Winey Wednesday, holiday style!

‘Tis the season to be bubbly!

This week fizzes with facts about the wine, otherwise known as champagne.

1. What did 17th century Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, say he tasted when he first sipped his creation?
2. What’s this process called?
3. What are the two distinctions that make it champagne and not just sparkling wine?
4. Which is more gaseous, beer or champagne?
5. Which is dryer, ‘Extra Dry’ or ‘Brut’?
6. Does champagne make you get drunk faster?
7. Do the approximately 49 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne that tickle your nose actually have a biochemical function?
8. To drink or not to drink? Does champagne need time to aerate?
9. True or false? America saved the French champagne industry.

As the corks fly this season, remember the saying, “The ear’s gain is the palate’s loss.” Open the bottle carefully, as not to loose bubbles.

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Winey Wednesday, the first installment.

Excited? I’ve been thinking how to best post my trivia and answers that I’ll reveal on Thursday (hopefully just in time for you to appear smarter when you have a drink with friends over the weekend). I’m thinking that I’ll post the questions like a regular post, and then the answers on the “Winey Wednesday” page – so you have a one-stop shop for all the random factoids you ever wanted to know about wine! Let me know if you have any ideas…

Now, down to business.

1. How many grapes on average go into making one bottle of wine?

2. You’ve guessed the grape count, now when was the cork developed?

3. So, you need to uncork that bottle. When was the corkscrew invented?

4. Uncorking a bottle and letting it stand for an hour or so before drinking allows the wine to breathe. True or false?

5. Put these wines in proper tasting order. Red/Sparkling/White.

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