Q 01/05

Which sweet-wine estate was the only 'Premier Cru Supérieur' in the 1855 Bordeaux classification?

A) Château d'Yquem

B) Château Climens

C) Château Suduiraut

D) Château Rieussec

Answer · why

A) Château d'Yquem

Château d'Yquem alone was ranked Premier Cru Supérieur in 1855; when a harvest falls short it sells no wine under its own name at all, as it did with ...

Q 02/05

Which French term treats a wine's months between fermentation and bottling like a child's upbringing?

A) Assemblage

B) Élevage

C) Vendange

D) Débourbage

Answer · why

B) Élevage

Élevage, French for 'raising', is also the word French farmers use for rearing livestock; in the cellar it covers the barrel ageing and filtering betw...

Q 03/05

Which widow at the head of a sparkling-wine house is credited with inventing the riddling table?

A) Madame Bollinger

B) Madame Clicquot

C) Madame Pommery

D) Madame Roederer

Answer · why

B) Madame Clicquot

Madame Clicquot (Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin), widowed at 27, devised the riddling table in the early 1800s: bottles rest neck-down and are turned until th...

Q 04/05

Which grape variety is the principal component of Chianti, the classic red of Tuscany?

A) Sangiovese

B) Barbera

C) Nebbiolo

D) Montepulciano

Answer · why

A) Sangiovese

Sangiovese is the backbone of Chianti: producers were once obliged to blend in white grapes, but an all-Sangiovese wine has been legal since the 1990s...

Q 05/05

Wines from which region beat top French bottles in both red and white at the 1976 'Judgment of Paris' tasting?

A) Napa County

B) Barossa Valley

C) Rioja

D) Stellenbosch

Answer · why

A) Napa County

Napa County supplied both winners, Stag's Leap's 1973 Cabernet and Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay; the judges were French and tasted blind, and o...