American Wine Trivia for Thanksgiving

Updated on Sunday, November 25, 2012 at 11:04AM by truthinjuice

Happy Thanksgiving! With America's signature holiday just a few days away, I thought it would be fun to focus on American wine trivia. Like most components of our country's culture, wine production and consumption in America is a veritable "melting pot," having been influenced by various countries. Many of the famous international grape varietals of which we are so fond (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, etc.) are of European origin. The American wine industry has grown up comparing itself to, and competing with the wines of France, although influence from Italy and Spain can also be detected. Yet, in recent years, American wines have become prominent forces in the international wine market, and wine culture in the United States is on the rise. Although we may still be a beer drinking country, many of our best and brightest have been oenophiles. 

For your research pleasure, here's a few trivia questions related to America and wine. Submit your responses using our General Question Form. The winner gets their choice of free admission to our final Fall Wine Discovery Class at Levity (Monday, November 26th), or a Starbucks gift card. We'll close the quiz, and post the answers on Sunday evening.

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"I Don't Like Blends" - A Quiz

Updated on Friday, November 2, 2012 at 10:24PM by truthinjuice

The other day, I was evangelizing about wine, as I tend to do from time to time, and I was excitedly telling a woman about a new red blend that I thought was a good value. (For those of you curious, the particular wine that I was referring to was the Cameron Hughes Lot 348 California Field Blend.) As I was explaining the origins of the term "field blend," the woman stopped me. "Oh, that's okay," she said. "I don't really like blends."

I was somewhat stunned for a moment, but regrouped and asked the woman why she disliked blended wines. She replied that she preferred to understand what individual grape varietals taste like, as opposed to tasting a bunch of grapes that were thrown together. I sighed, and told her that as much as Americans like to focus on specific grapes, and specific grape varietals, blending is an integral part of winemaking. Even wines that are labelled as single varietals (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay) are allowed to have a certain percentage of other grape varietals in the final makeup of the wine. The percentage that is allowed varies by country. Although there are a few appellations that forbid blending, and insist on the use of a single grape varietal, most winemakers will tell you that they appreciate the creativity and freedom afforded by being able to create a blended wine. Most will also say that having the freedom to blend generally results in a better product. 

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Happy Cabernet Day! A Quiz on the Grape

Updated on Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 1:53PM by truthinjuice

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most popular grapes. It is planted in nearly every major wine growing country, including France, the United States, Italy, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Canada, and more. In honor of Cabernet Day, we're dedicating TruthInJuice.com's inaugural quiz to examining the history of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape, as well as some Cabernet Sauvignon related fun facts.

Get those typing fingers ready, because we're giving the top scorer their choice of a free place in our next panel tasting, or a Starbucks gift card. Naturally, that panel tasting will focus on Cabernet Sauvignon. Submit your responses through our general question form with the subject line "Cabernet Day Quiz."

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