Ladies of the Night (Harvest)

Most of us know it as a black-currant liqueur which, when added to white wine, makes a drink called a Kir. But Cassis, the liqueur, has nothing to do with Cassis, the wine region. A tiny but popular appellation of Provence, France, Cassis is a small fishing village a few miles southeast of Marseille. Stories are told about how the prostitutes of Marseille, in times past, helped pick the grapes at harvest. Surrounding the fishing village are the vineyards, fewer than 400 acres in all. Most of the wine is mouthfilling dry white, made principally from clairette and marsanne grapes.

Hock, the British nickname for Rhine wine, is named after the famous village of Hochheim in Germany. In which of the following regions is Hochheim located?

A. Mosel

B. Rheingau

C. Rheinhessen

D. Mittelrhein

Hochheim (pronounced HOE-hime) is located in Germany’s famous region known as the Rheingau. At first, hock implied a wine from Hochheim. Later, it came to mean any Rheingau wine; and later still, any Rhine wine. England’s Queen Victoria is credited with the line, “A bottle of hock keeps off the doc.”

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Percentage of the world’s riesling grapes that are grown in Germany. With over 58,800 acres, Germany is home to the world’s largest vineyard area dedicated to that country’s famous white grape. Historical records indicate that… Continue reading

Ladies of the Night (Harvest)

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