BAKING GLOSSARY - V

Snip
To cut food, often fresh herbs or dried fruit, with kitchen scissors into very small, uniform pieces, using short, quick strokes.

Sponge
A batterlike mixture of yeast, flour, and liquid used in some bread recipes. The mixture is set aside until it bubbles and becomes foamy, which can be several hours or overnight. During this time, the sponge develops a tangy flavor; the remaining ingredients are added to the sponge, and the dough is kneaded and baked as usual.

Steam
To cook a food in the vapor given off by boiling water.

Sweeteners
Sweeteners are essential for adding flavor, tenderness, and browning to baked desserts. They may either be granular, as in granulated white and brown sugars, or liquid, as in honey, corn syrup, and molasses.
Powdered (or confectioners') sugar, another sweetener, is granulated sugar that has been milled to a fine powder, then mixed with cornstarch to prevent lumping. It's best to sift powdered sugar before using to remix the sugar and cornstarch.

Vanilla bean
The pod of an orchid plant that is dried and cured. During curing, the pod turns a dark brown color and shrivels to the size of a pencil.

Weeping
A condition in which liquid separates out of a solid food, such as jellies, custards, and meringues.

Wheat germ
The embryo or sprouting portion of the wheat kernel, sold both raw and toasted. It is extremely perishable. Once opened, store in the refrigerator no more than three months.

Whip
To beat a food lightly and rapidly using a wire whisk, rotary beater, or electric mixer to incorporate air into the mixture and increase its volume.

Whisk
A kitchen utensil made of a group of looped wires held together by a long handle. Whisks are used in baking for whipping ingredients such as eggs and cream to incorporate air into them. Also refers to the process of whipping ingredients together.

Whole wheat flour
Unlike all-purpose and bread flours, whole wheat flour is ground from the complete wheat berry and contains the wheat germ as well as the wheat bran. It is coarser in texture and does not rise as well as all-purpose and bread flours. Store whole wheat flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to five months, or freeze for up to one year.

Yeast
A tiny organism that feeds on sugar in dough (often bread dough) to make small carbon dioxide bubbles that get trapped in the dough and make it rise. It works slowly and helps to develop flavorful dough.

Zest
The colored outer portion of a citrus fruit peel. It is rich in fruit oils and often used as a seasoning. To remove the zest, use a grater, fruit zester, or vegetable peeler; be careful to avoid the bitter white membrane beneath the peel.

BAKING GLOSSARY - IV

Millet
A cereal grain with tiny, round yellow kernels that tastes slightly nutty and has a chewy texture. Store millet in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to two years.

Oats
The cereal grain produced by the cereal grass of the same name. Whole oats minus the hulls are called groats. Oats have a nutty flavor and a chewy texture. Store oats in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to six months, or freeze for up to one year. Two popular forms include old-fashioned and quick-cooking oats.

Old-fashioned rolled oats
Oat groats that have been steamed then flattened by steel rollers.

Peel
The skin or outer covering of a vegetable or fruit; also called the rind. Also refers to removing the covering.

Pipe
To force a semisoft food, such as whipped cream, frosting, or mashed potatoes, through a hole in a bag to decorate a food.

Plump
To allow a food, such as raisins or dried cherries, to soak in a liquid.

Proof
To allow a yeast dough to rise before baking. Also a term that indicates the amount of alcohol in a distilled liquor.

Puree
To change a solid food into a liquid or heavy paste, usually by using a food processor, blender, or food mill. Also refers to the resulting mixture.

Quick-cooking rolled oats
Oat groats that have been cut into small pieces -- to shorten the cooking time -- then flattened.

Ricotta
A fresh, moist white cheese that is very mild and semisweet. It has a soft, slightly grainy texture. It is available in whole milk, part-skim milk, or fat-free varieties: the whole milk cheese has a creamier consistency and fuller flavor than the lower-fat types.

Roll
To form a food into a shape. Dough, for instance, can be rolled into ropes or balls. The phrase "roll out" refers to mechanically flattening a food -- usually a dough or pastry -- with a rolling pin.

Rye flour
Made from finely ground rye, a cereal grain that has dark brown kernels and a distinctive, robust flavor. Light rye flour is sifted and contains less bran than dark rye flour. Store rye flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to five months, or freeze for up to one year.

Section
A pulpy segment of citrus fruit with the membrane removed. Also refers to the process of removing those segments.

