50 Shades of Wine

A series of informative articles about wine in all its glory

Weblink https://www.facebook.com/wineand

Interesting Wine Facts No 1Early history of wine

Archaeological evidence has established the earliest-knownproduction of wine from fermenting grapes during the lateNeolithic or early Chalcolithic in the Caucasus and the northernedge of the Middle East. An extensive gene-mapping project in2006 analyzed the heritage of more than 110 modern grapecultivars, narrowing their origin to a region of Georgia Thismatches the earliest discovered sites containing shards of wine-stained pottery, dated to c. 6000 BC in Georgia and c.5000 BC inIran The jars at the northwestern Iranian site already showedtreatment with preservative turpentine pine resin, the flavoringof modern retsina. By c. 4500 BC, wine production had spread toGrecian Macedonia, the site of the first recovered crushedgrapes,and an entire winery was discovered in 2011 inside theAreni-1 cave in Armenia, dated to c. 4100 BC.

Weblink https://www.facebook.com/wineand/posts/654490344678624

Interesting Wine Facts No 2The oldest bottle of wine is estimated to be 1,680 years old. Pfalz Historical Museum in Germany

This beauty is believed to be the oldest bottle of wine inthe world. It was unearthed in 1867 when individualswere excavating a grave of a Roman nobleman andnoblewoman who were buried near (what is now) theGerman city of Speyer. Amazingly, the drink dates backto approximately 325 CE, making the bottle some 1,680years old. That’s a staggering 613,000 days.

The bottle shown here was just one of several bottlesthat were located in the sarcophagus (16 in all);however, this was the only bottle that was still intact. Itis a 1.5-litre (51 US fl oz) vessel, which was meant toaccompany the couple on their journey into theafterlife.

Weblink http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/meet-the-worlds-oldest-bottle-of-wine/

Interesting Wine Facts No 3What is or was the most expensive wine in the world?

This depends upon how this is defined, but here are some clues

• D’Amalfi Limoncello Supreme liquor $44 million

• Isabella’s Islay $6.2 million

• Chambord by Donald Edge $3 million

• Master of Malt $1.4 million

• 1992 Screaming Eagle Wine $500,000

Weblink http://www.bornrich.com/most-expensive-wines.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 4Top 10 Wine Producing Countries

France, Italy and Spain alternate as top producers

Weblink http://italianwinecentral.com/top-fifteen-wine-producing-countries-2014/

Interesting Wine Facts No 5What are the world's most popular wines- red, white or rosé?According to recent surveys - red wine is the mostpopular, at 55%, with white at 36% and rosé at 9%.

Between 2011 and 2016, world red wine consumptionis expected to grow by 9.1%, driven especially by theChinese, while white wine consumption should onlyincrease by 2.75% over the same period.

The consumption of rosé wines on the other hand isexpected to increase by 7.58% between 2011 and2016, reaching a total share of 9.2% of all wines drunk.

Weblink http://www.thedrinksreport.com/news/2013/14743-vinexpo-global-market-forecasts-to-2016.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 6Five red wines you could be drinking chilled

1. Lambrusco 2. Beaujolais

3. Pinot Noir 4. Zinfandel

5. Barbera d’Asti

Slightly cold red wine isn’t blasphemy; it’s the perfect thing todrink on an early autumn evening.Chill half of a bottle, and try a pour of that and a pour of the samewine at room temp, side by side to experience at first hand howtemperature affects your experience of a wine. The mostimportant thing is what you like better!

Weblink http://www.buzzfeed.com/sandraeallen/5-red-wines-you-should-be-drinking-chilled#.gbJO4MllO

Interesting Wine Facts No 7What grapes are Champagne wines made from?Two red grape varieties and one white are allowed:

1. Pinot Noir - 38%

2. Meunier - 32%

3. Chardonnay - 30%

Not necessarily a blend

(Other approved varietals are the

white Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot

Blanc and Pinot Gris – together

less than 0.3% of plantings).

Weblink http://www.champagne.fr/en/from-vine-to-wine/grape-varieties-vineyards/grape-varieties

Interesting Wine Facts No 8Wine production and consumption in China• World's eighth largest producer of wine - predicted to be sixth

largest by 2016• Chinese consumers drink more than 1.6bn bottles of wine

annually, forecast to grow by a further billion by 2015• Chinese are now the second biggest buyers of top claret by

volume behind Germany• China imported 266 million litres of bottled wine in 2012 - 10%

more than in 2011• Nearly half came from France, with Spain and Italy accounting

for another 17%, according to International Wine and SpiritResearch

Chinese wine has long had a poor reputation, even in its owncountry, but there signs that this may be slowly changing

Weblink http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23943693

Interesting Wine Facts No 9What is special about Chablis?

