Excerpted from Educating Peter by Lettie Teague. Copyright 2007 by Lettie Teague. Reprinted by permission from Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
After months of lessons and many hundreds of glasses of wine, there was only one way to determine if Peter and I had truly accomplished what we'd set out to do: Peter would need to take a final exam. "I really don't think that's necessary," Peter protested nervously when I broached the idea. "Can't you just take my word for it? Or maybe take me out to dinner again? I don't only drink fatty Chardonnay anymore, and I'm not scared of almost any red wine-including Cabernet. I know how to volatize my esters and I've got invitations to visit about a dozen winemakers and to stay at their homesisn't that more than any final exam would tell you about the progress I've made?"
PETER'S WINE QUIZ
1. A slope-shouldered bottle indicates that
A. The winemaker has bad posture
B. The wine will contain sediment
C. The wine is a Burgundy bottle2. When a wine is called "hot," that means
A. It's been approved by Paris Hilton
B. It has too much alcohol
C. It's been stored at Peter's house
D. All of the above3. Phylloxera is the name of a
A. Vine-eating louse
B. Bruce Willis movie
C. Spanish grape4. When a wine "shuts down," it becomes
A. Tannic
B. Quiet
C. Flavorless5. Wine auctions are most often attended by
A. Lawyers
B. Lawyers
C. Lawyers6. Noble rot refers to
A. The decline of the House of Windsor
B. A beneficial grape fungus
C. The flavor of a type of Sherry7. Which of these grapes is not grown in Bordeaux?
A. Cabernet Sauvignon
B. Semillon
C. Gamay Noir
D. Sauvignon Blanc8. Which one of these wine regions does not have a major problem with hail?
A. Mendoza, Argentina
B. Burgundy, France
C. Bordeaux, France9. Swirling a glass of wine releases aromatic compounds called
A. Esters
B. Ethels
C. Ernestos10. Aroma is an important component in a wine's personality. Which of the following is the figure estimated as its importance?
A. 50 percent
B. 80 percent
C. 95 percent11. A corked wine can be said to smell like
A. Wet newspapers
B. Wet dogs
C. Wet grass12. Which of the following grapes (almost) never spends time in an oak barrel?
A. Riesling
B. Semillon
C. Pinotage13. Which grape is the most planted in the world?
A. Chardonnay
B. White Zinfandel
C. Cabernet Sauvignon14. Barrique is the name of a
A. French oak barrel
B. French card game
C. French vineyard measurement15. A "green" wine is one
A. Made from underripe grapes
B. Made from organic grapes
C. Made in Ireland16. Which of the following châteaux is not a first growth?
A. Margaux
B. Haut-Brion
C. Pétrus17. The wines of the Left Bank of Bordeaux are made predominantly from which grape?
A. Cabernet Sauvignon
B. Cabernet Franc
C. Merlot18. Which Médoc subregion, or "commune," has more second growths than any other?
A. St. Julien
B. Pauillac
C. Margaux19. The Côte d'Or is a
A. Gated community in Beverly Hills
B. Region in Burgundy
C. Region in Champagne20. The French use the term manly when describing
A. Château Latour
B. Hermitage
C. Jerry Lewis21. A négociant is a
A. French movie agent
B. French grape buyer
C. French château broker22. What is the biggest problem facing Alsace winemakers to date?
A. An excess supply of Gewürztraminer grapes
B. Wines that are considered too sweet
C. An excess of German tourists on walking trips23. The chief defining attribute of Loire Valley wines is
A. Acidity
B. Tannin
C. Color24. Marsanne and Roussanne are names of
A. Vineyards in France's Rhône Valley
B. Grape varieties cultivated in the Rhône Valley
C. The fourth and fifth Musketeers25. RD on the label of a bottle of Bollinger Champagne stands for
A. Ready to drink
B. Recently disgorged
C. The real deal26. Barolo and Barbaresco are the names of
A. Italian towns
B. Italian grapes
C. Both27. Falanghina is the name of
A. A white grape grown in southern Italy
B. A Roman emperor
C. An Italian vine disease28. There are good Italian Pinot Grigio producers. Where can some of the best examples be found?
