1

Rank of the U.S. as the country that now imports the most Champagne, taking the title from the United Kingdom which has historically been in the number one slot. Last year, 34 million bottles of Champagne were imported into the U.S., a jump of 62% from the year before. While the U.S. imports the most Champagne, the country that drinks the most Champagne is still France itself with a 44% share of the total market.

There is no exact word in French for winemaker.

Answer: True.

It was in France that the fundamental concept of terroir as the dominant factor shaping a wine’s character became pervasive and flourished. Indeed, historically, the French have been so convinced that Nature makes the wine that there has never been an exact French word for winemaker. Instead, the term commonly used, vigneron, portrays man’s role as more humble. Vigneron means “grape grower.”

“We have 90 wines by the glass, typically about 30 rieslings. We offer our guests two sips of riesling, one off-dry and one trocken, then walk away. More than 50 percent of the time, they choose the one with more residual sugar, and that’s great! We want to rock people’s worlds. Tell them stories about who is making the wine and where it came from, not screaming about sugar levels.”

**— Paul Grieco, owner of New York’s Terroir restaurant, as quoted in Science Makes a Mockery of Tasting Notes by Kathleen Willcox (Wine Searcher May 3, 2021)**

1

Get WineSpeed