Shortening
Shortening is a solid fat made from vegetable oils. It is often used to create tender, flaky piecrusts and biscuit toppers. It comes packaged in sticks marked with tablespoon and cup measurements and in canisters.

Sift
To put one or more dry ingredients, especially flour or powdered sugar, through a sifter or sieve to remove lumps and incorporate air.

Simmer
To cook a food in liquid that is kept below the boiling point; a few bubbles will form slowly and burst before they reach the surface.

BAKING GLOSSARY - III

Food coloring
Either liquid, paste, or powdered edible dyes used to tint foods.

Frost
To apply a sweet cooked or uncooked topping to a cake, cupcakes, or cookies. Frosting is soft enough to spread but stiff enough to hold its shape.

Ganache
A rich chocolate icing made of bittersweet chocolate and whipping cream that's heated and stirred together until the chocolate melts. The mixture is cooled until lukewarm and poured over a cake or torte for a satiny finish.

Garnish
To add visual appeal to a finished dish by decorating it with small pieces of food or edible flowers. The term also refers to the items used for decoration.

Ginger
A semitropical plant whose root is used as a pungent spice. Ginger has a slightly hot flavor and nippy aroma. Ginger comes fresh as gingerroot, dried in powdered form, and in candied or crystallized form.

Glaze
A thin, glossy coating on a food. There are numerous types of glazes. A mixture of powdered sugar and milk can be drizzled on cookies, cakes, or breads for a glaze.

Gluten
An elastic protein present in flour, especially wheat flour, that provides most of the structure of baked products.

Gluten flour
Sometimes called wheat gluten, made by removing most of the starch from high-protein, hard-wheat flour. If you can't find gluten flour at your supermarket, look for it at a health-food store. Store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to five months, or freeze it for up to one year.

Grate
To rub food -- especially hard cheeses, vegetables, and whole nutmeg and ginger -- across a grating surface to make very fine pieces. A food processor may also be used.

Grease
To coat a vessel, such as a baking pan or skillet, with a thin layer of fat or oil.

Grind
To mechanically cut a food into small pieces, usually with a food grinder or food processor.

Ice
To drizzle or spread baked goods with a thin frosting.

Juice
To extract the natural liquid contained in fruits or vegetables. This can be done with a juicer or -- in the case of citrus fruits -- simply by squeezing wedges of fruit over ameasuring cup to catch the juice.

Knead
To work dough with the heels of your hands in a pressing and folding motion until the dough becomes smooth and elastic; an essential step in developing the gluten in many yeast breads.

Leavening agents
Leavening agents add lightness to baked goods by causing them to rise. Common leaveners used in desserts include baking powder and baking soda, which produce carbon dioxide. Double-acting baking powder produces gasses in two stages: when liquids are added and during baking.

Marble
To gently swirl one food into another; usually done with light and dark batters for cakes or cookies.

Mascarpone cheese
A very rich cream cheese made primarily of cream.

Mash
To press or beat a food to remove lumps and make a smooth mixture. This can be done with a fork, potato masher, food mill, food ricer, or an electric mixer.

Meringue
Sweetened, stiffly beaten egg whites used for desserts. There are two basic types of meringues. Soft meringues are moist and tender and are used for topping pies and other desserts. Hard meringues are sweeter than soft meringues and are baked to form crisp, dry dessert shells or cookies, such as macaroons. Meringue shells often are filled with fresh fruit or pudding.

Milk and milk products
Milk and milk products provide moisture, flavor, and color in baked goods, and they activate the leavening agents. Because whole, reduced-fat, and fat-free milk vary only in fat content, you can use them interchangeably in baking. However, whole milk may result in a richer flavor than fat-free milk.
Whipping cream contains 30 to 45 percent fat and can be beaten to form peaks that retain their shape. Half-and-half, a mixture of milk and cream, can be used instead of light cream in most recipes.

BAKING GLOSSARY - II

Chop
To cut foods with a knife, cleaver, or food processor into smaller pieces.

Coconut
The large, oval, husk-covered fruit of the coconut palm. Its market forms include canned and packaged coconut that is processed and sold shredded, flaked, or grated in sweetened and unsweetened forms. Flaked coconut is finer than shredded. Fresh and dried coconut pieces also are available.

Cornmeal
A finely ground corn product made from dried yellow, white, or blue corn kernels. Cornmeal labeled "stone ground" is slightly coarser than regular cornmeal. Store cornmeal in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to six months, or freeze it for up to one year.

