I picked up a copy of a national magazine this morning and found an interesting new wine fact "330 million" is the approximate number of cases of wine bought in the US in 2010, making it the first time that the United States is the largest wine-consuming nation; beating out the French which consume 321 million cases.
So armed with this new found knowledge, I went on an internet quest to find out some other obscure wine facts:
Q. How many varieties of wine grapes exist worldwide?
A. over 10,000 varieties.
Q. Among the world's fruit crops, where do wine grapes rank in number of acres planted?
A. Number One
Q. What are the top three U.S. states in terms of wine consumption?
A. CA, NY, FLQ. What percentage of legal-aged Americans contacted in a Nielson phone survey drink wine?
A. 55%
Dom Perignon (1638-1715), the Benedictine Abbey (at Hautvillers) cellar master who is generally credited with “inventing” the Champagne making process, was blind.
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.
The average age of a French oak tree harvested for use in wine barrels is 170 years!
In February 2003, a wine bar would open in Dallas, Texas with a name inspired by the Roy Orbison song "Oh, Pretty Woman"
Oh....wait a minute.... I knew that one.
Mike Castagne
Operations Manager
