Hi John: the tried-and-true method for chilling Champagne quickly (in less than 20 minutes) is to place the bottle in a slushy “bath” of ice and cold water. Make sure the bottle is submerged up to its neck in the ice water bath. You can accelerate the process even faster by adding a handful of salt to the water. Salt depresses the freezing point of the mixture so that the temperature of the ice bath gets even colder. By the time you get out some wine glasses and turn on some music, the Champagne will be ready!

—Karen

Hi Mark: In Burgundy, the term domaine is not exactly equivalent to the term château in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, a château is a single estate composed of vineyards surrounding a building or house that is sometimes quite palatial. In Burgundy, a domaine is a collection of very small vineyard parcels owned by the same family or entity (Domaine Dujac, Domaine Leflaive, and so on). Usually, these parcels are scattered throughout many villages and appellations, and the domaine will make a separate wine from each. Thus, a typical Burgundian domaine produces many wines, all in tiny quantities. As of 2020, there were more than 3,500 domaines in Burgundy.

—Karen

Hi, Joseph. Conjunctive labeling is a type of labeling whereby a small appellation within a large appellation must also list the large appellation on the label. In some regions, conjunctive labeling is mandated by law. In Napa Valley, for example, small appellations such as Stags Leap District and Oakville must also add the words “Napa Valley” to the label. The intent of conjunctive labeling is to guard against small appellations becoming more prominent than the region within which they lie. By comparison, there is no conjunctive labeling law in Bordeaux. Indeed, no First Growth Bordeaux has the word “Bordeaux” on its front label.

—Karen

Hi, Sarah. Appassimento is the Italian word for the process of dehydrating harvested grapes by spreading out the clusters on straw mats or shelving or hanging them up in special, cool drying rooms. The process, which can take several months, raisinates the grapes and concentrates the sugars in them. Several notable wines of Italy’s Veneto region are made this way, including the dry wine amarone and the sweet wine recioto di Valpolicella.

—Karen

Yes Paul, clos is the French term for an enclosed or walled vineyard. Clos St. Hune in Alsace and Clos de Vougeot in Burgundy are examples. Often the physical walls of the clos no longer exist, but the history and the name of the vineyard remain with the wine.

—Karen

Acidity gives wine a dynamic pulse. It’s what accounts for a wine’s liveliness, snappiness, and freshness. Acidity also frames the fruit and gives the wine a sense of precision and clarity. When high acid white wines are paired with proteins such as chicken and fish, the acidity can really cut through the flesh and fat in every bite, leaving the mouth refreshed and salivating for more.

The so-called three-tier system can be thought of as the overall architecture for alcoholic beverage sales in the United States. The system—convoluted and confusing—separates producers, wholesalers, and retailers. The result is a complex patchwork of rules which individual states enact and enforce. The three-tier system was instituted at the end of Prohibition in 1933. In ceding control to the states, the federal government sidestepped the controversial and volatile issue of how alcoholic beverages should/could be sold. The result has been an enormous spectrum of varying approaches, from states with relatively liberal policies to states with constrictive retail monopolies.

Hi Tyler, great question. The fermentation in which yeasts convert sugar in grapes to alcohol is technically called the primary fermentation. Malolactic fermentation is often referred to as a “second fermentation.” It’s conducted by bacteria which convert malic acid to lactic acid. So the key question is: what is fermentation exactly?

We posed this question to Napa Valley winemaker Cathy Corison (Corison winery) who responded:  “Fermentation is the conversion of one compound to another by a microbe. Even chocolate production involves a fermentation! Malolactic is one of many lactic fermentations that are responsible for cheese, pickles and yogurt, among many other things.” So there you have it. Malolactic fermentation IS indeed a fermentation.—Karen

Good question, Sheila. The British often call red Bordeaux “claret.” The word comes from the French clairet, which originally referred to a light red wine (to distinguish it from Port). Today, of course, the top red Bordeaux are anything but light in color or in body. The late wine writer Steven Spurrier suggested that “elegance,” “fragrance of bouquet,” and “lift” were defining characteristics of good claret.

—Karen

Very good question Quinn. Certain types of light can definitely affect aging and long-term wine quality. Ultraviolet light can damage wine overtime breaking down certain molecular structures causing wines to age prematurely. A wine damaged by light is said to be “lightstruck,” and it will taste dull and flat. To avoid light-strike, most red wines are bottled in darker brown or green glass. Red wines of course are generally aged longer than white and rosé wines and therefore need protection from UV exposure. LED lighting is best for wine storage areas since LED lights emit very low levels of light and radiation in comparison to other types of light.                                                                          —Karen

Dear Tina and Collin, Well, you’ve put your finger on a very interesting issue. By law, wine producers must list the amount of alcohol a wine contains on the wine’s label. Most wines contain somewhere between 12.5 and 15 percent. But if you were hoping to use the percentage listed as, say, a guide to drinking at the lower end of the spectrum, you’re a bit out of luck. To begin with, wineries sometimes need to print their labels (which list the alcohol level) even before a wine has even been made. Second, enforcement in both Europe and the United States is not particularly stringent allowing winemakers to estimate (and often understate) the alcohol and be done with it. But, in the United States, even for producers who adhere strictly to the rules, the rules themselves have considerable wiggle room. In the U.S. wines containing 14% or less alcohol, can be labeled plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. So that light, elegant wine you bought which was labeled 12.5 percent alcohol could actually contain 14 percent. For wines over 14 percent alcohol, a 1 percent variance is allowed. So a wine labeled 14.5 percent alcohol, could actually contain 15.5 percent. No wine (except for fortified wines) is ever over about 16.5 percent alcohol because at that concentration, yeasts die from the very alcohol they are making, preventing them from making more.

—Karen