Bordeaux Facts:

• The standard Bordeaux wine barrel, or "barrique", holds 59.5 gallons (approximately 300 bottles).
• There are just 50 calories in a 2.4 ounce glass of Bordeaux - the same as an apple.
• The word chateau signifies a wine producing estate with its own buildings.  It is synonymous with the French words "domaine" and "clos", but has no connection with any architectural use of the word.
• The English word Claret refers to a dry red Bordeaux-style wine.
• The term "growth" or "Cru" as in Cru Classe means the wine has been classified by an appellation.
• There is no overall classification that rank the various Bordeaux wine appellations; however, a number of appellations have their own internal classifications.
• Some wine estates concerned with quality, make a distinction according to the age of the vines, variations in soil etc., in order to produce a first wine that will age well, and a second wine that can be enjoyed sooner.
• 89% of Bordeaux wines are red and 11% are white.
• Wine ahs been produced in Bordeaux since the first century A.D.

   

Do you know what a wine bottle "punt" is?

Pick up a wine bottle sometime and take a close look at the bottom. Chances are (unless you've chosen a particularly inexpensive wine) that you'll find a deep, conical indentation rather than a flat surface.

This dent is called a "punt" in English (just like the kick on fourth down in American football). An obscure word, unknown even to many wine enthusiasts, its origins are lost in history. But here are a few theories:

1. 1. In the early days of modern bottle making, glass blowers learned that a deep indentation made the bottle sturdier.
2. 2. Or, a somewhat similar explanation, the mechanism that glass blowers used to hold the bottle while it was being made left this indentation when the job was done.
3. 3. Bottles were made this way intentionally so the sharp crease around the conical shape would form a crevice where the wine's sediment could collect and solidify.
4. 4. Finally, if you're a cynic, you may suspect that the indentation serves the same purpose as the cardboard packaging inside a candy bar wrapper: It makes the bottle look like it has more wine in it than it really does.

Half-Bottle
375 milliliters or one half of the standard bottle size. Also known as a "split" or a "tenth".

Bottle
750 milliliters of wine, this is the standard size.

Magnum
1.5 liters or two times the standard bottle size.

Double Magnum
3.0 liters or twice the size of a magnum, equivalent of 4 bottles.

Jeroboam
There are two sizes of Jeroboams: Sparkling wine Jeroboam equals 4 regular bottles, or 3.0 liters. Red wine Jeroboam equals 6 regular bottles, or 4.5 liters. Some 5.0 liter Jeroboams exist.

Imperia
 6.0 liters or 8 regular bottles.

Methuselah
Same size as an Imperial but is usually used for sparkling wines and is Burgundy-shaped.

Salmanazar
9.0 liters. 12 regular bottles or one case.

Balthazar
12.0 liters. 16 bottles. Usually used for sparkling wines.

Nebuchadnezzar
15.0 liters. 20 regular bottles. Usually used for sparkling wines.

1 Acre = 13.5 Barrels = ~5 tons of grapes
1 Barrel = 24.6 Cases = 740 lbs of grapes
1 Case = 12 Bottles = 30 lbs of grapes
1 Bottle = 4 Glasses = 2.4 lbs of grapes
 

Rhone Wines:

As Rhone wines become more popular in our area, we thought a run-down of the varieties and characteristics may be helpful:

