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.

The crop, quinoa, is native to which of the following mountain ranges?

A. The Sierra Nevada Mountains in the U.S.

B. The Atlas Mountains in Africa

C. The Andes Mountains in South America

D. The Ural Mountains in Russia

Quinoa (pronounced kin-WAH) is native to the Andes Mountain region (although today quinoa is grown in more than 70 countries worldwide). According to HuffPost Life, quinoa starts its life as a leafy green stalk that sheds its leaves when the quinoa seed is ready to be harvested. Once the quinoa seeds are separated from the seed heads, they are rinsed to remove the seeds’ bitter coating of saponin, a protectant against natural predators like birds and insects. Quinoa is then shipped to supermarkets all over the world—to be consumed in salads and veggie burgers alike.

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The number of years that the Italian wine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva must to be aged before its release. The name Brunello (dialect for “the nice dark one”) is derived from the sangiovese clones used to produce the… Continue reading

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