Cream
To beat a fat, such as butter or shortening, either alone or with sugar, to a light and fluffy consistency. This process incorporates air into the fat so baked products have a lighter texture and better volume.

Creme fraiche
A dairy product made from whipping cream and a bacterial culture. The culture causes the whipping cream to thicken and develop a sharp, tangy flavor. Creme fraiche is similar to sour cream but is softer and has a milder flavor. Popular in French cooking, creme fraiche is often spooned over fresh fruit or used in recipes like sour cream. It is available at specialty food stores. If you can't find it in your area, you can make a substitute by combining 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1/2 cup dairy sour cream. Cover the mixture and let it stand at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours or until it thickens. Refrigerate for up to a week.

Crimp
To pinch or press pastry dough together using your fingers, a fork, or another utensil. Usually done for a piecrust edge.

Cut in
To work a solid fat, such as shortening or butter, into dry ingredients, usually with a pastry blender or two knives.

Dash
A measure equal to 1/16 teaspoon. Can be measured by filling a 1/4-teaspoon measuring spoon one-fourth full.

Devonshire cream
A specialty of Devonshire, England, this extra-thick cream is made by heating unpasteurized whole milk until a semisolid layer of cream forms on the surface. After cooling, the Devonshire, or clotted, cream traditionally is served atop scones with jam.

Dissolve
To stir a solid food and a liquid food together to form a mixture in which none of the solid remains.

Dough
A mixture of flour and liquid to which other ingredients, such as sweeteners, shortening, butter, egg, or a leavening agent, may be added. A dough is thick and can't be poured; some doughs can be kneaded. Soft doughs have more liquid and generally are used for biscuits, breads, and drop cookies. Stiff doughs are firm enough to be rolled out easily and are used to make items such as piecrusts and cutout cookies.

Dried egg whites
Dried egg whites can be used where egg white is needed (but not meringue powder, which has added sugar). Dried egg whites also are safer than raw egg whites. One handy use for them is in making egg white glazes for baked goods (no yolk is wasted). Dried egg whites are found in powdered form in the baking aisle of many grocery stores.

Dried fruit
Fruit that has been depleted of more than half its water content by exposure to the sun or by mechanical heating methods. Dried fruit is chewy and very sweet due to the concentration of sugars during the drying process.

Drizzle
To randomly pour a liquid, such as powdered sugar icing, in a thin stream over food.

Dust
To lightly coat or sprinkle a food with a dry ingredient, such as flour or powdered sugar, either before or after cooking.

Extract and oil
Products based on the aromatic essential oils of plant materials that are distilled by various means. In extracts, the highly concentrated oils usually are suspended in alcohol to make them easier to combine with other foods in cooking and baking. Almond, anise, lemon, mint, orange, peppermint, and vanilla are some of the extracts available.

Flavoring
An imitation extract made of chemical compounds. Unlike an extract or oil, a flavoring often does not contain any of the original food it resembles. Some common imitation flavorings available are banana, black walnut, brandy, cherry, chocolate, coconut, maple, pineapple, raspberry, rum, strawberry, and vanilla.

Flute
To make a scalloped, decorative pattern or impression in food, usually a piecrust.

Fold
A method of gently mixing ingredients, usually delicate or whipped ingredients that cannot withstand stirring or beating. To fold, use a rubber spatula to cut down through the mixture, move across the bottom of the bowl, and come back up, bringing some of the mixture from the bottom up to the surface.

BAKING GLOSSARY

Baking pans
A white flour, generally a combination of soft and hard wheats, or medium-protein wheats. It works well for all types of baked products, including yeast breads, cakes, cookies, and quick breads. All-purpose flour usually is sold presifted. It is available bleached and unbleached. Either is suitable for home baking and can be used interchangeably.

Almond paste
A creamy mixture made of ground blanched almonds and sugar. For the best baking results, use an almond paste without syrup or liquid glucose. Almond paste is used as a filling in pastries, cakes, and confections.

Baking dish
A coverless glass or ceramic vessel used for cooking in the oven. A baking dish can be substituted for a metal baking pan of the same size. For baked items, such as breads and cakes, the oven temperature will need to be lowered 25 degrees to prevent over browning of the food.

Baking pan
A coverless metal vessel used for cooking in the oven. Baking pans vary in size and may be round, square, rectangular, or a special shape, such as a heart. The sides of the pan are 3/4 inch high or more.

Baking stone
A heavy, thick plate of beige or brown stone that can be placed in the oven to replicate the baking qualities of brick-floored commercial bread ovens. Baking stones can be round or rectangular and can be left in the oven when not in use.

