Think you know your Chenin from your Chardonnay? Brushed up on your batonage and savvy about your saignée? Well have a go at this fun end of year wine quiz and see how you get on.
(If you want to learn more about wine in the New Year, I offer a range of wine courses from the fun/non-spitting variety up to highly professional, internationally-recognised ones. Click here for deets).
Quiz
1. What term applies to traditional method, bottle-fermented wines made in South Africa? And in Spain? And in France?
2. Name three different styles of wine you can make from Chenin Blanc.
3. Which one of the following rarely undergoes malo-lactic fermentation – Shiraz, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon?
4. Name 2 grape varieties traditionally blended with Syrah/Shiraz.
5. There are 2 grape varieties labelled as ‘Riesling’ in SA. One of them is also known by another name – what is it?
6. Can you add chocolate and coffee to Pinotage to give it its distinctive flavour?
7. What does the process of ‘pumping over’ involve?
8. What is the main grape variety of Sancerre?
9. Why is Robertson considered to be so good for Chardonnay, sparkling wine and racehorses?
10. Name three countries which make oak wine barrels.
11. Which two grape varieties are most commonly used to make South African brandy?
12. Why do winemakers often leave their white wines ‘on the lees’?
13. What grape variety links Oregon in the USA and Central Otago in New Zealand?
14. Which two grape varieties are now considered to be the ‘parents’ of Cabernet Sauvignon?
15. Now that SA cannot use the term ‘Port’, what are most producers calling their sweet, red, fortified wines?
16. Which one of the following is NOT an Italian grape variety – Vernaccia, Verdicchio, Vermentino, Valpolicella?
17. Is a Fino sherry normally sweet or dry?
18. Red wines get their tannin from a) grape skins, b) grape pips, c) grape stalks, d) all of the above.
19. Which of the following may NOT be added to South African wine – sulphur dioxide, tartaric acid, water, egg white?
20. Which is the only region in France which can make a rosé wine by blending white and red wine?
Have fun – answers can be found by clicking here.
And when you are done tweet us your result @food24.