Answers to the 10 Most Commonly Asked Questions about Wine



By John ~ April 16th, 2010.

According to Ask.com, the following are the 10 most commonly asked questions about wine. What follows are our answers. Actually, we have already answered most of these in various posts over time, but I thought it would be helpful to put them all together here:

1. How many calories are in a glass of wine?
In general the answer is about 100 calories, but it can vary slightly depending on the type of glass, the wine varietal, and how full you pour the glass. You’ll get 5 – 5oz glasses out of a bottle of wine.

2. How do you make wine?
Wine is made from fermenting grapes. To start fermentation, grapes are harvested, pressed or crushed, and then the resulting must is inoculated with yeast.

3. What is port wine?
Port is fortified wine, meaning that alcohol is added during fermentation, halting fermentation and leaving residual sugar (sweetness). Almost all port production is red wine. True port is produced in the Douro Valley of Portugal. It is inappropriate to call a port-style wine Port unless it is from Portugal.

4. How many bottles of wine are in a case?
The standard case is 12 bottles.

5. What is Marsala Wine?
Marsala is port-style fortified wine from Sicily, an island off of Italy, made from all white grapes and that has been aged in a solera system like Sherry.

6. What wine goes best with chicken?
There is not one simple answer, because the best pairing will depend on how the chicken is prepared. LaGayle, our Wine Peeps food guru has done some delicious chicken pairings including Italian Soave with fettuccini alfredo and grilled chicken, California Pinot Noir with spicy chicken casserole, Washington Pinot Gris with chicken tapenade, New Zealand Pinot Grigio with salsa verde chicken enchiladas, Washington Viognier with curried chicken, and Washington Rosé with chicken tetrazzini.

7. Who is the god of wine?
Bacchus is the Roman god of wine; Dionysus is the Greek god of wine. But as far as I’m concerned, the real God of wine is Jesus Christ whose first miracle was to turn water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

8. How long does wine last once opened?
In general, the answer is a couple of days. It depends on the age of the wine, how much wine is left in the bottle, and how it is cared for once opened. Pumping the air out of the partially consumed bottle, sealing it, and refrigerating it all slow the process of oxidation and can help it last longer.

9. How do you remove red wine spills from carpet?
The best product we’ve found is Wine Away, available in most wine shops and winery tasting rooms.

10. What is the best way to open a bottle of wine?
There are many different wine bottle openers on the market, and some are better than others under certain circumstances. The most practical and inexpensive opener for a single bottle of wine is the double-hinged Waiter’s Friend. If you need to open a case or two for a party, I’d recommend an electric opener.

I hope you’ve found these answers helpful. If you have any other questions about wine, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Cheers!


Filed under: General Wine Information

Reader's Comments

  1. Kristi Davis | April 16th, 2010 at 8:41 am

    Great quick and easy article, I had to Tweet that 🙂

  2. @nectarwine | April 16th, 2010 at 9:07 am

    Awesome work on these questions. I saw someone else tackle it but with less skill. I particularly like your answer to #7!

    Josh @nectarwine on twitter

  3. John | April 16th, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    Kristi, Thanks for your kind words; and Josh, #7 is my favorite as well.

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