Txakoli (sha-ko-LEE)

Txakoli is made from the indigenous white grape called hondurrabi zuri. Zuri means white in Basque; hondurrabi is a village near the French border. Dry as a bone, and extremely sleek on the palate, txakoli is often slightly carbonated and is served in a unique manner called “breaking.” To break txakoli, the wine is poured from a height of several feet into a little tumbler glass (splashing some on the floor seems to be SOP). The flight through air is said to open up the txakoli and make it smell and taste more vivid.

Vermouth was first created in England as an inexpensive liquor meant to be an after-dinner treat.

Answer: False.

The martini would be nowhere without Italy’s Piedmont region, where vermouth was first created and commercially sold in the 1700s. Vermouth is a red or white wine that has been infused with a secret blend of more than a hundred aromatic spices, barks, bitter herbs, and flavorings, such as angelica, anise, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, quinine, rhubarb, and saffron. Before it was banned in the early 20th century, wormwood was also added (vermouth comes from the German word wermut, or “wormwood.”) After the wine is infused, it is then fortified to raise the alcohol content to 15-21 percent. While red vermouth is generally sweet, its white counterpart can be dry or semisweet.

3

The number of square-dancing groups in the Napa Valley in 1972. Square-dancing was an important form of local entertainment, especially since the valley had just three restaurants (and an ice cream stand) at the time.

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