have the actual numbers for the Syrah plantings in Central Coast and Washington state?
LikeLike
Great answers for this week! As for last week, I updated the post to include all the totals and the website where I got them. Pretty cool website.
LikeLike
Jeff, sorry to be pain in the ass, but your source is not credible. Columbia Valley AVA grape plantings exceed 40,000 acres ( many sources – Wikipedia, etc.). Everyvine lists 1,667 acres (!!!). Also, according to the Wine Institute data, San Luis Obispo alone has more than 2,700 acres of Syrah plantings (http://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/winefactsheets/article97), where EveryVine lists only 1,182 for the whole Central coast… Really not sure in the quality of this source…
LikeLike
Well first, you are not being “a pain in the ass” but it is just a quiz for fun. Second, I am not sure that the way to discredit one source is by citing Wikipedia! I do not have a ton of time to spend on this right now, but I promise I will try to get to the bottom of this–no promises that I will find any answer, let alone one that placates you–but the information on the internet seems to be lacking. Most of the print material I have is rather dated, so that won’t be a lot of help either….
LikeLike
1. Brett is (b), a fungus.
2. c – Dolcetto as it is a sweeter wine
3. c- Chianti would typically have les tannin
4. A – Conundrum: a wine
B – Fiasco: an Italian style wine bottle
C – Roshambo: Winery in Healdsburg
D – Thief: Used to “steal” wine from barrels
Bonus question – Randall Graham from Bonny Doon, guest speaker at the 2012 wine blogger’s conference.
I only used Google twice!!!
LikeLike
Excellent job and it is not a crime to Google!
LikeLike
If it was a crime to Google, I’d be hiding out on a deserted Island somewhere, hoping no one would ever find me.
LikeLike
Love the quizzes even if I don’t respond and expose my limited knowledge. I know the bonus is Randall Grahm and I like both Beaujolais and Dolcetto with a bit of chill. On the issue of whether you can depend on internet information, I read on the Internet that Wikipedia isn’t reliable.
LikeLike
Thanks Duff!
LikeLike
1) B
2) A
3) C
4) Conundrum – A winery owned by Wagner Family; Fiasco – traditional straw basket related to Chianti; Roshambo – a winery from California; Thief – tasting accessory for winemakers
5) Randall Grahm
LikeLike
Excellent job!
LikeLike
1. (b) fungus: in the yeast family
2. (a) Beaujolais
3. (c) Chianti
4.
Conundrum: a white wine in the Wagner family. (Or, maybe, a wine drinker with a writing problem).
Fiasco: the basket around a chianti bottle.
Roshambo: a failed CA winery
Wine thief: a wine extraction device
LikeLike
Looking to get back in the winner’s circle I see!
LikeLike
1) Fungus
2) Beaujolais
3) That should be Chianti
4) Conundrum: A wine.
Fiasco: original chianti bottle with straw basket
Roshambo: No clue.
Wine thief: Again, never heard that before…
LikeLike
Oh, and the photo is the Bonny Doone guy. Too bad we couldn’t visit his tasting room when we were in Santa Cruz because for whatever reason they were moving it while we were there…
LikeLike
Thanks Oliver—see you in a few weeks?
LikeLike
Yes, we’re still on for Sunday. And I am pretty certain Nina will join in too. What time are we looking at to start?
LikeLike
Might have to figure out another cuisine–wife might be out of town!
LikeLike