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The highest number of points ever awarded by Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate to a sauvignon blanc. The wine, a 1994 Pierre Boullay Sancerre Chavignol, was rated in 1996. Although several chardonnays have received 100 point scores from The Wine Advocate, no sauvignon blanc has yet been thus awarded by the newsletter.

In Greek antiquity, krater, kylix, and kythos were:

A. Vessels for serving and drinking wine

B. Parts of an ancient wine production area where grapes were trodden by foot, pressed, and fermented

C. Types of markings on an amphora, indicating where the grapes were grown, the method by which the wine was made, and the level of quality of the wine

D. Minor gods considered the “children” of Dionysus and assorted goddesses

In Greek antiquity, a krater was a shallow bronze or pottery bowl used to serve wine, which would be poured from an amphora into the krater and from the krater, into a kylix–a shallow, two-handled, often beautifully decorated cup from which wine was drunk. A kythos often helped in this process. It was a ladle used to scoop the wine from the krater into the kylix.

“The minor miracle of wine is that it has evolved to the point where alcohol is perhaps the last element that gets the wine lover drunk. With wine, from a particular place and vintage, we can get drunk on history; anyone who has drunk a great wine twice their age will immediately relate to this. We can get drunk on place, recalling memories and associations with the region in which the wine was made. We can get drunk on remembrance: each wine naturally reminds us of previous occasions when it or similar wines were consumed, and this in turn can evoke countless memories of friends, meals and times past. Of course, wine lovers can get drunk purely on the lifted perfume of a great bottle or the textured, velvety mouthfeel and lingering flavors that scent the breath after swallowing.”

—Robert Walters, “The Wine of Astonishment” The World of Fine Wine, Issue 22

—Robert Walters, “The Wine of Astonishment” The World of Fine Wine, Issue 22

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