Chablis has a trulyunique, steely mineralityand strident sense of place.For some, Chablis is thebest manifestationof the Chardonnay grape.The TerroirSoil has a huge impact on the quality of Chablis wines. The bestsites are limestone and kimmeridgean clay, which is rich in marinefossils. These soils underpin the palpable minerality for whichChablis is revered

Weblink http://www.thekitchn.com/chablis-wine---one-of-the-fine-156353

Interesting Wine Facts No 10What's different about Beaujolais?

Beaujolais, made from theGamay grape, is unusual in beingfit to drink soon after harvestand also is good chilled.

From south to north, Brouilly isfollowed by Côte de Brouilly,Régnié, Morgon, Chiroubles,Fleurie, Moulin-à-Vent, Chénas,Juliénas and Saint-Amour.

Weblink http://www.discoverbeaujolais.com/region/

Interesting Wine Facts No 11How many different types of wine grapes are there?

The surprising answer can be found in the link below

Weblink https://www.winestyr.com/wine-guide/how-many-different-types-of-wine-grapes-are-there

Interesting Wine Facts No 12What is 'Eiswein' and what is unusual about it?

Ice wine (or icewine;

German Eiswein) is a

type of dessert wine

produced from grapes

that have been frozen

while still on the vine.

Weblink http://www.germanwines.de/icc/Internet-EN/nav/b98/b9855ed2-cee2-501e-76cd-461d7937aae2&sel_uCon=1aa10fc9-474b-ae11-258d-57205f440fd3&uTem=0e3307d7-19ff-e401-e76c-d461d7937aae

Interesting Wine Facts No 13What is fortified wine?

Fortified wine is a wine to whicha distilled spirit, usually brandy, isadded. Many different styles offortified wine have beendeveloped, including Port, Sherry,Madeira, Marsala, Commandariawine and the aromatized wineVermouth.

Weblink http://www.waitrose.com/home/wine/learning_about_wine/how_is_wine_made/fortified_wine.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 14Why is Chile such a special producer of wine?

Chile is fortunate to have climate conditions thatare ideal for good wine grape growing harvests: hotsummers, coastal cooling breezes, and moderaterainfall.

A special characteristics of Chilean viticulture is theremarkable fact that Phylloxera has never reachedthese lands. The rampant louse that stormed acrossEurope in the 19th century, devastated Californiaover the past 10 years and has altered wine growingpractices throughout the world, simply never madeit across the Andes or survived in the sandy coastalsoils. Therefore Chile's vineyards are planted withungrafted rootstock: a rare phenomenon in modernwine production.

Weblink http://www.chilean-wine.com/chileanwinecountry/

Interesting Wine Facts No 15Wine for health!

Wine, especially certain

types of red wine, are

good for the heart, owing

to the presence of such

substances as polyphenols,

flavonoids and resveratrol.

Weblink http://www.sgs.us.com/GrapesandHealth-i-30-15.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 16How is Champagne made? Methode Champenoise

• The wine is fermented in a stainless steel tank. It ferments for 2 to 3 weeks, and then sits for up to five months. It is at this point that the process diverts from the normal winemaking process and becomes special.

• When the winemaker decides to move forward, the wine is bottled with extra sugar and yeast, and capped with a soda-cap. This process can go from one year to three years or more. When this second fermentation and resting period are over, the yeast and sediment must be removed from the bottle.

• The bottles are put into a riddling rack, which slowly

rotates the now-re-fermenting wine from a horizontal

position up to a vertical one. This allows the sediment

from the second fermentation to slowly slide down into

the neck of the bottle, for easy removal.

• The removal process is called disgorgement. The neck

of the bottle is stuck into this machine, which freezes it.

When the cap is removed, the frozen plug of sludge is

kicked out, a "dosage" of Champagne is added to fill in

the space in the bottle, and it is corked with the standard, large Champagne cork.

Weblink http://www.wineintro.com/champagne/methodechampenoise.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 17What is (or was) Sack?• Sack is an antiquated wine term referring to white

fortified wine imported from mainland Spain or the Canary Islands. There was sack of different origins such as:

• Canary sack from the Canary Islands,Malaga sack from Málaga,Palm sack from Palma de Mallorca, andSherris sack from Jerez de la FronteraThe term Sherris sack later gave way to Sherry as the English term for fortified wine from Jerez.

• Since Sherry is practically the only one of these wines still widely exported and consumed, "sack" (by itself, without qualifier) is commonly but not quite correctly quoted as an old synonym for Sherry.

