A Wine Quiz on Signature Grapes!

Your quizmaster: The Wine Guy

    Back in March of 2010, The Wine Guy did a blog on Wine Trivia.  It has turned out to be one of the most popular blogs I’ve ever posted (2,000+ visits to date and my tracking metrics was off for six months during the past year!).  Several readers have either written or asked if I would do another “wine quiz” usable for the entertainment of their wine-drinking friends.  It will also give astute readers a chance to correct and qualify my responses (no matter, how much you think you know about wine, you always find that there’s something new to learn or even unlearn). 

A vineyard on Canada's Vancouver Island

    Today’s offering is a wine quiz that deals with some well known and some lesser know grape varietals.  The objective of the quiz is to identify the country or region most identified with that varietal.  For the lack of a better term, these are “signature varietals", ones who have come to be closely identified with a particular wine region even though they probably are not limited to that area.  In my answer section, I’ve tried to fill in some the gaps with information I’ve gleaned in my reading and studying about wine.  Please recognize that my comments are probably well short of being the definitive information on these varietals…they reflect only what I’ve learned thus far.   Do feel free to ask, to add info, to comment and do some learning on your own.  Sharing the background and stories associated with wine, as well as the taste, is, after all, is one of the pleasures of sharing wine with good friends.

 O.K. fans, here goes: Match each wine listed below with the country, locale or region with which it is most commonly associated:

1)Zinfandel:

            A: Mexico   B: Croatia  C: California  D: Australia

2) Tannat:

            A: Austria  B: Uruguay  C: Australia  D: South Africa

3) Bonarda:

            A: Argentina  B: Romania  C: Sicily  D: Greece

4) Podkum:

            A: India  B: Israel  C: Malta  D: Thailand

5) Carmenere:

            A: Burgogne  B: Tuscany  C: Portugal  D: Chile

6) Torrontes:

            A: Spain  B: Santorini  C: Argentina  D: Corsica

7) Pinotage:

            A: California  B: Serbia  C: Burgogne  D: South Africa

8)  Norton:

            A: Missouri  B: Virginia  C: Texas   D: All Three

9)  Nero d’Avola:

            A: Provence  B: Sicily  C: Puglia  D: Languedoc-Roussillon

10) Dornfelder:

            A: Hungary  B: Slovakia  C: Alsace  D: Germany

11) Vidal:

             A: Loire Valley  B: Otago, New Zealand C: Canada D: Piedmonte

12)  Furmit:

             A: Hungary   B: Naousa  C: Malta  D: Portugal

13) Brunello:

             A: Tuscany  B: Abruzzo  C: Alto-Adige  D: Barossa Valley

14) Mencia:

             A: Spain  B: Portugal  C: Greece  D: Italy

15) Nebbiolo:

                     A: Cote d’Azur   B: Paso Robles  C: Umbria  D: Piedmonte

 Here are your answers:

  1. Correct answer is “C”.   Although found in some form in all the areas listed, Zinfandel is considered most closely associated with California.   The Californian Zinfandel is directly descended from the Croatian Crljenak Kastelaski and has been found to be genetically identical to Italian Primitivo.

  2. Correct answer is “B”.  Tannat originated and is still utilized in southwest France, mostly as a blending grape, but is considered the national grape of Uruguay where it is the dominant red wine grape after being bought there by Basque settlers.  It can also be found in small amounts in Australia, Brazil, Peru and Italy.

  3. Correct answer is “A”.  Bonarda is Argentina’s number two red grape behind Malbec. It can be found there as a single varietal or as a major player in red blends.  It can also be found in Italy and France where it plays a small role as a blending grape.

  4. Correct answer is “D”.   Podkum was developed in Thailand specifically to grow in their climate.  It is often found there blended with Shiraz.

  5. Correct answer is “D”.  One of the original seven Bordeaux varietals, Carmenere was, for a number of years mis-identified in Chile as Merlot because of its similarity on the wine.  It is much more suitable to the Chilean climate than it ever was to the French Bordeaux region.  It can also be found in Italy and is gaining some usage in Washington and California.

  6. Correct answer is “C”.  Three types of Torrontes are utilized in making Argentina’s number one white wine.  All are considered to be distant relatives of the Mission grape and Muscat Alexandria.  It is believed their usage dates back to Spanish missionaries.  There is a grape called Torrontes in Galicia, Spain that has been found to be unrelated to the Argentine varietals so Torrontes is considered to be virtually unique to Argentina.

  7. Correct answer is “D”.   It has long been considered that this grape was first developed in 1925 at South Africa’s University of Stellenbosch and it is “the” red wine of South Africa.  (A previous comment in this section was in error and deleted.  Thanks to Peter May of The Pinotage Club for his email correcting my error)

  8. Correct answer is “D”.  You may want to give your participants credit if they answered “A”.  Norton is, after all,  the official “State Grape” of Missouri and prior to prohibition Missouri was the number one wine producing state in the U.S. and back then the Norton wine from Missouri won gold in international wine competition.  Today more acreage of Norton is planted in Virginia and the grape is also popular in Texas.