Barley
A cereal grain, has a mild, starchy flavor and a slightly chewy texture. Pearl barley, the most popular form used for cooking, has the outer hull removed and has been polished or "pearled." It is sold in regular and quick-cooking forms. Store barley in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 1 year.

Batter
A mixture usually made with flour and a liquid, such as milk or fruit juice. It also may include egg, sugar, butter, shortening, cooking oil, leavening, or flavorings. Batters can vary in consistency from thin enough to pour to thick enough to drop from a spoon.

Beat
To make a mixture smooth by briskly whipping or stirring it with a spoon, fork, wire whisk, rotary beater, or electric mixer.

Blend
To combine two or more ingredients until smooth and uniform in texture, flavor, and color; done by hand or with an electric blender or mixer.

Boil
To cook food in liquid at a temperature that causes bubbles to form in the liquid and rise in a steady pattern, breaking on the surface. A rolling boil is when liquid is boiling so vigorously the bubbles can't be stirred down.

Bread flour
The type of flour recommended for bread recipes, made from hard wheat. It has a higher gluten content than all-purpose flour. Gluten, a protein, provides structure and height to breads, making bread flour well suited for the task. Store bread flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 5 months, or freeze it for up to a year.

Bulgur
A parched, cracked wheat product, made by soaking, cooking, and drying whole wheat kernels. Part of the bran is removed and what remains of the hard kernels is cracked into small pieces. Bulgur has a delicate, nutty flavor. Store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months, or freeze it for up to a year.

Cake flour
Cake flour is made from soft wheat and produces a tender, delicate crumb. Many bakers use it for angel food and chiffon cakes.
To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour: Use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour per 1 cup all-purpose flour. Sift cake flour before measuring to lighten it to avoid adding too much.

Caramelize
To heat and stir sugar until it melts and browns. Caramelized, or burnt, sugar is used in dessert recipes such as flan, candy-coated nuts, and burnt-sugar cake and frosting.

WINE FACTS

ñ The most popular corkscrew, the wing-type, is cheap and easy to use, but it frequently mangles corks and leaves small pieces of cork in your wine. It also tends to pull out just the middle of an old, dry cork. Far superior are the Screwpull, which is also easy to use, and the waiter’s corkscrew, which requires just a little know-how to use effectively. No matter what type you use, you should also have a two-pronged (Ah-So) device to remove problem corks.
ñ Zinfandel first appeared in the United States in the 1820s when Long Island nursery owner George Gibbs imported several grape vines from the Imperial collection in Vienna. One of the vines was Zinfandel. (The current thinking is that Zinfandel originated in Croatia where it is called Plavac Mali.) In the 1850s, Zinfandel made its way to California.
ñ An Italian white wine called Est! Est! Est! got its name from a medieval story. A bishop was planning to travel the Italian countryside and asked his scout to find inns that had good wines, marking the door “Est” (“It is” or “This is it”) when he found one. The scout was so excited about the local wine found in the area that he marked one inn’s door “Est! Est! Est!” Another version of this story is that a priest was on his way to minister to a congregation in the boondocks. Upon discovering the wonderful local wine, he sent the message “Est! Est! Est!” back to Rome, renounced the priesthood, and spent the rest of his life enjoying the wine.
ñ The auger or curly metal part of a corkscrew is sometimes called a worm.
ñ Graves is thought to be the oldest wine region in Bordeaux.
ñ The Puritans loaded more beer than water onto the Mayflower.
ñ In terms of acreage, wine grapes rank #1 among all crops planted worldwide.
ñ Although “château” means castle, it may also be a mansion or a little house next to a vineyard that meets the requirements for winemaking with storage facilities on its property.
ñ Château Petrus is the most expensive of the Bordeaux wines. Its price is as much due to its tiny production as to its quality. Petrus is made from at least 95% Merlot grapes.
ñ The Egyptians were the first to make glass containers around 1500 B.C.E.
ñ The 1855 Classification of Médoc châteaux listed only the best properties. “Best” was defined as those properties whose wines were the most expensive. The top estates were then divided into five categories (the “growths”) based on price.
ñ Margaux is the largest of the Médoc appellations.
ñ Pomerol is the smallest Bordeaux appellation.
ñ “Grand Cru” is French for “great growth” and designates the best. In Burgundy it refers to the best vineyards which usually have multiple owners. In Bordeaux its meaning varies by the specific region, but it always refers to properties under a single ownership.
ñ Rose bushes are often planted at the end of a row of grape vines to act as an early warning signal for infestation by diseases and insects like aphids. A vineyard manager who notices black spots or root rot on the roses will spray the grape vines before they are damaged.