• Most sack was probably sweet, and matured in woodenbarrels for a limited time. In modern terms, typical sack may have resembled cheaper versions of medium Oloroso Sherry.

• Today, sack is sometimes seen included in the name of some sherries, perhaps most commonly on dry sherries as "dry sack".

Falstaff: "If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack."

Interesting Wine Facts No 18Do the Swiss make wine?Yes and they even have their own unique varieties of red and whitegrapes, such as Chasselas , Müller-Thurgau and Blauburgunder

• According to data from the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture, the Swisswine production in 2009 was just over 1.1 million hectolitres, divided into527 000 hl of white wine and 587 000 hl of red wine.

• Nearly all the national production is drunk within the national boundaries;less than 2% of the wine is exported (mainly to Germany). Switzerlandranks in the top 10 of per capita consumption of wine, and as of 1983imported two thirds of it, including more Beaujolais than the U.S.A.

Weblink

http://www.switzerland-wine.com/

Interesting Wine Facts No 19What countries produce the most sparkling wine (including Champagne)?

74 percent of all sparkling wine is made by just five countries:France, Italy, Germany and Spain make up the top four places,while the surprise in fifth place is Russia.

Weblink http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2014/11/corks-popping-as-sparkling-wine-sales-surge

Interesting Wine Facts No 20Does Japan make wine?Yes, but they are a late developer and wine production, using European grapes,is in its relative infancy.

Alcohol consumption has been part of Japanese culture since its early history.Rice wines (sake), beer and spirits have evolved significantly since their humblebeginnings, and so has their place in culture. Some have proprietary meaning,used to accompany specific foods over the course of a meal, either to matchflavours or to aid in digestion. Others are for pure sipping pleasure.

Weblink http://www.snooth.com/region/japan/

Chateau Mercian, a winery under the umbrella ofbrewing behemoth Kirin, recently purchased 20 hectaresto add to its 21.5 hectares of planted vineyards. Thewinery is a Japanese original, in an industry marked bywines created from imported juice

Interesting Wine Facts No 21Is rice wine really wine? The jury is out!Rice wine, also known as mijiu, is the eastern alcoholic beverage madefrom rice, originally from China. Unlike European wine, which is madeby fermentation of naturally occurring sugars in sweet grapes and otherfruit, rice wine is made from the fermentation of rice starch that hasbeen converted to sugars. The process is somewhat similar tothe mashing process used in beer and whiskey production but differs inthe source of the enzymes that convert starch to sugars. In rice andother cereal wines, microbes are the source of the enzymes whereasbeer, ale and whiskey production utilizes the enzymes naturally occurringin sprouted barley.

.

Weblink http://www.foodsubs.com/WinesRice.html

Strictly speaking, wine is the product of fermenting grape juice. Alcoholic beveragesproduced by fermenting the starch found in cereal grains like rice are thus not technicallywine as such. As they utilize grains, so-called starch or cereal wines such asJapanese sake or Chinese huangjiu could be considered more akin to beer than wine, yetthe finished alcoholic beverage is so disparate from beer that this description is verymisleading

Interesting Wine Facts No 22California Wine

California wine is wine made in theU.S. state of California. Nearlythree-quarters the size of France,California accounts for nearly 90percent of American wineproduction.

The production in California alone isone third larger than that ofAustralia. If California were aseparate country, it would be theworld's fourth-largest wineproducer.

Weblink http://www.discovercaliforniawines.com/

Interesting Wine Facts No 23Does Russia make wine?Wine has been produced in Russia since the time of the ancient Greeks, as it was withmost of its Baltic neighbours such as Georgia, Slovenia, and Romania. Most of thenorthern sections of the country are just too cold and bleak to produce wine, butfarther south conditions are much more favourable, near the Azov, Black, and CaspianSeas. It wasn’t until the 1800s that Russia began to produce wine commercially.

Since 2006, Russia has

seen the emergence of

good quality wineries,

which have adopted European

techniques and standards.

The Abrau-Durso winery

near the Black Sea port of

Novorossiysk is considered the

flagship of the new wine industry.

Weblinks http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/rbth/10023010/russian-wine-producers.html and http://www.snooth.com/region/russia/#ixzz3Pdf6nVS2

Interesting Wine Facts No 24What is the strongest wine?

Alcohol is produced when yeast consume thefructose in the must and convert it to ethanol - aform of alcohol - and carbon dioxide. The processends when either all the sugar is consumed or thealcohol concentration becomes so high that theyeast can no longer survive and stop producing.Hence, if you start out with must that's high insugar and you use a variety of yeast that's veryhardy and can survive in high alcoholconcentrations, you can produce a high-alcoholwine. Zinfandel is a varietal capable of producingvery high-alcohol wines. Some Zins have alcoholcontent as high as 15.5 percent.

