13,500

The approximate number of wine glasses used last weekend at Auction Napa Valley. The auction is organized by the Napa Valley Vintners (and 400 volunteers) to support community health and children’s education. The glasses were put to good use as auction attendees sipped some of Napa Valley’s finest wines and raised $14.3 million for charity.

The entire cucina (cooking repertoire) of Tuscany is said to revolve around this one essential food. What is it?

A. Polenta

B. Tomatoes

C. Balsamic Vinegar

D. Beans

Tuscan cooking is some of the humblest in Italy—it’s poor people’s cuisine. The entire cucina of Tuscany is said to revolve around beans; they are commonplace in scores of regional recipes. When other Italians want to be derogatory, they call the Tuscans by their age-old nickname: mangiafagioli, “bean eaters.”

“The efforts to demystify and simplify [wine] never ring true because they ignore the fact that wine by its nature is mystifying and complicated. These qualities can be embraced and celebrated without suggesting that they require mastering, but that would force us to think and talk about wine in a different sort of way, as a food staple to be enjoyed rather than as a symbol of status or as a ‘lifestyle.’”

—Eric Asimov, The New York Times, July 16, 2018

13,500

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