  9.  Correct answer is “B”.   The “black one from Avola” refers to a region in Southern Sicily and this wine has come into its own in its Sicilian bottlings of recent years.  It may be of either Greek or Arab origin.  Sicily has an interesting and varied wine history that dates back to the earliest days of wine trading in the Mediterranean.

  10.  Correct answer is “D”.  A relative latecomer to the German wine scene (it was given varietal protection and released for production by authorities in 1979), this red wine grape has become Germany’s second most planted varietal.  It produces fruity, somewhat sweet red wines and, much as skinless Pinot Noir is utilized in Champagne, Dornfelder is utilized in the German sparkling equivalent “Sekt”.

  11. Correct answer is “C”.  Vidal comes from a cross of Ugni Blanc and Rajon d’Or. It was developed in northern France for utilization in the production of Cognac but it found a home in the cold climate of southern Canada (and also the U.S. Northeast).  It is utilized in producing some fruity floral and crisp dry whites but is most renowned for its role in Canadian Ice Wines.

  12. Correct answer is “A”    Furmit is the key grape varietal utilized in Hungarian Tokaji, considered by many to one of the finest dessert wines produced in the world.  The grape can also be found in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, and Russia.

  13.  Correct answer is “A”.   Brunello is the name applied to Tuscany’s famous Sangiovese Grosso and to the wine, which became Italy’s very first D.O.C.G.

  14.  Correct answer is “A”   Consider giving partial credit, as well to those of your quiz takers who answered “B” since the Portuguese grape known as Jaen has been found to be identical to Mencia.  Mencia can be found in three to four regions in Spain but reaches its best expression in the wines from Bierzo.

  15.  Correct answer is “D”    This noble grape from Italy’s Piedmont region finds its home in  Barolo and Barbaresco wines.  These are considered by some to be Italy’s most prestigious wines.  They are certainly among the most difficult to produce well.  The largest usage of Nebbiolo outside Italy is in northern Baja, Mexico and the wine produced there has garnered some acclaim.  There are also small plantings of this hard to grow grape in Australia and Argentina.

   There’s your quiz, have fun with it.  Hopefully you can find many of these wines and offer them to your quiz takers as part of your fun.  Try having them taste the wines “blind” and then match with the varietals on the quiz.    As always, enjoy your wine!

Try a Wine Trivia Quiz!

Though retired, The Wine Guy works part-time at wine retailing. It’s fun and keeps me in contact with a lot of elements of the wine-trade, most importantly, the consuming public. I regularly run into customers asking for help in hosting wine parties, tasting events and wine-club gatherings.

One of the most fun-filled activities at such gatherings is conducting a wine trivia quiz. Simply divide your guests into teams, hand out some preprinted quiz sheets and offer a prize (a bottle of wine to share) to the team with the most points. Your quiz should offer both puzzlers and easy to answer questions. It should also stimulate conversation and discussion about wine. Feel free to make up your own, or simply use The Wine Guy’s sample trivia quiz I’ve included as part of today’s blog..

Try taking the test yourself before looking at the answers below….I hope you have fun with it!


1. Which still red wine doesn’t like to be blended with others?
A. Malbec B. Sangiovese C. Pinot Noir D. Tempranillo

2. What wine producing country also is the largest producer of the olive oil?
A. Greece B. France C. Spain D. Italy

3. Which American President built a wine cellar under the White House and bought more than 20,000 bottles of European wine?
A. John Kennedy B. John Quincy Adams C. Thomas Jefferson D. Ronald Reagan

4. The vintage date on a bottle of wine refers to the year:
A. the wine was bottled. B. the grapes were harvested. C. the wine was released.
D. when the wine can be first consumed.

5. Zinfandel came into prominence in California and is often called California’s grape but it originated in Croatia. What European grape varietal is almost genetically identical to Zinfandel?
A. Tempranillo B. Trebbiano C. Primativo D.Negromaro

6. A Standard bottle of wine is 750ml, but wine comes in many sizes of bottles. Which is a correct name for a different size bottle of wine?
A. Magnum B. Jeroboam C. Piccolo D. All of these

7. Who sang and popularized the song “That Little Old Winemaker, Me”?
A. Tom T. Hall B. Dean Martin C. Roger Miller D. Robert Mondavi

8. Which President had wine at the White House poured from napkin-draped bottles in order to hide the fact that he preferred French to American made wines?
A. Lyndon Johnson B. Richard Nixon C. Bill Clinton D. George W. Bush

9. The oldest winery in North America still producing wine today is located:
A. in Florida B. in Mexico C. in Texas D. in Canada

10. Pinotage from South Africa is made from a hybrid grape that resulted from crossing Pinot Noir with:
A. Syrah B. Meritage C. Cinsault D. Grenache

11. Which of the following is NOT a popular wine grape in South America?
A. Torrontes B. Podkum C. Bonarda D. Carmenere

12. What is the most common blending grape utilized for Syrah based wines from the Northern Rhone Valley in France?
A. Grenache B. Viognier C. Mourvedre D. Malbec

13. A “punt” refers to:
A. the headstock from an oak wine barrel. B. the straw basket covering some flasks of Chianti.
C. the indentation in the bottom of some wine bottles D. a kick when you’re fourth and long in football.