ñ In Empire, California, some 400 copies of Little Red Riding Hood are locked away in a storage room of the public school district because the classic Grimm’s fairy tale recounts that the little girl took a bottle of wine to her grandmother. --- Roger Cohen, New York Times, April 23, 1990   [The crazies aren’t limited to Kansas.]

WINE FACTS

ñ Labels were first put on wine bottles in the early 1700s, but it wasn’t until the 1860s that suitable glues were developed to hold them on the bottles.
ñ Top Napa Valley vineyard land sells for over $100,000/acre!
ñ In the year 2000, there were 847 wineries in California.
ñ Wine is often called the nectar of the gods, but Sangiovese is the only grape named after a god. Sangiovese means “blood of Jove.”
ñ Ninety-two percent of California wineries produce fewer than 100,000 cases per year. Sixty percent produce fewer than 25,000 cases.
ñ Egg whites, bull’s blood, and gelatin have all been used as fining agents to remove suspended particles from wine before bottling. Egg whites are still commonly used.
ñ “Brix” is the term used to designate the percentage of sugar in the grapes before fermentation. For example, 23° brix will be converted by yeast to 12.5% alcohol, more or less, depending on the conversion efficiency of the strain of yeast used.
ñ In describing wine, the term “hot” refers to a high level of alcohol, leaving an hot, sometimes burning sensation.
ñ In the production of Port, the crushed grapes are fermented for about two days. Then the fermentation is halted by the addition of a neutral distilled spirit or brandy. This raises the alcohol level and retains some of the grapes’ natural sugar.
ñ American wine drinkers consume more wine on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year.
ñ As of 2000, 554,000 acres in California were planted to grapevines.
ñ “Still wine” does not come from a still. The phrase refers to wine without bubbles, which includes what is also referred to as table wine.
ñ Fiasco [fee-YAHS-koh]; pl. fiaschi [fee-YAHS-kee] - Italian for “flask.” The word is most often connected with the squat, round-bottomed, straw-covered bottle containing cheaper wine from the Chianti region. The straw covering not only helps the bottle sit upright, but protects the thin, fragile glass. Fiaschi are seldom seen today as the cost of hand-wrapping each flask for cheaper wines has become prohibitive, and the more expensive wines with aging potential need bottles that can be lain on their sides.
ñ As early as 4000 BC, the Egyptians were the first people to use corks as stoppers.
ñ The wine industry generates 145,000 jobs in California.
ñ California has 847 wineries. Napa County is the home of 232 of them.
ñ Market research shows that most people buy a particular wine either because they recognize the brand name or they are attracted by the packaging. Not Beekman’s customers!
ñ Portugal has 1/3 of the world's cork forests and supplies 85-90% of the cork used in the U.S.
ñ There are only three legal categories of wine in the U.S.: table, dessert, and sparkling. In the early 1950s, 82% of the wine Americans drank was classified as dessert wines. These included Sherry, Port, and Madeira. I don’t have current national figures, but  Beekman’s sales of wine today are 90% table wine, 7% sparkling wine, and only 3% dessert wine!
ñ Until 1970, Bordeaux produced more white wine than red. Today red wine represents about 84% of the total crop.
ñ California produces approximately 77% of the U.S. wine grape crop
ñ There is at least one commercial winery in every state of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska!

ñ Putting ice and kosher salt in a bucket will chill white wine or Champagne faster.