Weblink http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/entertaining/food-drink/alcohol-content-wine

Interesting Wine Facts No 25What is the world's northernmost vineyard?The world's northernmost vineyard is inNorway, the Eventyrvin's Lerkekasa vineyard.

As a result of its cold climate andmountainous, rugged landscape, Norway isthe second least densely populated country inEurope. As a land whose northern half iscovered with snow for a good proportion ofthe year, and which sees little or no sunshinebetween November and January, it is hardlysurprising that Norway does not rank amongthe world's notable wine-producing countries.

Weblink http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-norway

Interesting Wine Facts No 26Just for balance - what is the world's southernmost vineyard?

For some years there has been a dispute on this question, withsome saying vineyards in Patagonia, Chile and others the NewZealand region of Central Otago, South Island. It has recently beenaccepted that New Zealand has the southernmost vineyards.

Central Otago is the world’s

most southerly wine producing

region and is likely to remain

that way unless someone in

Chile figures out how to grow

grapevines in permafrost!

Weblink http://www.bobswinereviews.com/blog/dispute-over-worlds-most-southerly-wine-region-resolved

Interesting Wine Facts No 27Wines of AfricaSouth Africa, the 8th largest wine producing country in the world, is the continent’s leader interms of notoriety and volume. Over 100,000 hectares of land is used for wine production.However, wine is produced in lots of other areas of the continent!

Central AfricaIn Tanzania, organic wine is produced at 1100m above sea level, resulting in quality wines withintense bouquets and personality. The wines are virtually free of acetic acidity, thanks to theoptimal conditions in which the grapes ripen.Eastern AfricaTej, also known as honey wine, is a deliciously unique drink only common to Ethiopia andEritrea and is normally hard to find in the states with the exception of select restaurants.Northern AfricaThe history of wine in countries like Morocco and Tunisia can be traced back thousands of yearsto the Roman Empire's presence in the region. Given the countries' Mediterranean climate,including abundant sun and dry air, it provides ideal conditions for wine production. Followingtraditions in French winemaking, vintners have produced a unique and flavorful assortment ofwines. The countryside around Meknes, in the middle Atlas foothills of Morocco, produces popularand impressive wines.Western AfricaPalm wine is an incredibly important and popular beverage in West Africa that is consumed by morethan 10 million people. Most palm wine is made from raphia palms. It is normally consumed in avariety of flavours (ranging from sweet to sour.) In Nigeria, these delicious wines are most popularlyknown as Emu or Ogogora while in Ghana, palm wine is affectionately known as Nsafufuo.

Weblink http://www.heritagelinkbrands.com/winesofafrica

Interesting Wine Facts No 28Does India make wine?The modern wine market in India is small; annual per capita consumption ofwine in the country is a mere 9 millilitres, approximately 1/8000th that ofFrance. Viticulture in India has a long history dating back to the time of theIndus Valley civilization when grapevines were believed to have beenintroduced from Persia. Winemaking has existed throughout most of India'shistory but was particularly encouraged during the time of the Portugueseand British colonization of the subcontinent.However, India is now a rapidly emerging wineeconomy in terms of both production andconsumption, and has the potential to become asignificant player on the world wine scene. This stemsfrom the fact that the country has consistentlyexperienced the highest growth in consumption in theworld – around 20–30% a year between 2002 and2010. To meet this demand, a significant quantity ofwine is imported annually but India also has a mix ofwell-established and evolving domestic wineries.

Weblink http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-india

Interesting Wine Facts No 29What is 'Noble Rot'?Noble rot (French: pourriture noble; German: Edelfäule; Italian: Muffa nobile;Hungarian: Aszúsodás) is the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea,affecting wine grapes. Infestation by Botrytis requires moist conditions. If theweather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot," can destroy crops of grapes.Grapes typically become infected with Botrytis when they are ripe. If they are thenexposed to drier conditions and become partially raisined this form of infectionbrought about by the partial drying process is known as noble rot. Grapes when

Weblink http://winefolly.com/tutorial/they-call-it-noble-rot-botrytis/

picked at a certain pointduring infestation canproduce particularly fineand concentrated sweetwine. Some of the finestBotrytized wines areliterally picked berry byberry in successive tries(French for "selections").

