January 12, 2018

What percentage of the world’s oak is suitable to be made into wine barrels?

A. 65%

B. 15%

C. 2%

D. 40%

According to Groupe Charlois, one of the world’s leading stave-makers, a mere 2% of the worlds’ oak is suitable to be planed into staves that will ultimately be assembled to make wine barrels. Those staves, by the way, come from just the heart of the tree.

Ashes & Diamonds

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that umlauts scare away American wine lovers. For whatever reason, bottles with labels bearing those diacritical points, floating above terms like spätlese or grapes called spätburgunder or müller-thurgau or places named Würzburg or Württemberg, are a turnoff for so many English-speaking consumers. Let it be said, then, that I am somewhat out of step with my fellow Americans. Though I speak almost no German, I love wines with umlauts. And I go to significant lengths to seek them out.”

–Jason Wilson, How German Wine Found Its Sweet Spot, The Washington Post, September 5, 2019

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