Miscellaneous Wine Facts

I've been collecting miscellaneous wine factoids for a while, and I thought it would be fun to list a few. These are great to tuck into the back of your mind, never know if they might come up in a game of Trivial Pursuit!

*The Ancient Egyptian term for wine was irp, and it was reserved for only the elite members of society at festivals throughout the year.

*The yeasts that wine are made with, like bread, contribute flavor to the wine, albeit subtle.

*Clear brandy, an unaged neutral spirit, is used to fortify Port wine. When added to the wine, it increases alcohol levels, which kills the yeasts, stopping fermentation and resulting in a fortified wine with residual sugar.

*One oak tree will yeild two to four wine barrels.

*Traditional mead is made with only honey, yeast and water. Mead with grapes or grape juice added is called pyment.

*The straw basket-like wrappings you see on some Chianti bottles is called a fiasco.

*The wire "cage" used to wrap the top of a Champagne or other sparkling wine bottle is called a muzzle.

*There are approximately 1/2 pound of grapes in a standard 5 ounce glass of wine, and approximately 2.5 pounds in standard 750ML bottle.

*The wine regions of California, Oregon and Washington were born more than 100 million years ago, when the tectonic plates shifted, melting rocks into magma which formed a chain of volcanoes.