Interesting Wine Facts No 30What is Phylloxera?Grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae family Phylloxeridae);originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated tothe previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxeravitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera (/fɪˈlɒksərə/; from Greekφύλλον, leaf, and ξερόν, dry) is a pest of commercial grapevinesworldwide, originally native to eastern North America.These almost microscopic, pale yellow sap-sucking insects, relatedto aphids, feed on the roots and leaves of grapevines (dependingon the phylloxera genetic strain). On Vitis vinifera L., the resultingdeformations on roots ("nodosities" and "tuberosities") andsecondary fungal infections can girdle roots, gradually cutting offthe flow of nutrients and water to the vine.In the late 19th century the phylloxera epidemic destroyed most ofthe vineyards for wine grapes in Europe, most notably in France.Phylloxera was introduced to Europe when avid botanists inVictorian England collected specimens of American vines in the1850s. Because phylloxera is native to North America, the nativegrape species there are at least partially resistant. By contrast, theEuropean wine grape Vitis vinifera is very susceptible to the insect.The epidemic devastated vineyards in Britain and then moved tothe European mainland, destroying most of the European grapegrowing industry.The answer was to graft resistant American vines to European vinestock. Very little of today's European grapes survived theinfestation and so we don't really know what earlier wines tastedlike!

Weblink http://winefolly.com/review/no-cure-for-grape-phylloxera/

Interesting Wine Facts No 31How much tax and duty is there on a bottle of wine inthe UK?

The actual cost of a £6.99 bottle of wine is £1.92. Dutyis £2, VAT is £1.16. Retail and wholesale markups addup to £1.76, with 15p for transport

If you’re not after something to impress at a dinnerparty then is there really much point in spending morethan £5 to help you unwind after a hard day? Well, ifyou want your money to be going on the wine in thebottle rather than on tax, there is.

In the UK wine drinkers fork out an average of £5.03 ona bottle, according to the latest figures from Nielsen.However, given that the UK has the highest tax on winein Europe, the majority of your money isn’t going ongrapes, wine production costs or even retailer profit,it’s going straight into the taxman’s coffers.Weblink https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/the-real-cost-of%E2%80%A6--a-bottle-of-wine-120559010.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 32What is the tax on a bottle of wine in France?Answer - 3p a bottle!

Weblink http://blog.bauduc.com/2011/03/24/13-unpalatable-facts-about-uk-wine-duty/

Interesting Wine Facts No 33Where is the highest vineyard in the world?

There has been much discussion about this and severalcontenders - Italy, Canary Islands, Nepal, Bhutan, but itappears that Argentina can claim this title, with avineyard at 10,200 feet!

In 1978, Donald Hess founded the Hess Collection Wineryon Mount Veeder, 2,000 feet above the Napa Valley. Abeliever in sustainable and biodynamic farming practices,his passion for growing great wine at high altitudeculminated in Bodega Colomé, the highest vineyard in theworld at 10,200 feet/3,111 meters above sea level in thenorthern part of the Calchaqui Valley in Argentina.

Weblink http://www.hess-family.com/wine_founders.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 34What is the world's smallest wine producing country?Liechtenstein!It is possibly the most absurd winery in the world. In icy cold conditions,suitable for drinking mulled wine but certainly not growing it, are a few shortrows of vines. They look shrivelled up for the winter, as well they might, and afew hardy goats amble amongst them. The backdrop is thoroughlyspectacular, however, with the snow-doused Alps making the tiny vineyardlook even smaller.This little patch of viticulture is pretty much it for the world’s smallest wineproducing nation. According to United Nations figures, Liechtensteinproduces just 80 tonnes of wine per year. For a sense of perspective, comparethat to the five million churned out by France. Or, even better, the 77,000 and45,000 produced by Algeria and Uzbekistan respectively.Effectively, therefore, the entire country’s output is the result of one stubbornindividual deciding that it’s perfectly possible to make a great pinot noir here.Even if it’s on pretty much the only flat piece of land in a microstate almostentirely dominated by huge peaks.

Weblink http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2013/05/20/liechtenstein-wine-industry/

Interesting Wine Facts No 35What everyone needs to know - the names of the different sizes of Champagne bottles, invaluable for quizzes!The standard bottle, or “Champenoise”: 75cl Magnum: 1.5L (2 bottles)Jeroboam: 3L (4 bottles) Methuselah: 6L (8 bottles)Salmanazar: 9L (12 bottles) Balthazar: 12L (16 bottles)Nebuchadnezzar: 15L (20 bottles) Solomon: 18L (24 bottles)Sovereign: 26.25L (35 bottles) Primat: 27L (36 bottles)Melchizedek: 30L (40 bottles)

Weblink http://www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk/champagne/secret/size-of-the-bottles.aspx

Interesting Wine Facts No 36Australian wine - my favourite quaffing red!

