Color

One of the distinguishing characteristics of wine, color is derived primarily from grape skins. White wines vary from pale straw to greenish yellow to yellow-gold amber; reds from garnet to crimson to brick red to lipstick red to purple. While the color of a wine is a tip-off to its variety (zinfandel is usually purplish in color, for example) and an indication of its age (white wines get darker as they get older; red wines get lighter), color is not a predictor of a wine’s flavor or quality.

Sparkling wines and Champagnes cannot become corked.

Answer: False.

Popular misconception has it that sparkling wines and Champagnes cannot be corked because carbonation inhibits the formation of trichloroanisole (TCA). However, this is not the case. Sparklers can be tainted with TCA, and they can take on the telltale odor that makes wine smell like a wet dog sitting on moldy newspapers in a damp cellar. In fact, according to the French consulting oenologist and TCA expert, Dr. Pascal Chatonnet, TCA is actually easier to smell in sparkling than in still wines. The bubbles have the effect of volatizing the compound, making it smell more pronounced.

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Amount (in millions of U.S. dollars) the USDA recently paid to American table grape farmers to mitigate their financial losses as a result of the U.S./China trade war. Since the beginning of the trade dispute,… Continue reading

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