14. “Soave” is which of the following:
A. an Italian red wine B. an Italian white wine C. an Italian sparkling wine
D. an Italian wine toasting expression

15. Which grape is considered to be the mostly widely grown grape in the world?
A. Chardonnay B. Merlot C. Grenache D. Cabernet Sauvignon

Always have at least one tiebreaker question that counts only if teams are tied after the quiz is scored. Here’s a great, fun tiebreaker:

Which French appellation has a law that forbids the landing of flying saucers in the region’s vineyards?
A. Bordeaux B. Cotes du Rhone C. Burgundy D. Chateauneuf du Pape

Now for the answers:

1. The answer is C. Pinot Noir. This grape has a lot of expressions in still red wine but doesn’t play (sic blend) well with other red grapes. There is a notable exception….Give extra credit to any team that points out that when peeled to make a white wine, Pinot Noir is often blended with others in making sparkling wines.

2. The answer is D. Spain    They do well at both!  (author's note:  I got called on this one after the quiz had been up almost two years!!! I originally had Greece which at one time actually grew the most olives but even that was incorrect at the time of posting because I was referencing info that was over a decade old at the time...poor research and my bad!)

3. The answer is C. Thomas Jefferson. He grew grapes and made wine on his Virginia estate but he loved the French wines, a hangover (no pun intended) from his days as Ambassador to France from the Continental Congress.

4. The answer is B. when the grapes were harvested. A non-vintage wine will include grapes from multiple harvests. That occurs frequently in ports and sparkling wines but some others, as well.

5. The answer is C. Primativo. It is a virtual genetic twin and has many of the same characteristics. However the terroir and wine making in Italy results in a somewhat different but thoroughly enjoyable wine.

6. The answer is D. All of these. Magnums are 1.5 ltr, Jeroboams range 3 to 4.5 ltr and Piccolo is used in Italy to describe 187.5 ml bottles.

7. The answer is B. Dean Martin. Mrs. Wine Guy has the song on one of her Dean Martin albums.

8. The answer is B. Richard Nixon. Lyndon Johnson was the first President to have only American made wines served at the White House. Nixon didn’t want to publicly overthrow the practice but he loved French wines. He didn’t get the nickname “Tricky Dick” Nixon for nothing, did he?

9. The answer is B. Mexico. The winery is called Casa Madero and production there dates to the late 1590’s. They make a very respectable Merlot and a Merlot-Nebbiolo blend that The Wine Guy enjoys.

10. The answer is C. Cinsault. This grape was called Hermitage in South Africa thus the name Pinotage to the newly created varietal.

11. The answer is B. Podkum. Podkum is a grape varietal developed to grow in the tropical lowlands of Thailand, a country that has a rising wine industry and is one of the leaders in “New Latitude” wines.

12. The answer is B. Viognier. Grenache and Mourvedre are commonly blended in Syrah but mostly in wines from the Southern Rhone Valley (it’s o.k. to throw one or two trick questions). Viognier is one of the few white grapes that behaves well when blended with reds and even the Australians are utilizing it as a blending finisher in their Shirazes.

13. The answer is C. the indentation in the bottom of some bottles of wine. (Also found in the bottom of many decanters) It is thought by some to be a tradition holdover from the days of glass blown bottles and by others to be utilized in trapping sediment. Sommeliers and waiters love it as a great place to put their thumb for one-handed pouring and twisting of a bottle of wine.

14. The answer is B. an Italian white wine. This wine hails from the Veneto region of Italy and Gargangea is the informing grape. It’s dry, crisp, and meant to be drunk very young. It has sometimes been almost lacking in flavor but recent expressions with care to some good blending and moderate use of oak have produced some excellent value priced wines.

15. The answer is C. Grenache. Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s most consumed varietal but Grenache is grown in more places and appears in the greatest number of wines. It finds its way into a lot of wines as a blending and finishing grape. It finds its best expression as a dominant or single grape in many of the wines from Spain.

Extra Credit Question:
The answer is D. Chateauneuf du Pape. The law was passed in 1954 during the beginning of the UFO craze. To the best of my knowledge, there’s never been an arrest made.


Hope you had fun with the quiz. If you use it at an event at your house, drop a line to rogerthewineguy@gmail.com and let me know how your guests enjoyed it.