The Australian wine industry is the world's fourth largestexporter of wine, with approximately 750 million litres a year tothe international export market, with only about 40% ofproduction consumed domestically. The wine industry is asignificant contributor to the Australian economy, throughproduction, employment, export and tourism.

There is a A$2.8 billion domestic market for Australian wines,with Australians consuming over 530 million litres annually witha per capita consumption of about 30 litres – 50% white tablewine, 35% red table wine. Norfolk Islanders are the secondbiggest per capita wine consumers in the world with 54 litres.Only 16.6% of wine sold domestically is imported.

Weblink https://www.wineaustralia.com/

Interesting Wine Facts No 37What is the world's largest wine producing company?

Constellation Brands (USA)

The company was established in 1945 by Marvin Sands inthe Finger Lakes region of New York as CanandaiguaIndustries Company. Since that time, the company hasgrown through internal expansion and by acquisitionsacross all segments of the beverage alcohol industry.

Constellation Brands is the largest wine producer in theworld. It had sales of over $3.77 billion in fiscal year 2008. Itoperates about 40 production facilities, employs some4,300, and markets its products worldwide.

Weblink http://www.cbrands.com/

Interesting Wine Facts No 38Can you tell the contents of a bottle of wine from its appearance?

Well, yes and no!

Glass has been around since Romantimes. But until the 17th century, whena timber shortage led to the creation ofcoal-fuelled furnaces, glass was toofragile to use for storing or transportingwines. Hand-blown bottles were moreoften used for serving wines whilebarrels or large clay pots (amphorae)were used for storage. When necessary,some of the tear-drop-shaped glassbottles were wrapped in straw both toprotect the glass from breakage and toallow the bottle to stand upright on atable (now associated with thetraditional marketing of straw-wrappedChianti bottles).

Weblink http://www.sha.org/bottle/wine.htm

Interesting Wine Facts No 39Wine Drinking Habits of Men vs Women (US Research)

“Women prefer white wine. Men only drink red. Women like sweet wine. Menpurchase less wine.” These are just a few of the common beliefs about men andwomen and wine, but are they really true? One statistic we can rely on is that US wineconsumers are approximately 55% female and 45% male, according to Nielson, butthere has been an increase of men adopting wine in the past decade.So what is really happening around the topic of wine and gender in the US? In order toanswer this question, a research study was developed to explore differences in winedrinking occasion and motivation between men and women. The study included in-depth interviews with 30 men and women who drink wine as well as an online surveywith 305 wine consumers (155 men and 150 women) residing in California. The resultsshow strong similarities between men and women in many categories, but also somesurprising differences.It turns out that both men and women like red wine best, with Cabernet Sauvignonand Merlot topping the list; however, women also identify White Zinfandel as a strongpreference. Both sexes opt for Chardonnay as their favourite white wine. Actually,women do like white wine better than men do. They rank Sauvignon Blanc, PinotGrigio and Riesling higher than men do.When asked why they like to drink wine, both California men and women agreed thattheir top three motivations were: 1) because wine enhances food, 2) they like thetaste, and 3) it helps with relaxation.

Weblink http://freshvino.com/archives/5545

Interesting Wine Facts No 40Grapes are not the only fruit!'Wine' is generally madefrom grapes, but fruit,flowers and vegetables canmake some interestingbeverages. For instance,parsnip wine, which is agood example, as it isstronger than most, due tothe high sugar content -the best way to consumethe loathsome parsnip, inmy opinion!

Weblink http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/how_to/349628/how_to_turn_your_excess_fruit_and_veg_into_wine.html

Interesting Wine Facts No 41What are the most popular wine brands in the world?

The biggest selling wine brands are dominated by the USA and Australia, but there is a Chilean producer in the top 10

1. Barefoot (US) 2. Gallo (US)

3. Concha y Toro (Chile) 4. Hardys (Aus)

5. Yellow Tail (Aus) 6. Robert Mondavi (US)

7. Sutter Home (US) 8. Lindeman’s (Aus)

9. Beringer (US) 10. Jacob’s Creek (Aus)

The top producer is on 16.9m cases, down to 6.6m cases at No 10

Weblink http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/07/top-10-wine-brands-2014/2/

Interesting Wine Facts No 42What is the size of the largest wine bottle ever made?