A. Tuscany
B. Alto Adige
C. New Jersey29. Which of the following terms is used to describe a young Rioja wine?
A. Infanta
B. Crianza
C. Niñera30. Which man does not make a Spanish cult wine?
A. Alvaro Palacios
B. Peter Sisseck
C. José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero31. A port lodge is
A. Where port is aged
B. Where retired seamen congregate
C. Where port is sold32. The German wine classification system, known as the Prädikat system, ranks German wines according to
A. Grape ripeness
B. Bottle price
C. Pronounceability33. The most important grape in Germany is
A. Riesling
B. Müller-Thurgau
C. Sylvaner34. Blaufrankisch is a
A. Red grape grown in Austria
B. Two-door German sedan
C. Red grape grown in Hungary35. The Barossa Valley is
A. A western epic colorized by Ted Turner
B. A winemaking region in Australia
C. Ted Turner's ranch in Montana36. Pinotage is a
A. Red grape native to South Africa
B. Red grape native to Australia
C. Car built by Ford in the seventies37. One of the most famous Cabernets made in Chile is
A. Don Melchor
B. Don Ameche
C. Don Pedro38. Bonarda is
A. A red grape grown in Argentina
B. The head of a crime family in Brooklyn
C. A red grape grown in Mendocino39. Which grape is not successfully grown in Oregon?
A. Pinot Noir
B. Gamay
C. Merlot40. The father of New York State wine is considered to be
A. Dr. Julius No
B. Dr. Konstantin Frank
C. Dr. John41. Which of the following is a Napa Valley appellation?
A. Mount Eden
B. Mount Veeder
C. Mount NapaExtra-Credit Questions
42. Which of the following is the wine made by Francis Ford Coppola?
A. Rubicon
B. Opus One
C. Don Corleone43. Martin Scorsese's favorite wine is
A. Chianti
B. Barolo
C. White Zinfandel44. If movies were ranked according to the Bordeaux classification system, which movie would be a first growth?
A. Citizen Kane
B. Basic Instinct
C. South Park: The Movie45. James Bond's favorite Champagne is
A. Cristal
B. Dom Pérignon
C. Bollinger
D. All of the above
E. B and C
F. A and CExtra credit: Write a one-paragraph description of your favorite wine.
Answers to the Wine Quiz:
1.c; 2.b; 3.a; 4.c; 5.a,b,c; 6.b; 7.d; 8.c; 9.a; 10.b; 11.a; 12.a; 13.a; 14.a;
15.a; 16.c; 17.a; 18.a; 19.b; 20.b; 21.b; 22.b; 23.a; 24.b; 25.b; 26.a;
27.a; 28.b; 29.b; 30.c; 31.a; 32.a; 33.a; 34.a; 35.b; 36.a; 37.a; 38.a; 39.c;
40.b; 41.b; 42.a; 43.a; 44.a; 45.b
HOW DID PETER DO?
Quite respectably. Peter's score of 84 percent (answering 37 out of 45 questions correctly) meant he earned a solid B. "I don't feel bad about that," Peter said. "The only question I missed that really bothers me was the question on hail. Particularly since I spent so much time talking about it." Meanwhile, Peter's description of his favorite wine earned him an A.
"The Hermann Wiemer Riesling from the Finger Lakes region remains one of my earliest and most pleasurable experiences. To the nose, the wine provided a light, tickling sensation that promised great things to come. What it delivered on the palate was even bettera dry (not sweet or sickening as Riesling's reputation would have it) sense of dazzle with surprising fullness and flavor. It finished beautifully, leaving me with a feeling of celebration-the kind you get when you've sampled something extraordinary. A wine with a great start, middle, and ending struck me as exactly what a great movie should be as wella completely satisfying experience."
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