Astringent

Astringent describes the dry, raspy mouthfeel of a wine with a considerable amount of unripe tannin. Astringency can also be provoked by certain foods, such as unripe walnuts or unripe persimmons. Excess astringency is unpleasant and causes the mouth to pucker.

What famous painting was created in exchange for a vineyard?

A. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

B. Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet

C. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

D. The Scream by Edvard Munch

Not every barter deal works out well. But in 1498, the Duke of Milan, Italy. Ludovico Sforza, probably came out ahead. Sforza offered Leonardo da Vinci, the great artist/scientist/inventor, a small vineyard in return for a painting. Da Vinci, a great wine lover, accepted, and went about painting The Last Supper, which was subsequently hung in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Da Vinci’s vineyard survived until 1943, when it was destroyed by a fire that resulted from Allied bombing in World War II. In 2007, Italian viticulturists and geneticists began excavating the site of the former vineyard, which ironically had been protected by layers of ash and debris. Through DNA testing of the extant roots they found buried there, the scientists determined that da Vinci had grown Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, a white variety still grown in Lombardy.

Astringent

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