The current record holder is 4.17 m (13 ft8.17 in) tall, 1.21 m (3 ft 11.63 in) indiameter and was filled with 3,094 litres(650.58 UK gal, 817.34 US gal) of wine,achieved by André Vogel (Switzerland) asmeasured in Lyssach, Switzerland, on 20October 2014.Previously, it was the taller 1,850 litrebottle from Wang Chen Wines in Liaoning,Northern China which is 15 feet high

However, the video below shows the manufacture of a previous contender, also pictured : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL1uXgznT64

Interesting Wine Facts No 43What is the world's largest wine festival?The Wurstmarkt in Bad Dürkheim, located in the heart of Palatinate,Germany, has been celebrated every September for over 590 years, and whatstarted as a fair for local farmers and wine growers, now attracts more than600,000 visitors annually.

Although this fair is called"Wurstmarkt" (literally sausagemarket), the folk festival is famousfor its celebration of excellent localwines. The Wurstmarkt takes placeevery second and third weekend inSeptember in the town of BadDürkheim along the German WineRoad.

Weblink http://www.duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.de/duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.html?L=1

Interesting Wine Facts No 44How much wine do we drink in the UK?

The UK is the sixth biggest wine consuming country in the world.The United States is the number one wine consuming country followed byFrance, Italy and Germany, with China now up in to fifth position ahead of theUK.

UK consumption of still and sparkling wine was 1.6billion or 134.56 million 9¬litre cases in 2012. Thiscompares to 138.5 million cases in 2011. But thereare signs that consumption levels are levelling outand could actually start to “rebuild” from 2015.predicting that by 2017 consumption could be backup to 136 million cases of still and sparkling wines.Red wine is now firmly established as the preferreddrink of the UK consumer. In 2013 consumption ofred wine reached 55.2m cases, compared to 53.3mcases of white.

Weblink http://www.wsta.co.uk/publications-useful-documents/68-wsta-market-overview-2013/file

Interesting Wine Facts No 45Italian WineItaly is home to some of the oldest wine-producingregions in the world, and Italian wines are knownworldwide for their broad variety. Italy, closelyfollowed by France, is the world’s largest wineproducer by volume. Its contribution is about 45–50million hl per year, and represents about ⅓ of globalproduction. Italian wine is exported around theworld and is also extremely popular in Italy: Italiansrank fifth on the world wine consumption list byvolume with 42 litres per capita consumption.Grapes are grown in almost every region of thecountry and there are more than one millionvineyards under cultivation.Etruscans and Greek settlers produced wine in Italybefore the Romans started their own vineyards inthe 2nd century B.C. Roman grape-growing andwinemaking was prolific and well-organized,pioneering large-scale production and storagetechniques like barrel-making and bottling.

Weblink http://winefolly.com/review/italian-wine-regions-map/

Interesting Wine Facts No 46Spanish WineI recall some of the first wine I drank was called 'Don Cortez' in the early 60's and Ithink it deserved the popular appellation - 'Rot Gut‘. Things have improved since then!Spanish wines (Spanish: vinos españoles) are wines produced in the southwesternEuropean country of Spain. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 2.9million acres (over 1.17 million hectares) planted—making it the most widely plantedwine producing nation, but it is the third largest producer of wine in the world, thelargest being France followed by Italy. This is due, in part, to the very low yields andwide spacing of the old vines planted on the dry, infertile soil found in many Spanishwine regions.The country is ninth in worldwide consumptions with Spaniards drinking, on average,21.6 litres (5.706 US gal) per person a year. The country has an abundance of nativegrape varieties, with over 400 varieties planted throughout Spain though 80 percent ofthe country's wine production is from only 20 grapes—including the reds Tempranillo,Garnacha, and Monastrell; the whites Albariño from Galicia, Palomino, Airen, andMacabeo; and the three cava grapes Parellada, Xarel·lo, and Macabeo.Major Spanish wine regions include the Rioja and Ribera del Duero which are knownfor their Tempranillo production; Valdepeñas, drunk by Unamuno and Hemingway,known for high quality tempranillo at low prices; Jerez, the home of the fortified wineSherry; Rías Baixas in the northwest region of Galicia that is known for its white winesmade from Albariño and Catalonia which includes the Cava and still wine producingregions of the Penedès as well the Priorat region.

