A pop quiz to uncork your wine IQ

As you lie in your hammock or sit on the beach with a glass of wine this Fourth of July weekend, take this quiz to test your vino connoisseurship.

If you score 90 percent or better, you can be smug and confident. With a score of 70 to 90, you can fake your way in the wine world. If your score is 50 to 70, start reading www.drvino.com. Below that, take another swig of Domaine Ott and stop fretting.

1.

“Lees” are:

a. The rows of the vineyard away from the wind.

b. A sediment in wine formed by dead yeast cells.

c. The crystals sometimes seen on the bottom of a wine cork.

d. Compacted clay soils.

2.

“Organic” wines are made from fruit that has:

a. No pesticide of any kind.

b. No tillage.

c. Pesticides made from only natural substances.

d. Pesticides made from only organic substances, including sulfur and copper.

3.

“Varietal” wines with the name of the grape on the label must contain what percentage of that grape variety?

a. 75 percent

b. 83 percent

c. Any amount

d. 100 percent

4.

“Biodynamic” viticulture was designed by this man, who never farmed:

a. Jeffrey Steingarten

b. J.J. Rodale

c. Rodolf Steiner

d. Albert Einstein

5.

The amount of alcohol printed on a wine label must be:

a. 100 percent accurate, as tested in an ebulliometer.

b. Accurate within 3 percent

c. Assumed to be within 10 to 14 percent if the words “Table Wine” are on the label.

d. 95 percent accurate, as tested by reverse osmosis.

e. b & c

f. a & d

6.

True or False: Long Island wines are controlled by regional appellation laws similar to the French “Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC).”

7.

The person responsible for introducing proposals to the federal government for Long Island’s American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) was:

a. Richard Olsen-Harbich

b. Kip Bedell

c. Michael Cinque

d. Dan Damianos

8.

After 14 years as winemaker at Raphael in Peconic, this winemaker will soon take on the same role at Bedell Cellars:

a. Dave Thompson

b. Richard Olsen-Harbich

c. Trent Preszler

d. Roman Roth

9.

After lengthy federal debate, the applications for official American Viticultural Regions (AVAs) on Long Island resulted in:

a. No AVAs.

b. Two: Peconic and Long Island

c. Two: The North Fork of Long Island and The Hamptons.

d. Three: The North Fork of Long Island, The Hamptons, and Long Island.

10.

It is illegal in the US to make wine commercially without a license, but a household is allowed to make this much wine per year for its own use:

a. 200 gallons

b. 5 gallons

c. 50 gallons

d. Only corporations, not individuals or households, may make wine.

11.

Constellation Imports, the world’s largest wine and spirits company, is based in:

a. Modesto, California

b. Canandaigua, New York

c. Huntington, Long Island

d. Grand Cayman Island

12.

“Critter” labels are very popular now. This brand with an animal reference is made on Long Island:

a. Wild Boar Doe

b. Goats Do Roam

c. Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush

d. Frog’s Leap

13.

The genetic parents of cabernet sauvignon are:

a. merlot and syrah

b. lagrein and cabernet franc

c. ugni blanc and tresallier

d. cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc

14.

A rough translation of this line in the Burgundian drinking song, “Chevaliers de la Table Ronde” (Knights of the Round Table): “Goutons voire si le vin est bon.”

a. A little dab will do you.

b. Let’s see if this wine is any good.

c. The winemaker cuckholded you.

d. The good wine blinded me.

15.

Acetic acid (vinegar) was named after:

a. Acetes, who rescued Bacchus when he was captured by fishermen.

b. Acetaminophen, which can also damage your liver.

c. Acetobacter, the bugs that change wine into vinegar.

d. Cetophil, which has the same hydrolytic potential.

16.

Most experts agree that the best cheese to serve with a botritized wine is:

a. chêvre

b. cheddar

c. Roquefort

d. Parmesan

17.

The animal on a bottle of Yellow Tail is a:

a. kangaroo

b. wallaby

c. billabong

d. dodo

18.

Among the latest trends in wine consumption is a preference to drink Champagne out of:

a. slippers

b. flutes

c. coupes

d. tulip glasses

19.

One process used to concentrate color and flavor in red wines is called:

a. Saignée

b. Delestage

c. Sur lies

d. Tâché

20.

Technically, the term “dry” when related to wine refers to its:

a. sugar content

b. astringency

c. tannin content

d. pH

Answers: 1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-e, 6-False, 7-a, 8-b, 9-d, 10-a, 11-b, 12-a, 13-d, 14-b, 15-a, 16-c, 17-b, 18-d, 19-a, 20-a.