The wine quiz has twelve true-false questions. See how much you know about wine. (The answers to the wine quiz are at the bottom of the page.)

Wine Quiz

1. Red grapes can make white wine. True or False?

2. Wines get darker as they age. True or False?

3. Poor soil tends to produce better wines than fertile soil. True or False?

4. The largest cork tree in the world is in France

5. British wine is another name for English wine. True or False?

6. People still sometimes crush grapes by walking on them. True or False?

7. The alcohol contents of a typical glass of dinner wine, can of beer, or spirits liquor drink are virtually identical. True or False?

8. Because of its alcohol content, wine has more calories than the same amount of grape juice. True or False?

9. The wine with the fewest calories is dry. True or False?

10. There’s a difference between organic wine and wine made with organic grapes. True or False?

11. The French invented sparkling wine. True or False?

12. Cork has been used to seal wine containers since early Roman times. True or False?

Popular Resources on Wine

• Button, R. and Oliver, M. Wine – 101 Truths, Myths and Legends. Luton, Eng: Andrews.
• Frost, A. Through a Sparkling Glass. An A-Z of the Wonderland of Wine. Richmond, Vic: Hardie.
• Lock, J. Wine Wars. A Trivia Game for Wine Geeks and Wannabes. San Francisco: Chron.
• Quinlan, E. et al. Wine Trivia. Boston: Quinlan.
• Rosano, D. Wine Froth. A Heady Collection of Wine Quips, Quotes, Tips and Trivia. Board & Bench.

Answers to Wine Quiz

1. True. The juice of grapes is rather clear. To make white wine from red grapes, the juice is quickly removed from the crushed grapes. Otherwise, the red skins would color the wine red.

2. False. As it ages white wine gets darker. But red wine gets lighter as it ages.

3. True. The resulting grapes are fewer but have more character.

4. False. The largest cork tree in the world (the Whistler) is in Portugal. It averages over one ton of raw cork per harvest every nine yeas. That’s enough to cork 100,000 bottles.

5. False. British wine isn’t the same thing as English wine. British wine is made from imported grape juice concentrate. English wine is made from grapes grown in England. And Welch wine is from Wales-grown grapes.

6. True. People still sometimes crush grapes by walking on them (‘foot treading’). They typically do so in producing a small quantity of the most expensive port wines.

7. True. The alcohol contents in a typical glass of dinner wine, can of beer, or spirits liquor drink are virtually identical. It’s about six-tenths of one ounce of absolute or “pure” alcohol.

8. False. In fact, most alcoholic drinks have fewer calories than most non-alcoholic beverages. Learn more at Alcohol, Calories & Weight.

9. True. Sweet wines contain more sugar and more calories than dry wines.

A Complicated Answer

10. True. There’s a difference between organic wine and wine made with organic grapes. Wines labeled organic wine must be made with certified organically grown grapes. And they must have no organically prohibited substances (such as sulfites) added to the wine.

Because sulfites naturally occur during fermentation, wine will normally contain them. But to be labeled organic, the content must below 20 parts per million.

A wine labeled made with organic grapes or made with organically grown grapes can include added sulfites. A wine can claim, ‘Sulfite Free’ or ‘ No Added Sulfites – Contains Naturally Occurring Sulfites.’ But if sulfites are added and they are above 10 parts per million, it must say, ‘Contains Sulfites.’

This is starting to get confusing. But there’s more.

A wine with Sulfite Free on its label must contain no detectable sulfites. However, there is debate whether it is possible for any wine to have no sulfite. Federal rules permit any organic category to “claim to be Sulfite Free or have No Added Sulfites. But the 100% Organic and Organic categories must meet one of these criteria. The Made with Organic Ingredients and Some Organic Ingredients categories may or may not have added sulfites.”

Now we know. Or do we?

Another Complicated Answer!

11. False. The French did not invent sparkling wine.

The English produced the first sparkling wine. The English imported still (non-sparkling) from the Champagne region and stored it in cellars over the winter. There it underwent a secondary fermentation.

The English preferred bubbles in their wine. However, the French considered them to be an undesirable defect. They tried to prevent them.15

In spite of the popular myth, Dom Perignon didn’t invent sparkling wine. That myth began with ads published around the beginning of the 20th century for a Champagne company. That company produces, what else, Dom Perignon.

To take advantage of its popularity, Dom Perignon began to improve sparkling wine. He used strong bottles and developed a strong closure system. This helped contain the powerful buildup of pressure within the bottles. He also experimented with blending the contents.

12. False. The Greeks and Romans used a layer of olive oil. The French used oil-soaked rags to seal wine bottles. It wasn’t until the 1780s that corks came into common use to seal wine bottles. Of course, this made bottle aging possible fot the first time.

Hope you did great on the wine quiz. Now see how well your friends do!