Weblink http://www.winesfromspainusa.com/

Interesting Wine Facts No 47Romanian WineRomania is one of the world's largest wine producers – in 2009 it producedaround 610,000 tons of wine. In recent years, Romania has attracted manyEuropean business people and wine buyers, due to the affordable prices ofboth vineyards and wines compared to other wine producing nations suchas France, Germany, and ItalyRomania has one of the oldest wine making traditions in the world, its viticulturedating back more than 6000 years. Due to the hot dry summers, the location provedto be successful and the grape vineyards thrived. Since the medieval times, wine hasbeen the traditional alcoholic beverage of the Romanians.Later on, during the medieval ages, Saxons emigrated to Romania, bringing along withthem different variations of Germanic grape vines. However, by the 19th century, mostof these grape vines were replaced by grapes from Western Europe.In the 1880s, phylloxera (a pale yellow sap-sucking insect that attacks the roots ofvines) arrived in Romania from North America. The phylloxera wiped out a majority ofEurope's vineyards, including those in Romania. Eventually, many of the Romanianvines were replaced by those imported from France and other foreign nations, such asMerlot, Chardonnay, and Pinot noir.In 2008, Romania was the twelfth largest wine producing country in the world, and, in2009, the eleventh largest.

Weblink http://www.winerist.com/blog/entry/romanian-wineries-not-to-be-missed

Interesting Wine Facts No 48Wines of PortugalPortuguese wine is the result of traditionsintroduced to the region by ancient civilizations,such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks,and mostly the Romans. Portugal started toexport its wines to Rome during the RomanEmpire. Modern exports developed with tradeto England after the Methuen Treaty in 1703.From this commerce a wide variety of winesstarted to be grown in Portugal. And, in 1758,one of the first wine-producing region of theworld, the Região Demarcada do Douro wascreated under the orientation of Marquis ofPombal, in the Douro Valley. Portugal has twowine producing regions protected by UNESCOas World Heritage: the Douro Valley WineRegion (Douro Vinhateiro) and Pico Island WineRegion (Ilha do Pico Vinhateira). Portugal has abig variety of local kinds, producing a very widevariety of different wines with distinctivepersonality. Weblink http://www.winesofportugal.info/

Interesting Wine Facts No 49Greek wineGreece is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. The earliest evidence ofGreek wine has been dated to 6,500 years ago, where wine was produced on a householdor communal basis. In ancient times, as trade in wine became extensive, it was transportedfrom end to end of the Mediterranean; Greek wine had especially high prestige in Italyunder the Roman Empire. In the medieval period, wines exported from Crete, Monemvasiaand other Greek ports fetched high prices in northern Europe.

What makes Greek wine so unique are the more than 300 indigenous grape varieties grownthere, some of which have been cultivated since ancient times. Many of the world’s bestwine critics agree that the distinct flavors that come from these native grape varieties are astrong marketing advantage for the Greek wine industry. Many well-known internationalgrape varieties are also used in Greek wine making. This extensive variety of grapestogether with the moderate Greek climate, plentiful sunshine, low average rainfall and soilsof moderate fertility combine to provide an excellent environment for the production ofhigh quality wines.

Retsina (Greek: Ρετσίνα) is a Greek white (or rose) resinated wine, which has been madefor at least 2000 years. Its unique flavour is said to have originated from the practice ofsealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo Pine resin in ancient times.

Weblink http://www.allaboutgreekwine.com/varieties.htm

Interesting Wine Facts No 50The wine box - a historyA box wine is wine packaged in a bag-in-box. Wine is contained in aplastic bladder typically with an air-tight valve emerging from aprotective corrugated fiberboard box. It serves as an alternative totraditional wine bottling in glass with a cork or synthetic seal.The process for packaging 'cask wine' (box wine) was invented byThomas Angove of Angove's, a winemaker from Renmark, SouthAustralia, and patented by the company on April 20, 1965.Polyethelene bladders of 1 gallon (4.5 litres) were placed incorrugated boxes for retail sale. The original design required that theconsumer cut the corner off the bladder, pour out the serving ofwine and then reseal it with a special peg.In 1967 Australian inventor Charles Malpas and Penfolds Winespatented a plastic, air-tight tap welded to a metallised bladder,making storage more convenient. All modern wine casks now usesome sort of plastic tap, which is exposed by tearing away aperforated panel on the box. For the next decades bag in a boxpackaging was primarily preferred by producers of less expensivewines as it is cheaper to fabricate and distribute than glass bottles.In 2003 California Central Coast AVA-based Black Box Winesintroduced mass premium wines in a box, which served to overturnthe stereotype that box wines are an alternate packing oninexpensive jug wine. Within the decade premium wineries andbottlers began packaging their own high-quality boxed wine,including French rabbit, Bandit Wines, Octavin, Target, and hundredsof others. This coupled with an increased cultural interest inenvironmentally sustainable packaging has cultivated growingpopularity with affluent wine consumers

Weblink http://wineeconomist.com/2012/05/07/the-rise-of-big-really-big-box-wine/

You’re a real wine nut if:

Supplied by Winerist http://www.winerist.com/blog/category/10

That’sh all for now, folksh – keep quaffing!

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