Wine~Works
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Fun Facts About Wine: Fun Trivia for Your Next Wine Tasting Event
Are you wondering how to get the conversations flowing at your next wine tasting event?
A great way to get conversations started at a wine party is to prepare a list of fun facts. This creates a light conversation. Your wine enthusiast guests will surely pitch in, and the newcomers will find it interesting.
Read on for some random fun facts about wine, and use them at your next wine tasting event.
1. The term "aroma" is used to refer to the smell of young wine. The smell of a more mature wine is called "bouquet".
2. Ancient Greek party hosts would take the first sip of wine to show their guests that the drink is not poisoned.
3. The practice of "toasting" was started by ancient Romans. They would drop a piece of toasted bread into their glass of wine to buffer too much acidity and unpleasant tastes.
4. In the Old Testament of the Bible, only one book made no reference to wine. That is the Book of Jonas.
5. Red wines get their color from the grape skins which are included in the fermentation. White wines are white because the skins are removed before they are fermented.
6. The world’s oldest bottle of wine was found inside a Roman sarcophaguse, located near Speyer, Germany. The wine dates back to A.D. 325 and is now displayed at the town's Historisches Museum der Pfalz.
7. The world's top 10 wine producers are: Italy, France, Spain, United States, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Chile and Portugal.
8. After the US Constitution was drafted, the 55 men who wrote it celebrated with a party. The alcohol bill included 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of Bordeaux, eight bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of port, eight bottles of hard cider, 12 beers and seven bowls of alcohol punch that were said to be large enough that “ducks could swim in them.”
9. The Code of Hammurabi, written around 1800 BC, punished fraudulent wine sellers by drowning them in a river.
10. There is a theory that poisoned wine may have helped bring down the ancient Roman empire. Romans started adding lead because it helped preserve the wine and added a sweetness to it. Lead poisoning is said to be one of the causes of the decline of Rome.
11. In 1922, Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened and wine jars discovered to be buried alongside the pharaoh. The jars were labeled with the year, name of the winemaker and descriptions about the quality of the wine. The labels were detailed enough to comply with the wine label laws of some countries today.
12. If a wine tastes watery or "dilute", the grapes used were probably picked during a rainstorm.
13. Dumb vs Numb: A "dumb" wine refers to wine that has no odor, but may develop pleasing odor in the future. A "numb" wine has no odor, nor has the possibility of producing a pleasing odor in the future.
14. European wines are named after the geographical locations where they originate. Non- European wines are usually named after grape varieties.
15. The English word “wine” is probably from the Semitic yayin (meaning, lamentation and wailing). In Arabic, the word is wain, in Greek it is oinos, and in the Romance languages it is vin, vino, vina, vinho.
Make your wine tasting event more colorful with these conversation starters, or call Wine Works today for more professional help at your party.
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All the girls loved it and most were quite giggly by its conclusion. Look forward to the next one!
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It was a fantastic experience and great to do something different. And, most importantly, my brother had a great time’
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We were absolutely delighted to be chosen to host Hagar’s Charity Fundraising event in Central London! Lots of fun and importantly…lots of money raised for a very good cause!
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Hagar Charity EventThank you for a well-organised and entertaining event last week at Luton Hoo. We had much fun and I thought you handled the crowd of “would-be-wine-boffins” very well.
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100 VoucherThe Wine Guy says...
"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."
"I should say upfront that I have never been in a cellar in my life. In fact, I can see no reason why anyone should ever go into a cellar unless there is wine involved."
"Beer is made by men, wine by God."
"Wine gladdens the heart of man."
"Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages."
"In wine, there's truth."
"High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water."
"This is one of the disadvantages of wine, it makes a man mistake words for thoughts."
"If we sip the wine, we find dreams coming upon us out of the imminent night"
"Give me wine to wash me clean of the weather stains of cares"
"Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile"
"Wine enters through the mouth, Love, the eyes. I raise the glass to my mouth, I look at you,I sigh."
"Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized."
"Wine is like the incarnation--it is both divine and human"
"Wine makes all things possible."
"Sir, I did not count your glasses of wine, why should you number up my cups of tea?"
"Wine can be a better teacher than ink, and banter is often better than books"
"Life's too short to drink cheap wine..."
"The first kiss and the first glass of wine are the best."
"A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover"
"I prefer my water in wine form."
"White wine is like electricity. Red wine looks and tastes like a liquified beefsteak."
"Great wine works wonders and is itself one"
"To take wine into our mouths is to savour a droplet of the river of human history"
"Wine gives one 'ideas,' whereas champagne gives one 'strategies."
"Men are like wine-some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age."
"Most days I juggle everything quite well, on the other days there's always red wine."
"There is truth in wine, but you never see it listed in the ingredients on the label"
"Always carry a corkscrew and the wine shall provide itself."
"Wine is like the incarnation-it is both divine and human."
"Wine improves with age. The older I get the more I like it."
"Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant, unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine."
"My only regret in life is that I did not drink enough Champagne."
"Consuming wine in moderation daily will help people to die young as late as possible."
"Wine is the thinking person's health drink."
"Wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, makes weariness forget his toil"
"The wine cup is the little silver well, where truth, if truth there be, doth dwell"
"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance"
"Good wine is a necessity of life for me"
"Champagne is one of the elegant extras in life"
"I drink Champagne when I win, to celebrate and I drink Champagne when I lose, to console myself"
"God made water, but man made wine"
"Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy"
"Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures"
"A bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in the retrospect"
"Like human beings, a wine's taste is going to depend a great deal on its origins and its upbringing"
"Compromises are for relationships, not wine"
"Language is wine upon the lips"
"Wine is wonderful stuff, but so many people are put off by the snobbery of it"
"I'm only drinking white wine because I'm on a diet and I don't eat"
"Wine has been with civilised man since the beginning"
"Whenever a man is tired, wine is a great restorer"
"Wine rejoices the heart of man and joy is the mother of all virtues"
"A waltz and a glass of wine invite an encore"
"Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing."
"Good wine carrieth a man to heaven"
"Drink wine, and you will sleep well. Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin, and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wine and be saved."
"A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine."
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