Trivia – France

Question 1

Bordeaux vintages

• hot and dry
• frost

Answer 1

Hot and dry

• 2003
• 2005
• 2016

Frost

• 1956
• 1991
• 2017

Question 2

Name of forest on left bank of Bordeaux

Answer 2

Landes

Question 3

Names of rivers in Bordeaux

Answer 3

Garonne and Dordogne both flow into Gironde

Question 4

Left bank Bordeaux soils

Answer 4

gravel ‘croupes’
+ clay, sand, minerals
- well draining, heat retaining

Question 5

Right bank Bordeaux soils

Answer 5

more clay
+ limestone in Pomerol
- higher water-holding capacity, cooler

Question 6

wood ageing for premium Bordeaux

Answer 6

18 to 24 months in barriques

Question 7

training in Bordeaux

Answer 7

Left bank - doube Guyot

Right bank - single Guyot

Question 8

1855 classification Bordeaux

Answer 8

60 chateaux

5 tiers

Question 9

Saint Emilion Classification

Answer 9

Premier Grand Cru Classe A
Premier Grand Cru Classe B
Grand Cru Classe
Grand Cru

Question 10

Cru Bourgeois du Medoc classification

Answer 10

level below Cru Classe, awarded annually to individual wines

Cru Bourgeois
Cru Bourgeois Superieur
Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel

Question 11

La Place de Bordeaux

Answer 11

Estate/Cooperative

Broker/Courtier 2%

Negociant 15%

Wholeseller

Retailer

Customer

Question 12

Anjou and Touraine soils

Answer 12

sand, gravel, clay, limestone

Question 13

Sancerre soils

Answer 13

Caillottes 
  - shallow soil over limestone
 - aromatic, less ageworthy
Terres Blanches
 - limestone + marl
 - structured, need time
Silex 
 - flint
 - accumulates heat, mineral, smoky

Question 14

River flowing through Loire Valley

Answer 14

Layon

Question 15

Training system req by AOC in Alsace

Answer 15

Guyot

Question 16

Sweet styles in Alsace

Answer 16

Vendage Tardive (no botrytis req)

Selection de Grains Nobles (higher RS req)

• Muscat, Riesling (lower RS), Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer

Question 17

Chablis soils

Answer 17

Petit Chablis
- Portlandian soils - hard limestone and clay

Chablis
- Kimmeridgian soil - limestone/clay with fossilized sea shells

Grand Cru
- crumbly marl with clay

Question 18

Training in Chablis

Answer 18

Double Guyot

- if one cane dies due to frost

Question 19

Hills creating Burgundy

Answer 19

Morvan Hills

Question 20

River flowing through Chablis

Answer 20

Serein

Question 21

Training in Burgundy

Answer 21

Cordon - Cordon de Royat - lower vigour, a lot of wood

Traditionally Guyot

Modern - Poussard-Guyot - same sap route (less wounds)

Question 22

Barrels used in Burgundy

Answer 22

Piece 228l

or 500-600l barrels

Question 23

Cap management techniques in Burgundy

Answer 23

Remontage (pump over)

Pigeage (punch down)

Question 24

Beaujolais soils

Answer 24

fast draining granite, schist and sand

Question 25

River in Beaujolais

Answer 25

Saone

Question 26

Pruning in Beaujolais

Answer 26

short - lower vigour, Mistral protection

Question 27

Beaujolais Nouveau

Answer 27

third Thursday of November

High SO2, bottles 3-5 days after ferment stops

Question 28

Wind affecting Beaujolais, Rhone and Provence

Answer 28

Mistral

Question 29

Wind affecting Alsace and Jurancon

Answer 29

Fohn

Question 30

Training in Northern Rhone

Answer 30

Single or doube Guyot

tied to poles ‘echalas’

Question 31

Soils of Chateauf-du-Pape

Answer 31

limestone, clay, sand, pebbles ‘galetes roules’

Question 32

Training in Southern Rhone

Answer 32

mostly bush vines - ideal for Grenache

Question 33

Rhone hierarchy AOC

Answer 33

Cotes du Rhone AOC
Cotes du Rhone Villages AOC
Cotes du Rhone Villages AOC + village name
Individual Cru

Question 34

Wind affecting Languedoc

Answer 34

Tramontane

- dry and cold (200 days a year)