Buying a Bottle of Wine Trivia Quiz

Answer: The type of food you are having for your meal

Different foods call for different wines. One of the first rules one learns about wine is "red wine with meat, white wine with fish." This is okay as far as it goes, but like all rules, there are exceptions. Some people prefer a light red wine, such as a Pinot Noir, with salmon; I'm partial to red wine with many chicken dishes. You can read up on all the rules, but the best way to learn is to try different wines with different foods, and determine which pairings suit your individual palate. At any rate, the food you are going to be eating is the most important consideration in deciding which wine to serve.

Answer: Ask an employee for a suggestion

Most people who work in wine shops and liquor stores are familiar with their inventory, and will be happy to help you select a bottle. At the very least, they should be able to offer some useful advice. If they can't, go somewhere else. But most people who work in wine shops are there because they are lovers of wine themselves, and are often very helpful when it comes to assisting you.

Answer: A red Bordeaux

A beef roast, or any beef dish, is usually best served with a fairly robust red wine; the other choices are all white wines. You may like your roast with Chardonnay, but your guests probably will not. When you are having guests, it's usually best to stick with conventional choices. The red wines of Bordeaux are among the most celebrated in the world.

Answer: No

Wine is like any other commodity; you usually get what you pay for. But there are also a lot of bargains to be had. I have drunk $5 wines that were very good indeed, and once drank a bottle of wine that cost $1000 and did not impress me at all! The more you learn about wine, the better your chances of picking up a good bottle at a bargain price.

But you should never feel that you need to spend a lot of money to get a good bottle of wine. Decide what your price range is, and concentrate on getting the best bottle that you can based on what you want to spend.

Answer: Some years produce better wines than others

Wine is made from grapes, and any number of factors can affect the vines and the quality of the grapes needed to produce the wine. A good year is one in which the growing conditions are ideal, and many properties produce superior wine. The year that a wine is made is often called the "vintage." Some properties will produce good wine even in a poor vintage; conversely, some mediocre or poor wine will be produced even in the best vintages. You should also realize that the definition of what constitutes a "good" vintage will vary from region to region, and even within a region.

For example, 2007 was a poor year for red Bordeaux, but a good year for white Bordeaux and wines from the Rhone valley.

Answer: No, it just means the wine was bottled where it was produced

"Mis en Bouteille au Château" means "bottled at the chateau." Long ago, winemakers would sell their wine in bulk to middle men called "négociants" who would then bottle the wine. Many unscrupulous négociants would dilute the best wines with inferior ones to increase their profits. So the best properties began to bottle their wines themselves, in order to preserve their reputations.

A hundred years ago, "Mis en Bouteille au Château" was a mark of quality, but nowadays almost all producers bottle their wines on the property, so it is an almost meaningless phrase. Chateau Malescasse is a very respectable Bordeaux estate that produces very good wine and sells for a modest price.

Answer: The estate is recognized as being of superior quality

In 1855, the best wines of Bordeaux were officially classified into five classes. These wines are entitled to put the phrase "Grand Cru Classe" on their labels ("cru" is a French word meaning growth). Naturally, those properties left out of the 1855 classification which produced good wine wanted some sort of similar recognition, so in 1932 the "Cru Bourgeois" classification came into being.

Many Cru Bourgeois wines are as good as, or better than, some Grand Cru Classe wines. There are over 8,000 estates in Bordeaux that produce wine, but in 2009, only 246 were designated Cru Bourgeois.

The wines are reviewed and tasted each year to ensure high standards are being maintained.

Answer: To prevent the wine from being contaminated by the cork

Producers give many reasons for using screwcaps on wine bottles, but the main reason is to prevent the wine from being contaminated by the cork. Cork is a natural substance made from the bark of certain trees. On rare occasions, the cork can react with the wine, spoiling it.

Some corks contain a substance called TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) that can make the wine smell musty or moldy. Your chances of getting a "corked" bottle are very small, however. Most makers of fine wines still prefer to use natural cork, because it allows small amounts of oxygen to diffuse into the wine, allowing it to age in the bottle. Screwcaps are usually found on wines that are made to be drank within a few years of release, although there are exceptions. Neither a cork nor a screwcap is a guarantee that you are getting a good bottle of wine, or vice versa. One advantage of screwcaps is that they are easier to open and reseal. Composite corks, made of finely ground cork that has been reconstituted, and plastic corks are also used by some winemakers.

Answer: To allow it to breathe

Many wines, especially young red wines, improve substantially by being exposed to air for several hours before drinking. A chemical reaction takes place between chemicals found in the wine and the oxygen in the air that makes the wine softer and more appealing.

The process can be sped up by pouring the wine into a larger container called a decanter. As a rule of thumb, red wines need more "breathing time" than white wines, and younger wines more time than older ones. Some very old red wines do not need much breathing time at all, and begin falling apart after being exposed to air for too long a period of time.

But most wines you find at your local grocery store or wine shop will definitely improve by being exposed to air for an hour or two.

Answer: Most red wines are best served between 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit

As Alexander Pope observed, "A little learning is a dangerous thing." The most common mistake people make when serving wine is to serve red wines too warm, and white wines too cold. The room temperature rule was formulated before the days of central heating; most of us keep the thermostat at around 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24C).

A red wine served this warm can seem flabby, and the nose, or aroma, will be exaggerated. Popping the bottle in the door of your refrigerator about twenty minutes before serving will cool it to about the right temperature for maximum enjoyment. White wines do need to be chilled, but except for some sweet, sparkling wines, they shouldn't be dunked in an ice bucket. Serving white wines ice cold causes them to lose the subtle nuances of flavor that you are paying to enjoy. Most white wines show best at between 45 and 50 degrees (some fine white Burgundies are an exception).

Another common mistake is using wine glasses that are too small; as a rule, the bigger the better. White wine glasses should hold at least 16 ounces of wine, and red wine glasses, about 20 ounces. You don't fill them up, of course, just pour a few ounces into the glass.

But the additional volume allows you to swirl the wine, and the lovely aroma to concentrate in the glass. You should also never use colored wine glasses; you want to enjoy the color of the wine.