So you think you know MO wine? Prove it

This month, MO Wine fans, an enological version of a crossword puzzle, but not as stressful. These questions were created over several late nights of sipping Chardonel, Traminette and a glass or two of Missouri port; you might want to adopt the same strategy for taking the quiz. Enjoy! 1. What is the alias of Missouri’s official state grape, Norton? 2. Name the popular grape that was made famous by Welch’s grape juice. 3. How many wineries are in Missouri? a. less than 20 b. 20 to 40 c. over 40 d. I didn’t know there were wineries in Missouri 4. True or false? Hermann, Mo., was given the first American Viticulture Area recognition in the United States in 1980. 5. Which wine is generally sweeter: Vignoles or Chardonel? 6. In the late 1800s, Missouri grapevine rootstock saved the vineyards of Europe from disease. What was the name of that disease? 7. True or false? The oldest continuously owned family winery in the United States is in Missouri. 8. Which of the following are species of grapes? a. Labrusca b. Vinifera c. Aestivalis d. All of the above 9. Chardonel is a hybrid of Seyval Blanc and what grape? 10. What does the term “brut” designate? 11. True or false: Wine in a blue bottle is always sweet. 12. Match the following wine regions with their founders’ ancestry. 13. Which has more tannin, red wine or white wine? 14. How many states have wineries? a. 18 b. 27 c. 36 d. 50 15. Prior to Prohibition, Missouri was the No. 2 state in wine production. What state was No. 1? Answers: 1. The Norton grape is also known as Cynthiana. Although there is still some disagreement as to whether they are identical, most viticulturists concede that they are one and the same. 2. Welch’s made the Concord grape very famous many years ago. Mr. Welch was a prohibitionist and tried to get Americans to drink his grape juice rather than wine. I, for one, am grateful that he did not succeed. 3. c. Over 40. An exact number is hard to pinpoint since there are frequent additions, but the current number is more than 70. 4. False. Augusta was America’s first AVA, designated such in 1980 by the Treasury Department. 5. Technically, the answer is Vignoles, since it’s generally sweeter than Chardonel. But there are a few dry Vignoles being produced that may be drier than some sweeter-style Chardonels. Dry Vignoles is typically labeled as such, just as sweeter Chardonel is labeled appropriately. 6. Phylloxera is a nearly microscopic root louse that loves to eat Vitis vinifera vines, the species of grapes grown in Europe and on the West Coast. As the American wine industry was growing its international reputation in the mid- to late 1800s, the wineries of Europe became interested in our grape varieties, which were mostly Vitis labrusca varieties such as Concord, Catawba, Delaware and many others. When these native American rootstocks were sent to Europe, they took phylloxera with them. The European vinifera vines had no resistance to this louse, and, over several decades, the vineyards of Europe were nearly totally destroyed. Grape experts in Hermann came up with the idea of grafting the more delicate vinifera vines onto the more hearty and disease-resistant American rootstocks. This procedure kept the phylloxera controlled because it did not like to eat the native American grapes. Nearly all vinifera worldwide is still grown from grafted roots. 7. True. Hermann’s Adam Puchta Winery, founded in 1855, is owned by the sixth generation of the Puchta family. The oldest continuously owned winery in California is the Gundlach-Bundschu Winery, founded in 1857, in Sonoma. 8. d. All of the above. Labrusca includes the native American grapes, such as Concord. Vinifera includes such varieties as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aestivalis is another family of native American grapes, including Norton. 9. Chardonel is a hybrid of Seyval Blanc and Chardonnay. It has much of the style and elegance of Chardonnay, but with the disease resistance and winter heartiness of the French-American hybrid, Seyval Blanc. 10. Brut is the universal term to designate dry sparkling wine. It typically describes wines with less than 1.5 percent residual sugar. 11. Although many wines in blue bottles are sweet, there is no legal restriction or tradition to prohibit dry wines from being placed in a blue bottle. This is strictly a marketing decision by the winery. 12. Hermann was settled by the Germans, St. James by the Italians, and Ste. Genevieve by the French. 13. Because tannin comes mostly from the skins of the grapes and skins are not used in making white wine, there is essentially no tannin in white wine. Tannin is the bitter harshness found in wine and is exactly the same character found in tea, which is why tea can be bitter if the leaves are left in contact with hot water for too long. 14. All 50 states now have wineries. Some might only make nongrape fruit wines, but every state is now represented in the American wine world. In 2002, North Dakota became the final state to join the wine industry. 15. Ohio was the largest wine-producing state prior to Prohibition. New York was also very big, and California was not in the top three at that time. Certified sommelier Glenn Bardgett has overseen Annie Gunn’s award-winning wine list for the last seven years.