April 2008
1) Brunello is to Sangiovese as Ottavianello is to what?
Brunello is a local name for the Sangiovese grape and Ottavianello is the Puglian name for Cinsault.
http://www.snooth.com/wine/accademia-dei-racemi-torre-guaceto-dedalo-2002
Hey - Snooth got it right (type Ottavianello into... Read more1) Brunello is to Sangiovese as Ottavianello is to what?
Brunello is a local name for the Sangiovese grape and Ottavianello is the Puglian name for Cinsault.
http://www.snooth.com/wine/accademia-dei-racemi-torre-guaceto-dedalo-2002
Hey - Snooth got it right (type Ottavianello into the search box). No points to anyone else... although Dan was on the right track.
2) List three substantive differences (viticulture, vinification, terroir, grape varieties, maturation, terroir, food pairing, etc.) between a Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso and a Recioto Classico della Valpolicella.
Anything and everything relating to Valpolicella naming is dastardly complex. I put it in the quiz so that I wouldn't forget what I learned in Italy!
Valpolicella is northern Italy's great red blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara. If a wine comes from the oldest (and "finest") part of the Valpolicella area, designated the Classico zone, it can be called Valpolicella Classico. If it doesn't, it can't. Similarly, if it has sufficient alcohol level, a year's aging and a more specific blend of grapes, any Valpolicella can be labelled a Valpolicella Superiore. These 2 attributes are like on and off switches. They can both be on, both be off, or anything in between. Following so far?
An old tradition in this part of the Veneto, is to select the best bunches of grapes before harvest and dry them for ~4 months on wicker mats (or in special drying rooms) to concentrate the flavors. These grapes (almost raisins by now) are then pressed and fermented. The resulting wine is sweet because not all of the sugar is turned into alcohol during fermentation. But, seriously, how much of a market is there today for red dessert wine? This is where Amarone comes in. A relatively recent creation, (notice that it isn't a DOCG), Amarone della Valpolicella is incredibly popular. It is a fully dry Recioto made either from less dried grapes or a fuller fermentation. You get the same wonderful flavor compounds from the drying process, but you also get at least 14% alcohol and dry wine.
Still awake? What is a Ripasso then? If you thought the Veronese were cunning to develop Amarone, a Valpolicella that can sell for $50 to $100 a bottle, this might be their greatest coup yet! In this method, the Valpolicella wine passes over or is even fermented with the skins and lees left over from the Amarone and Recioto wines adding richness character and body. So, for slightly more than a regular Valpolicella, the consumer can get a wine substantially improved by its expsoure to Amarone byproduct - yum!
So to return to the matter at hand, we had two different wines. The first is Superiore and the second is not. The second is from the Classico region, but the first is not. The first has undergone the Ripasso process. The second was made with dried grapes; the second is also sweet.
Philip 2/3 point (straw mats and food pairing), Dan 2/3 point (2ndary and sweet wine)
3) The modern Italian language descends from the Renaissance Florentine of Dante, Petarch and Boccaccio and is an official language in Switzerland, the Vatican, and Croatia, as well as in Italy. However, there are still 2 regions of Italy where the majority of winemakers have another native tongue. What are they?
Italy has 20 regions (think US states). 5 of them have a special degree of autonomy and (at least) 2 of them still have other languages spoken by a majority of their wine producers: Valle d'Aosta and Trentino-Alto Adige. Aosta is nestled into the western Alps north of Turin and still has a large Francophone community as well as some speakers of an ancient German mountain dialect. Similarly, Trentino-Alto Adige or the Sudtirol was a part of the Austrian empire until 1919. In the northern part, Alto Adige, German is still the most common language.
1/2 point for Mark, 1/4 point to Honda,
4) I was born the same year that Italy invaded British Somaliland, Egypt and Greece. I finished my enology degree the same year that Fellini released La Dolce Vita. While Ferrari and Niki Lauda were wrapping up the 1975 Formula 1 championship, I adopted a new technique that soon spread across Italy. I have degrees in economics and enology and am a firm believer in the single-vineyard wines. The French call me le roi _____, and, oddly enough, I've been called "the biggest name in Italian wine." I have won Tre Bicchieri, the highest award from Gambero Rosso countless times. In fact I've won it in 3 different appellations, not that they really matter much. Who am I?
Yes, this is Angelo Gaja of Barbaresco. His technique was aging in small oak barrels, his name is small (4 letters), and he has won Tre Bicchieri for his wines made in Barolo, Barbaresco and Tuscany.
Honda gets 1 point (for not-not guessing) and Dan gets 1 point.
5) One of the following facts about Chianti is false. Which one?
-The principal grape is Sangiovese.
-Regulations handed down by Italy's infamous Iron Baron, mandated the inclusion of white grapes in the wine.
-It traditionally came in a bottle called a fiasco.
-It used to be spelled Kiantis.
-There is no difference in the aging of Chianti and Chianti Classico.
-The Via Appia (Anicent Rome’s Appian way) runs through the heart of the region connecting Florence and Siena
-Recently, most of the vineyards had to be replanted with new, better clones of Sangiovese.
-The Gallo Nero (black rooster), the longtime symbol of Chianti Classico, led to a lawsuit with the California's own Gallo winery.
-The Chianti wine region was originally created by a Medici prince.
-Colli Senesi, Colli Fiorentini, and Colli Pisane are subdistricts that are rarely seen in the US.
The Appian Way is in southern Italy. Amazingly enough, a crappy clone of Sangiovese was planted throughout Chianti and had to be replaced in the 1990s in most of the region, the wines most certainly did (and still do) come in a fiasco (http://www.snooth.com/wine/paolo-toscano-chianti-fiasco-1998), for Classico see Valpolicella above (it is basically the same concept), and it really was called Kiantis.
0 points to all
Bonus Question
Many of the classic French wine grapes (Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, etc) have enjoyed great success around the world. In fact, these varieties account for a majority of the wine available in the US. Italy's classic wine grapes have not travelled nearly as well. However, there are some notable exceptions. What is the most popular "Italian grape" in California? What about Argentina?
Wow, everyone got off track here. The most popular "Italian grape" planted in California is Primitivo, or as the locals call it, Zinfandel! In Argentina, it is the unremarkable Bonarda.
Congrats to Dan for winning and a big FAIL to Philip and Mark for being bested by their own website.
Dan 1 2/3 points
Honda 1 1/4 point
Snooth 1 point
Philip 2/3 point
Mark 1/2 point
The Dummies quiz is in the works. You guys have to venture guesses more often. Look what it did for HondaJohn!
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