Influencers: Great Personalities in Wine Quiz

Answer: Pliny the Elder

Bon vivant, diplomat and naval commander, Pliny the Elder covered a lot of territory. It was in his capacity as a Roman admiral that Pliny launched the ill-fated rescue expedition that cost his life. His surviving writings include many references to wine.

He was a big partisan of the Roman favorite Falernian wine and made a favorable mention of the wines produced near the Gaulish garrison town of Burdigala, now known as Bordeaux. Falernian wine is no more, but millions of people have discovered the veracity of Pliny's opinion of Burdigala wine.

Answer: Saint Paul

The quoted Biblical verse is 1 Timothy 5, New King James Version. Saint Paul's advice would have been common at the time. Water quality in most of the ancient world was sufficiently doubtful that there were very few true teetotalers. Most people mixed water with either wine or vinegar.

The increased acidity offered some defense against microbes. Wine would have been held to be gentler on a troubled digestion.

Answer: Pope Francis

Pope Francis was using the banquet as a metaphor for the Eucharist, but the relationship between the papacy and wine doesn't stop at sacramental wine. Access to good wine has long been a prerogative of Popes and potentates. For several centuries, the rare Hungarian wine Tokaji Eszencia was largely divided between the Pope and the Tsar.

In the 14th Century, when the papacy moved to Avignon, France one of the first orders of business was ensuring that good wine was made at the Pope's new house (still called Chateauneuf-du-Pape). Currently a special Cuvee Vaticano is produced from grapes grown in church owned vineyards in Italy.

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the first great wine collector in the United States. His fondness for French wine (spawned by his experience while ambassador) was sufficient that he imported hundreds of French vines to plant at his estate, Monticello. His transplants all died, victims of the phyloxera pest that would not be discovered by science for another 60 years. Rutherford Hayes was a teetotaler; Jackson and Harrison were both proponents of the "ardent spirits" that Jefferson distrusted.

Answer: Phillipe de Rothschild

Baron Phillipe de Rothschild was a man of iron will and exceptional talents. It took him half a century to convince the French government to change the famous Bordeaux Classification of 1855. The government capitulated to the Baron in 1973, raising Chateau Mouton-Rothschild to first growth status in the first change ever made to the Classification. One of the "arguments" that carried the day was the astonishing 1945 vintage of Mouton. Often using close to 80 percent Cabernet Sauvignon in his blend at Mouton, late in life the Baron collaborated with California legend Robert Mondavi to produce Opus One, a remarkable winery dedicated to high end Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Answer: Agoston Hraszthy

Born to a Magyar noble family, Agoston Hraszthy had begun styling himself "Baron" about the time he arrived in California in 1849. He was exotic enough that the locals took him at face value. The others listed are all noted Magyars/Hungarians. Istvan Dobo directed the defeat of the Ottomans at Eger. Josef Cardinal Mindszenty was a freedom loving Roman Catholic prelate and the archenemy of Janos Kadar, the General Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party.

Answer: Robert Mondavi

Robert Mondavi was a man driven by a vision. You got between him and his vision at your own peril. He revolutionized California and especially Napa Valley wine-making in under a decade, leading the drive toward wines of exquisite quality based on the great grapes of Europe, particularly his beloved Cabernet Sauvignon.

Not bad for a guy thrown out of the house. The others listed were all prominent 19th Century California winemakers.

Answer: Beaulieu Vineyards

"Beau lieu" is literally "good place" in French. Georges de Latour founded the winery in 1900 near Rutherford in Napa Valley. Tschelischeff's French viticultural training and knack for innovation resulted in some of California's finest wines. Tschelischeff created a special reserve bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon in his patron's honor after Latour passed away.

The "Georges de Latour Reserve" was a fixture at White House state dinners for decades. The other wineries listed are my inventions.

Answer: consulting oenologist

While I've heard Michel Rolland called all these things (and more), the correct title is "consulting oenologist" - he shares what he knows, and you do the work. This is not to understate his contributions. By the late 1980s, Rolland's viticultural teachings and Robert Parker, Jr.'s reviews (among other factors) had combined to create what has become known as the "international style" of wine. If you enjoy deeply flavored wines redolent of ripe, fresh fruit, have a sip to Rolland's health.

Answer: Chianti Classico

The Ricasolis have impressive staying power. The earliest extant records show the Ricasolis already in possession of Castello Brolio (for which their winery is named) in 1141 CE. According to GRI Equity's website, the Ricasolis operate the fifth oldest family owned and operated business in the world.

For all the vast panoply of wines offered by Tuscany, the first one to come to mind always seems to be Chianti Classico. Indeed, for many lifelong oenophiles, Chianti Classico was often that first tentative step away from the mundane and into the world of fine wine.