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Number of years ago that the first winery in Oregon was founded. Richard Sommer, a graduate of the University of California Davis, was the first pioneer to head north to Oregon hoping to find land suitable for cool-climate wine grapes. Despite his peers’ skepticism, Sommer established Hillcrest winery in the Umpqua Valley in 1961. Today, the region has 30 family-owned wineries which cultivate over 40 different grape varieties.

Which wines in the world were the first to collectively be stoppered with screw caps?

A. Australian rieslings from the Clare Valley

B. New Zealand sauvignon blancs from Marlborough

C. Chilean chardonnays from Santiago

D. Italian pinot grigios from the Veneto

As of the 2000 vintage, virtually every riesling in Australia’s Clare Valley was stoppered with a screw cap (technically known as a Stelvin Cap) instead of a cork. While countless upscale wines around the world are now stoppered with screw caps, these were the first to shrug off tradition and forsake cork.

Butler

Curiously, the word butler is thought to have derived from the term bottler. From the time of the Middle Ages through the mid-18th century, the English upper classes bought wine in barrels and then transferred… Continue reading

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