97 | WineSpeed | Karen MacNeil

May 6, 2016

97

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.

Tempranillo, the Spanish grape most famous for its starring role in Rioja, has a different name in nearly every region in which it’s grown. Which of the following is not one of tempranillo’s aliases?

A. Ull de llebre

B. Tinta de Toro

C. Tinta barroca

D. Tinta roriz

C.

Tinta barroca, one of the red varieties used in the production of Port is not the same as tempranillo. The rest are. Ull de Llebre (“eye of the hare”) is what tempranillo is called in Penedés region of northeastern Spain. Tinta de Toro is what tempranillo is called near the town of Toro. And tinta roriz is tempranillo’s name in much of northern Portugal. In Spanish, temprano means early; the grape’s name is thought to have originated because tempranillo ripens earlier than garnacha (grenache), its blending partner in much of Spain.

“….it’s not really just the chemistry that makes wine interesting or valuable. There’s a lot more behind the story of wine than chemistry. I know that might be disappointing for some chemists, but the reality is that people love wine. And people love wine not just because of the way it tastes.”

—Andrew Waterhouse
Professor of Viticulture & Enology, University of California at Davis

97

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