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Age (in years) of a scuppernong grapevine thought to be the oldest vine in North America. Called “Mother Vine,” it’s located on North Carolina’s Roanoke Island and was probably planted either by Native Americans or an early colony of settlers on the island who mysteriously disappeared in 1590. The vine’s trellised canes stretch 30 feet by 120 feet.

In Bordeaux, a second wine is:

A. a wine that is classified between the First Growths and the Third Growths

B. a wine that is re-released several years after the initial release

C. a special, usually extremely expensive, wine produced by a château

D. a wine produced by a château that is less expensive than the château’s grand vin

To make the best possible wine (known as the grand vin), a top château will blend together only its very finest lots of wine from the most mature and well-sited vineyard plots. What happens to all the other wine? In many cases, the château makes a second wine, which will be less expensive and will have its own brand name and its own distinct label. (A second wine has nothing to do with a Second Growth). Some of the best known second wines include Carruades de Lafite-Rothschild (from Château Lafite-Rothschild), Château Haut-Bages-Averous (from Château Lynch-Bages), Le Petit Cheval (from Château Cheval Blanc), and Les Forts de Latour (from Château Latour).

Wine … changing even as we taste it, delivers a message with meaning only in our response. If we are in the right key when we receive it, our eyes will shine and we shall radiate pleasure.

—Gerald Asher
American writer, The Pleasures of Wine

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