12

Standard number of bottles in a case of wine. Surprisingly, no one seems to know why. Perhaps it’s because a dozen is thought to be one of the most primitive groupings: 12 apostles, months in the year, inches in a foot, Zodiac signs in the night sky, pairs of ribs in the human body, eggs in a carton. But the twelve-bottle wine case may soon be a memory. Several European countries have banned them as being too heavy and potentially injurious—replacing them with 6-packs.

What country exports the most cheese worldwide?

A. Germany

B. Italy

C. France

D. Canada

You would have thought that France or Italy would have this one locked up. But according to the most recent data on Statista, Germany was the top exporter of cheese globally. In 2021, Germany’s cheese exports had a value of $5.4 billion, followed by the Netherlands with $4.6 billion dollars in cheese exports. I guess the savvy French and Italians keep much of the good fromage and formaggio for themselves.

“Perhaps the nearest I come to gluttony is with wine. As often as possible, when a really beautiful bottle is before me, I drink all of it I can, even when I know that I have had more than I want physically. That is gluttonous.
But I think to myself, when again will I have this taste upon my tongue? Where else in the world is there just such a wine as this, with just this bouquet, at just this heat, in just this crystal cup? And when again will I be alive to it as I am this very minute, sitting here on the green hillside above the sea, or here in this dim, murmuring, richly odorous restaurant, or here in this fisherman’s café on the wharf? More, more I think—all of it to the last exquisite drop, for there is no satiety for me, nor ever has been in such drinking.”

**—M.F.K. Fischer, An Alphabet for Gourmets, 1949.
Fisher lived in the Sonoma Valley for much of her life.**

12

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