FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Buying a Bottle of Wine
Quiz about Buying a Bottle of Wine

Buying a Bottle of Wine Trivia Quiz


Buying a bottle of wine is an adventure! This quiz may teach you a little about one of my favorite subjects, and maybe you'll learn something you can use in real life.

A multiple-choice quiz by daver852. Estimated time: 4 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Hobbies Trivia
  6. »
  7. Wines, Beers and Spirits
  8. »
  9. Wines

Author
daver852
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
367,448
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
9 / 10
Plays
1067
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 124 (10/10), Guest 1 (10/10), Guest 1 (10/10).
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. You are having some friends over for dinner, so your wife sends you off to the wine shop to purchase a bottle of wine. Which of the following is going to be the most important consideration in selecting which wine you are going buy? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. You arrive at the wine shop and find yourself confronted with row after row of various wines. You feel totally lost. Since you are a novice when it comes to wine, what is your best course of action?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. An employee sees you standing in the middle of the aisle, and comes over and asks if he can help you. You tell him that your wife is making a top sirloin roast, and has sent you to buy a bottle of wine that will complement her entree. Which of the following wines is he most likely to suggest? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The employee leads you over to another aisle where there is still what seems to be a bewildering number of choices. Many of them seem to be very, very expensive. Is it necessary to spend a lot of money to get a good bottle of wine?


Question 5 of 10
5. You tell the helpful employee about how much you are prepared to spend, and he pulls a bottle off the shelf and hands it to you. "It's a good year," he says. A good year? What does he mean by that? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. You look at the bottle. On the label it says Chateau Malescasse 2009. At the bottom of the label it says "Mis en Bouteille au Château." Is this a guarantee that you are getting an outstanding wine? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Another look at the label shows that it says it says "Cru Bourgeois." What does this mean? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. You notice that the neck of your wine bottle is closed with a cork. Do you have a corkscrew at home? Yes, there's one somewhere. Some of the other bottles you have seen in the store have screwcaps instead of corks. What is the main reason some manufacturers have switched from corks to screwcaps as closures for their wines? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. You decide that the bottle you've been looking at is a good choice. You pay for it, and take it home. Your wife approves, and says, "You'd better open that now. The Millers will be here at six o'clock." You are once again confused. It is only 4PM. Why does your wife want you to open the wine now? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. It's almost time for dinner. The roast smells wonderful, and your bottle of wine smells good, too. About twenty minutes before your guests arrive, your wife tells you to put the wine in the door of the refrigerator. You tell her that red wines are meant to be served at room temperature. She tells you to shut up and do as you are told. Why does she insist on doing this? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Mar 28 2024 : Guest 124: 10/10
Mar 25 2024 : Guest 1: 10/10
Mar 20 2024 : Guest 1: 10/10
Mar 18 2024 : Montgomery1: 9/10
Mar 17 2024 : BudHoney: 10/10
Mar 17 2024 : Guest 31: 8/10
Mar 14 2024 : Guest 73: 9/10
Mar 05 2024 : Southendboy: 8/10
Feb 28 2024 : Brooklyn1447: 7/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. You are having some friends over for dinner, so your wife sends you off to the wine shop to purchase a bottle of wine. Which of the following is going to be the most important consideration in selecting which wine you are going buy?

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.
2. You arrive at the wine shop and find yourself confronted with row after row of various wines. You feel totally lost. Since you are a novice when it comes to wine, what is your best course of action?

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.
3. An employee sees you standing in the middle of the aisle, and comes over and asks if he can help you. You tell him that your wife is making a top sirloin roast, and has sent you to buy a bottle of wine that will complement her entree. Which of the following wines is he most likely to suggest?

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.
4. The employee leads you over to another aisle where there is still what seems to be a bewildering number of choices. Many of them seem to be very, very expensive. Is it necessary to spend a lot of money to get a good bottle of wine?

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.
5. You tell the helpful employee about how much you are prepared to spend, and he pulls a bottle off the shelf and hands it to you. "It's a good year," he says. A good year? What does he mean by that?

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.
6. You look at the bottle. On the label it says Chateau Malescasse 2009. At the bottom of the label it says "Mis en Bouteille au Château." Is this a guarantee that you are getting an outstanding wine?

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.
7. Another look at the label shows that it says it says "Cru Bourgeois." What does this mean?

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.
8. You notice that the neck of your wine bottle is closed with a cork. Do you have a corkscrew at home? Yes, there's one somewhere. Some of the other bottles you have seen in the store have screwcaps instead of corks. What is the main reason some manufacturers have switched from corks to screwcaps as closures for their wines?

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.
9. You decide that the bottle you've been looking at is a good choice. You pay for it, and take it home. Your wife approves, and says, "You'd better open that now. The Millers will be here at six o'clock." You are once again confused. It is only 4PM. Why does your wife want you to open the wine now?

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.
10. It's almost time for dinner. The roast smells wonderful, and your bottle of wine smells good, too. About twenty minutes before your guests arrive, your wife tells you to put the wine in the door of the refrigerator. You tell her that red wines are meant to be served at room temperature. She tells you to shut up and do as you are told. Why does she insist on doing this?

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.
Source: Author daver852

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
3/29/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us