Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA)

A broad category of basic everyday wine under German law. QbA wines must come from one of the official 13 wine-growing regions (Anbaugebiete), and the region must be shown on the label. QbA wines are made from grapes that have attained only a low level of ripeness, though there must be at least enough sugar in the grapes to produce a wine with 7% alcohol by volume. Chaptalization (adding sugar to the unfermented grape juice to boost the body and final alcohol level) is permitted and often used. QbA wines range from dry to semi-sweet.

A few hundred years ago, what wine was usually NOT labeled with a paper label?

A. Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

B. Madeira

C. Champagne

D. Chianti Classico

Several hundred years ago, many bottles of vintage Madeira were stenciled, rather than labeled with a paper label. The stenciling was done by hand by older women in the Madeira producers’ lodges. Stenciling was common because the island of Madeira (which is off the African coast) was so poor and isolated, shipments of (expensive) paper from the mainland could not be depended upon. Moreover, paper labels, prone to disintegrate with time or moisture, were less than ideal in Madeira’s humid climate. And when wine was transported, as Madeira was, on sailing ships, paper labels could be easily damaged by water. Stenciling— usually with white paint— was the answer. Today, for aesthetics rather than out of necessity, many of the very top, old Madeiras continue to be stenciled rather than labeled with a paper label.

How’s Your French?

Here are some tips on pronouncing some (often mispronounced) Champagne brand names. Moët et Chandon—Mo-ETTE ay Shan-DON. The “t” in Moët is indeed pronounced. Pol Roger—Paul Roe-ZHAY. Winston Churchill reportedly drank a glass of this… Continue reading

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