“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant,
every day more civilized."
- Andre Simon
Recent studies have shown that the more a test subject knows about wine, the better experience they will have with it. In specific brain experiments, subjects who consumed wine showed increased activity in their frontal cortex - where memory and emotion are processed, whilst the subjects given a placebo alternative, showed no increased activity.
Lesson learned - read on, drink wine and be merry. (in moderation of course!)
- Rule of Thumb - Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the liquid to determine the ideal temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, for adding yeast. That is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb."
- Poor soil quality tends to produce better wines. The trick is to "challenge" the vines by making them work harder.
- The Oldest Wine - The wreck of the TITANIC holds the oldest wine cellar in the world and despite the depth and wreckage, the bottles are still intact.
- Wine Toast - The word "toast," meaning a wish of good health, started in ancient Rome, where a piece of toasted bread was dropped into wine.
- No Cork - As late as the mid-17th century, the French wine makers did not use corks. Instead, they used oil-soaked rags stuffed into the necks of bottles.
- Slovenia is reported to have the oldest grapevine in the world, at 400 years. The Zametovka vine still produces 77 to 121 pounds of grapes per year, enough to make 100 eight-ounce bottles.
- In ancient Greece, a dinner host would take the first sip of wine to assure guests the wine was not poisoned, hence the phrase “drinking to one’s health.” “Toasting” started in ancient Rome when the Romans continued the Greek tradition but started dropping a piece of toasted bread into each wine glass to temper undesirable tastes or excessive acidity.
- A “cork-tease” is someone who constantly talks about the wine he or she will open but never does.
- Since wine tasting is essentially wine smelling, women tend to be better wine testers because women, particularly of reproductive ages, have a better sense of smell than men
- A wine that tastes watery is said to taste “dilute.” It may have been made from grapes picked during a rainstorm.
- When wine and food are paired together, they have “synergy” or a third flavor beyond what either the food or drink offers alone.
- It is traditional to first serve lighter wines and then move to heavier wines throughout a meal. Additionally, white wine should be served before red, younger wine before older, and dry wine before sweet.
- There is a right and wrong way to hold a wine glass. Wine glasses should always be held by the stem and not the bowl because the heat of the hand will raise the temperature of the wine. Having a more adverse effect whilst drinking white wine.
- A “dumb” wine refers to the lack of odour in a wine, though it may develop a pleasing odour in the future. Many Cabernet-Sauvignons, for example, are considered “dumb.” A “numb” wine, on the other hand, has no odour and no potential of developing a pleasing odour in the future
- Women are more susceptible to the effects of wine than men partly because they have less of an enzyme in the lining of the stomach that is needed to metabolize alcohol efficiently.
- Besides churches and monasteries, two other great medieval institutions derived much of their income from wine: hospitals and universities. The most famous medieval wine-endowed hospital (now a museum) is the beautiful Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune, France.
- At the center of Greek social and intellectual life was the symposium, which literally means, “drinking together.” Indeed, the symposium reflects Greek fondness for mixing wine and intellectual discussion.
- When Tutankhamen’s tomb was opened in 1922, the wine jars buried with him were labelled with the year, the name of the winemaker, and comments such as “very good wine.” The labels were so specific that they could actually meet modern wine label laws of several countries.
- The substance in wine that tingles the gums is tannin (related to the word “tan”), which is derived from the skins, pips, and stalks of grapes. It is usually found only in red wine and is an excellent antioxidant. Visually, it is the sediment found at the bottom of the bottle.
- Red Burgundy is made from the Pinot Noir grape and is so difficult to make that winemakers all over the world see it as some kind of Holy Grail.
- The Germans invented Eiswein, or wine that is made from frozen grapes.
- Wine facilitated contacts between ancient cultures, providing the motive and means of trade. For example, the Greeks traded wine for precious metals, and the Romans traded wine for slaves.
- In ancient Egypt, the ability to store wine until maturity was considered alchemy and was the privilege of only the pharaohs.
- Oenophobia is an intense fear or hatred of wine.
