Q. Which Champagne brand has become associated with James Bond?
A. Bollinger.
Q.What are the
four building blocks of wine?
A. Grape
sugar: Fermented into alcohol, it gives the wine its richness and its
fruitiness.
Acidity: It keeps
the fruit lively on the palate, especially in a white wine. Without it, a white
wine becomes limp and bland. It gives structure to reds to age well.
Tannins: They help
red wines last long and mature with age. And they keep a good wine lingering on
the palate.
Alcohol: It gives
a wine weight on the palate – a German wine with 7% alcohol will taste light,
but a chunky Californian Zinfandel with 17% will be more than a mouthful. In a
good wine, alcohol should never leave a burning sensation.
Q. What is
botrytis?
A. Brotrytis, or
botrytis cinerea, is a fungal spore that reduces the water content of wine
grapes, effectively increasing their sugar levels, acidity, viscosity and
flavour to yield luxuriously sweet and deliciously aromatic wines that are
responsible for the special position enjoyed by the Bordeaux village named
Sauternes. Chateau d’Yquem is the Sauternes dessert wine that commands the
highest prestige and price.
Q. Which are the
latitudes where the world’s vineyards are concentrated?
A. The vineyards
are mostly located between 32 degrees and 51 degrees in the northern
hemisphere, and between 28 degrees and 48 degrees in the southern hemisphere.
The Old World wine-producing countries – France, Italy, Spain, Germany and
Austria – are all in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere is where
the top New World wine producers – Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina
– are thriving. The only New World wine-producing regions in the Northern
Hemisphere are California, Oregon and Washington in the United States.
Q. What are the
natural acids that appear in wine?
A. Citric,
tartaric, malic and lactic acid. Wines from hot years tend to be lower in
acidity, whereas wines from cool years tend to have higher levels of acidity.
Acidity in a wine preserves its freshness and keeps it lively.
Q. What is
aftertaste?
A. It is the taste
left in the mouth after one swallows the wine. The word is a synonym for length
or finish. The longer the aftertaste lingers in the mouth (assuming it’s a
pleasant taste), the finer the quality of the wine.
Q. What are
tannins?
A. Tannins are the
drying compounds that come from grape skins, pips and stalks. Rarely noticeable
in white wines, they give reds their all-important structure, helping them to
last and mature with age. Tannins give a wine firmness and some roughness when
it’s young, but they gradually dissipate or mellow down. A tannic wine is one
that is young and not yet ready to be drunk.
Q. What is
balance?
A. One of the most
desired traits in a wine is good balance, where the concentration of fruit,
level of tannin and acidity are in total harmony. Well-balanced wines tend to
age gracefully.
Q. What is the red
grape variety known as Syrah in France called in the New World?
A. Shiraz. As
Syrah, this grape variety provides the backbone to full-bodied, perfumed and
age-worthy wines in the Rhone Valley (France). It figures in blends in the
South of France. As Shiraz, it is the signature wine of Australia, where the
warmer climate paves the way for an altogether riper and more powerful,
blockbuster-style wine, especially in the Barossa and Hunter valleys and
McLaren Vale.
Q. What are the
grape varieties that are together responsible for the creation of Pinotage, the
famous South African wine grape?
A. Pinot Noir and
Cinsault.
Q. Which is the
most planted wine grape variety in the world?
A. Cabernet
Sauvignon, the red wine grape that originated on the Left Bank of the River
Gironde in Bordeaux. It is planted in about 615,000 hectares around the world.
It is followed by Chardonnay, which is planted in about 412,000 hectares.