Wine Factoids

rp_ColorLogo_vectorized-300x29811-150x1501111-e1440112760690.jpgWe have survived another St Patrick’s Day, so, with respect.  The Irish believe that fairies are extremely fond of good wine. The proof of the assertion is that in the olden days royalty would leave a keg of wine out for them at night. Sure enough, it was always gone in the morning. – Irish Folklore

There are about 400 species of oak, though only about 20 are used in making oak barrels. Of the trees that are used, only 5% is suitable for making high grade wine barrels. The average age of a French oak tree harvested for use in wine barrels is 170 years!

75 grapes = 1 cluster
1 grape cluster = 1 glass
4 clusters = 1 bottle
40 clusters = 10 bottles = 1 vine
30 vines = 1200 clusters = 1 barrel
1 barrel = 60 gallons
60 gallons = 25 cases
400 vines = 1 acre
1 acre = 5 tons
5 tons = 332 cases
As we are being inundated with US politics it might be noted that the bill for a celebration party for the 55 drafters of the US Constitution was for 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 8 bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of port, 8 bottles of hard cider, 12 beers and seven bowls of alcohol punch large enough that “ducks could swim in them.”

The Manhattan cocktail (whiskey and sweet vermouth) was invented by Winston Churchill’s mother.

In the 1600’s thermometers were filled with brandy instead of mercury.

The longest recorded champagne cork flight was 177 feet and 9 inches, four feet from level ground at Woodbury Vineyards in New York State.  Marcel, are you up for trying this record?
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In ancient Babylon, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead (fermented honey beverage) he could drink for a month after the wedding. Because their calendar was lunar or moon-based, this period of free mead was called the “honey month,” or what we now call the “honeymoon.”

How big can a wine bottle get?
Capacity (Liters) followed by the number of standard size bottles contained:
Standard (.75)  1
Magnum (1.5)  2
Jeroboam (3)  4
Rehoboam (4.5)  6
Methuselah (6)  8
Salmanazar (9)  12
Balthazar (12)  16
Nebuchadnezzar (15)  20

Thomas Jefferson’s salary was $25,000 per year – a princely sum, but the expenses were also great. In 1801 Jefferson spent $6,500 for provisions and groceries, $2,700 for servants (some of whom were liveried), $500 for Lewis’s salary, and $3,000 for wine.”  I like Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira and Château d’Yquem

Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this that bottles were lain down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

From:  http://www.800wine.com/winefacts.cfm