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The number of bottles of wine Karen is bringing on board the SilverSea’s ship Silver Spirit this summer. During the cruise, Karen will share these wines with a private group of wine lovers. Want to sip with Karen while sailing the Mediterranean? Learn more here.

What is the name of the scale used to measure the spiciness of peppers?

A. The Dorian Scale

B. The Scoville Scale

C. The Richter Scale

D. The Beaufort Scale

The Scoville scale measures the amount of spiciness or “heat” in chili peppers, in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Scoville Heat Units are assigned based on how much dilution is required for the “burn” of a chili to no longer be sensed by taste testers. This point of dilution is determined when oil extracted from the dried chili is diluted with sugar water to a certain concentration level. If a pepper rates 5,000 SHU, this pepper must be diluted 5,000 times before its heat is no longer detectable. Bell peppers rate between 0 and 100 on the SHU scale whereas serrano peppers rate between 10,000 and 25,000 Scoville Heat Units. The scale goes even higher— where ghost peppers earn 750,000 to 1.5 million SHU and the mysteriously named Pepper X rates 1.5 to 3 million SHU making it one of the hottest chilis on the planet.

Fumé Blanc

Fumé Blanc is one of the widespread synonyms for sauvignon blanc and widely used in California (blanc fumé is another). This is purely a synonym; and it’s not true that as a group, wines labeled… Continue reading

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