Wine Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which sensation is most directly associated with tannins in wine?
A warming feeling in the throat
A fizzy or prickling feeling on the tongue
A sweet coating on the lips
A drying, gripping feeling in the mouth
2. Which grape variety is especially associated with high acidity and aromas that can include lime, green apple, and petrol as the wine ages?
Riesling
Grenache
Merlot
Gewürztraminer
3. You are serving a delicate white wine and a powerful, full-bodied red at the same tasting. Which order best preserves your ability to notice the subtler wine?
Serve the red first because darker wines always come first
Alternate between them after every sip
Serve the delicate white before the full-bodied red
Mix small amounts of both wines before tasting
4. You want to store an unopened bottle for several months. Which location is generally the best choice?
A cool, dark place with a stable temperature
A car trunk with regular temperature changes
A bright shelf above a kitchen stove
A sunny windowsill in an air-conditioned room
5. A newly opened bottle smells strongly of damp cardboard or a musty basement. Which fault is the best match?
Excessive carbonation
Tartrate crystallization
Cork taint
Normal bottle sediment
6. A young table wine that should taste fresh appears unusually brown and smells like bruised apple after prolonged air exposure. What process is the likely cause?
Secondary fermentation
Oxidation
Cork taint
Tartrate formation
7. In the traditional method of sparkling-wine production, where does the fermentation that creates the bubbles occur?
In an open vat before the base wine is made
Inside the individual bottle
Inside the grape before harvest
Only after the finished wine is poured into a glass
8. In most red-wine production, where does the wine’s red color primarily come from?
The grape seeds release red juice when crushed
Oak barrels naturally dye the wine red
Pigments are extracted from dark grape skins
Yeast produces red pigment during fermentation
9. During alcoholic fermentation, what do yeasts primarily convert grape sugar into?
Water and mineral salts
Tannins and color pigments
Acetic acid and oxygen
Alcohol and carbon dioxide
10. An older red wine has visible sediment in the bottle. What is the most useful reason to decant it carefully?
To increase its residual sugar
To separate the clear wine from the sediment
To lower its alcohol content
To restore carbon dioxide lost during aging
11. A creamy, rich dish feels heavy after several bites. Which wine characteristic can help refresh the palate?
High tannin without acidity
Pronounced sweetness
Bright acidity
Strong oak flavor
12. How do many rosé wines acquire their pink color?
White wine is matured for a long time in new oak
Red grapes are fermented without their skins
Clear wine is exposed to oxygen until it turns pink
Dark grape skins remain with the juice for a short time
13. A spicy dish makes a high-alcohol wine taste noticeably hotter. Which alternative is most likely to create a gentler pairing?
A more tannic wine with the same alcohol level
A lower-alcohol wine with some fruitiness or sweetness
A higher-alcohol wine with less fruit character
A heavily oaked wine served warm
14. A white wine is served extremely cold and seems less aromatic than expected. What is the most likely explanation?
Very low temperatures can mute aromas and flavors
Cold temperatures immediately increase oxidation
Chilling converts residual sugar into alcohol
Cold temperatures remove acidity from the wine
15. When a table wine is described as “dry,” what does that usually mean?
It contains little perceptible residual sugar
It creates a strongly drying sensation from tannins
It has a higher-than-average alcohol level
It was made only from sun-dried grapes
16. What distinguishes a fortified wine from an ordinary table wine?
It must be aged exclusively in new oak barrels
Water is removed by freezing the finished wine
It is always carbonated before bottling
A distilled spirit is added during production