General Wine Knowledge

Question 1

Acidity

Answer 1

Describes how tart a wine is or isn’t

Question 2

Body

Answer 2

How heavy or full wine feels in the mouth. Light, medium, or full.

Question 3

Appellation

Answer 3

A specific geographic region where a wine comes from

Question 4

Decanting

Answer 4

Pouring wine from the bottle into a decanter. A serving vessel that allows wine to “breathe” or aerate.

Question 5

Aeration/Breathing

Answer 5

The act of allowing wine to oxygenate. This opens the wines aromas.

Question 6

Jammy

Answer 6

A term used to describe red wines with a cooked fruit flavor.

Question 7

Minerality

Answer 7

Similar to a wine’s earthiness, a wine with strong minerality tastes of the earth, though minerality typically refers to the flavor of stones rather than dirt. This term is more commonly used to describe white wines, though it can be used to describe reds as well.

Question 8

Oaked

Answer 8

Both white and red wines can be matured in oak barrels (or with oak chips). Oaked wines are sometimes described as having notes of vanilla, cloves, butter, or caramel.

Question 9

Tannins

Answer 9

Bitter compounds in the skin and seeds of grapes that give red wine structure. (White wines have little to no tannins as they’re typically not fermented on the skins.) While some tannins are desirable, overly tannic wines can cause a drying sensation in your mouth.

Question 10

Varietal

Answer 10

A single variety of grape

Question 11

Vintage

Answer 11

A vintage wine doesn’t always mean old — it’s one made from grapes that were all (or mostly) produced in a single year. A nonvintage wine comes from grapes that were harvested over two or more years. Champagne is typically nonvintage (or NV) for consistency’s sake.

Question 12

Principal Red Grape of Argentina

Answer 12

Malbec. Malbecs are usually classified as spicy or jammy or a mixture of both.

Question 13

What does Classico mean

Answer 13

An Italian term applying to certain DOC or DOCG wines whose vineyards are in the original, classic part of the territory where that particular type of DOC/DOCG can be made

Question 14

DOC/DOCG meaning

Answer 14

The initials DOC stand for the Denominazione di Origine Controllata. This is a quality rating for wines in Italy.

The DOCG is the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. In Italy, this is a step up from the standard DOC rating, and as it requires that every bottle be counted and traced, it is usually only done for the more expensive wines.

Question 15

Difference between a Shiraz and Syrah

Answer 15

Same grape different regions of growth.
It is called Syrah in its country of origin, France, and throughout most of the winemaking world. It was the Australians who took up the name change to Shiraz.

Question 16

What is the modern interpretation of aroma and bouquet?

Answer 16

Bouquet is all smells Aroma is single smell

Question 17

What happens to the color of a white wine as it ages?

Answer 17

It becomes more golden

Question 18

What happens to the color of red wine as it ages?

Answer 18

It softens and becomes lighter in color

Question 19

Food that have sweetness or nmami tend to make wine taste.

a. stronger ( more acidic, more tannic, more dry)
b. milder (less acidic, less tannic, less dry)
c. no change

Answer 19

a. stronger ( more acidic, more tannic, more dry)

Question 20

Foods that are naturally acidic or have acid added tend to make wines taste.

a. stronger ( more acidic, more tannic, more dry)
b. milder (less acidic, less tannic, less dry)
c. no change

Answer 20

b. milder (less acidic, less tannic, less dry)

Question 21

What is Tawny Port

Answer 21

Tawny Port is a sweet or medium-dry dessert wine made from red grapes grown in Northern Portugal’s Douro Valley, fortified with grape neutral spirit (brandy) and aged in wood casks.

Question 22

What is Ruby Port

Answer 22

It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, though it also comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties.

Question 23

What is Port

Answer 23

Port is a fortified wine. Fortified wines are made by adding a proportion of grape spirit, or brandy, to the wine at some point during the production process.

Question 24

Astringent/Astringency

Answer 24

A mouth puckering sensation caused by the acid and tannin in a wine. Astringency often declines as a wine ages.

Question 25

What would a wine with too much acid taste like?

Answer 25

Too much acid will make your wine taste sharp or tart. Too little acid will make it taste flat and not refreshing.

Question 26

What would a wine with too much alcohol taste like?

Answer 26

Too much alcohol will make it taste overly sweet and hot and biting as it’s swallowed.

Question 27

What would a wine with too much tannin taste like?

Answer 27

Too many tannins will make your wine astringent and will make your mouth pucker. Tannins give wine its body and will soften as a wine ages and is exposed to more air.