• Grenache Noir: (Gra-Nash No-our) big bodied, supple & rich / strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, black pepper
• Grenache Gris: (Gra-Nash Gree) full-bodied, light in color, delicate / strawberry, cherry, rose petal
• Syrah / Shiraz: (C-rah)(She-raz) highly colored, firmly structured and aromatic / plum, raspberry, blueberry, black currant, violet, roasted meats, smoke, chocolate, pepper, anise
• Viognier: (Vee-ohn-yea) bug bodied, very aromatic, complex / apricot, musk, peaches, grapefruit, lichee, papaya, mango, tropical flowers
• Mourvedre: (More-ved) tannic, deeply colored, aromatic / black currant, dark cherries, leather, smoke, earth
• Roussanne: (Roo-sahn) firmly structured, powerful, very rich / apricot, honey, almond, nutmeg, honeysuckle, iris
• Carignane Noir: (Care-ig-non no-our) tannic, solid acidity, good color / cherry, raspberry, pepper
• Marsanne: (Mar-san) broad pallette, soft and rich / peach, nectarine, stone fruits, sweet nuts
• Cinsault Noir: (Sahn-so no-our) elegant, soft and lightly aromatic / strawberry, raspberry, smoke, earth
• Ugni Blanc: (Ewn-yee-blan) delicate fruit, good acidity / pear, honey-dew melon, earth
• Muscardin: (Mus-car-dan) floral, aromatic, firmly structured / rose petal, barnyard, earth
• Picpoul Blanc: (Peek-pool blan) floral, soft aromatic / pear, earth, lily, daisy, wildflowers
• Picpoul Noir: (Peek-pool no-our) floral, elegant, aromatic / rose, violet, dark cherry
• Bourboulenc: (Burr-buh-lanc) light bodied, delicately floral / peach, melon, earth
• Camarese: (Cam-are-ess) firm, tannins, delicate aromatics / pepper, spice
• Clairette Blanc: (Claret blan) big bodied, floral, aromatic / honeysuckle, tropical flowers, tropical fruits
• Vaccarese: (Vac-car-ess) aromatic, firmly tannic, floral / pepper, spice, earth, smoke
• Grenache Blanc: (Gra-nash blan) big bodied, soft, delicate / peach, melon, pear
• Terret Noir: (Tare-it no-our) delicate, perfumed, bright acidity / rose petal, lavender, dark berries, spice
• Muscat a Petits Grains: (Mus-cat ah pet-eet grahn)_ elegant, aromatic, floral / musk, honey, honeysuckle, lily, stone fruit
• Clairette Rose: (Clare-et rose) light aromatics, fruit notes, soft / strawberry, cherry, rose petal
• Counoise Noir: (Coon-wahz no-our) lively acidity, spice, richness / raspberry, cherry, cranberry

For more information, check out Hospice du Rhone.

Wine Trivia:

• The 17th century Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, invented the champagne cork and wire cage that allowed the sparkling wine to be safely bottled. It is said, when he first tasted champagne, he cried "Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!"
   
• There is a 1600 year old bottle of wine on display in the Speyer Museum in Germany.
   
• In the middle ages wine was used as currency.
   
• Grapes were first planted in California at Mission San Diego in 1769.
   
• Prior to the civil war, Ohio was considered America's most important wine producing state.
   
• The word Alcohol is derived from the Arabic language (al kohl or alkuhl). Consider the fact that a large proportion of the Arabic population is forbidden from consuming alcohol for religious reasons.
   
• The largest cork tree in the world is known as ‘The Whistler Tree’. This tree is located in the Alentejo region of Portugal and averages over 1 ton of raw cork per harvest. Enough to cork 100,000 bottles of wine.
   
• William Sokolin paid $519,750.00 for a bottle of 1787 vintage wine which supposedly had been owned by Thomas Jefferson, then later accidentally knocked it over, breaking it and spilling the precious contents on the floor.

Drink to your health...literally:

The benefits of drinking a glass of wine first hit the collective American consciousness a few years ago after the airing of a story on television's 60-Minutes called  the "French Paradox".  The paradox was that the French had low rates of heart disease despite high-cholesterol diets full of rich cheeses and meats.  The reason seemed to result from the fact that they consumed a glass or two of red wine each day with their rich meals.

Researchers believe they have now unlocked the mystery here and it is that wine contains an antioxidant compound called resveratrol.  It acts like an antibiotic to protect grapes from fungus and may turn off a protein that guards cancer cells from cancer-fighting therapies such as chemotherapy.  Resveratrol can be found in dozens of foods, including mulberries and peanuts.  All wines have some resveratrol but red wine seems to be the richest.  So...another great reason to enjoy a glass or two of wine each day!!