WINE FACTS

ñ Wine grapes are subject to mold when there’s too much moisture. Tight clustered Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir are most susceptible to mold. The looser clusters of Cabernet Sauvignon allow for faster drying of moist grapes and thus make it less susceptible.
ñ In 1945, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild began a series of artists’ labels, hiring a different artist each year to design a unique label for that vintage. The artists have included such notables as Chagall, Picasso, Miro and Warhol. The 1993 label was sufficiently controversial in this country (the stylized juvenile nude on the label offended the Political Correctness Police) that the Chateau withdrew the label and substituted a blank label instead.
ñ It is the VERY slow interaction of oxygen and wine that produces the changes noticed inaging wine. It is believed that wine ages more slowly in larger bottles, since there is less oxygen per volume of wine in larger bottles. Rapid oxidation, as with a leaky cork, spoils wine.
ñ Before harvest, the canopy of leaves at the top of the vine is often cut away to increase exposure to the sun and speed ripening.
ñ The average age of a French oak tree harvested for use in wine barrels is 170 years!
ñ The lip of a red wine glass is sloped inward to capture the aromas of the wine and deliver them to your nose.
ñ “Cold maceration” means putting the grapes in a refrigerated environment for several days before starting fermentation to encourage color extraction. This is being done more and more frequently with Pinot Noir since the skins of this varietal don’t have as much pigmentation as other red varietals.
ñ Frenchman Georges de Latour came to America in the late 1800’s to prospect for gold. He didn’t find much gold, but he founded a truly golden winery: Beaulieu Vineyard.
ñ Mycoderma bacteria convert ethyl alcohol into acetic acid, thus turning wine into vinegar. However, most incidents of spoiled wine are due to air induced oxidation of the fruit, not bacterial conversion of alcohol to vinegar.
ñ The world’s most planted grape varietal is Airén. It occupies over 1 million acres in central Spain where it is made into mediocre white wine, but some quite good brandy.
ñ Bettino Ricasoli, founder of Brolio, is credited with having created the original recipe for Chianti, combining two red grapes (Sangiovese and Canaiolo) with two white grapes (Malvasia and Trebbiano). Today the better Chiantis have little or no white grapes in them and may contain some Cabernet. They are thus deeper in color and flavor and more age worthy.
ñ From 1970 until the late 1980s, sales and consumption of wine in the United States held a ratio of about 75% white to 25% red. At the turn of the Millennium, the ratio is closer to 50-50.
ñ In the year 2000, Americans spent $20 billion on wine. 72% of that was spent on California wines.
ñ In ancient Rome bits of toast were floated in goblets of wine. There is a story that a wealthy man threw a lavish party in which the public bath was filled with wine. Beautiful young women were invited to swim in it. When asked his opinion of the wine, one guest responded: “I like it very much, but I prefer the toast.” (referring, presumably, to the women)
ñ “Cuvée” means “vat” or “tank.” It is used to refer to a particular batch or blend.
ñ Beaujolais Nouveau cannot be legally released until the third Thursday of every November. The due date this year (2001) is November 15th.

ñ We’re seeing more and more synthetic corks these days, but the latest technology to prevent contaminated corks is the use of microwaves.

WINE FACTS

MORE WINE FACTS

ñ Jefferson and wine: From Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, by Stephen E Ambrose, comes the following historical note. Jefferson took up residence in the President’s House in 1801, after his inauguration as the 3rd President of the United States.

   “Jefferson ran the place with only eleven servants (Abigail Adams had needed 30!), brought up from Monticello. There were no more powdered wigs, much less ceremony. Washington and Adams, according to Republican critics, had kept up almost a royal court. Jefferson substituted Republican simplicity - to a point. He had a French chef, and French wines he personally selected. His salary was $25,000 per year - a princely sum, but the expenses were also great. In 1801 Jefferson spent $6500 for provisions and groceries, $2700 for servants (some of whom were liveried), $500 for Lewis’s salary, and $3,000 for wine.”

ñ Dom Perignon (1638-1715), the Benedictine Abbey (at Hautvillers) cellar master who is generally credited with “inventing” the Champagne making process, was blind.

ñ Thomas Jefferson helped stock the wine cellars of the first five U.S. presidents and was very partial to fine Bordeaux and Madeira.

ñ To prevent a sparkling wine from foaming out of the glass, pour an ounce, which will settle quickly. Pouring the remainder of the serving into this starter will not foam as much.

ñ Old wine almost never turns to vinegar. It spoils by oxidation.

ñ U.S. 1998 sales of white and blush wines were 67% of total table wine sales. Red wines were 33% of sales. At Beekman’s, the best we can calculate (since we don’t track the color of wine sales from Chile, Australia or Spain or of jug wines) is that our sales of white and blush comprised only 45% of total wine sales. Reds accounted for 55%. That’s in dollars, not unit sales. American wines accounted for 47% of our wine sales vs. 53% for imported wines.

ñ In King Tut’s Egypt (around 1300 BC), the commoners drank beer and the upper class drank wine.

ñ According to local legend, the great French white Burgundy, Corton-Charlemagne, owes its existence, not to the emperor Charlemagne, but to his wife. The red wines of Corton stained his white beard so messily that she persuaded him to plant vines that would produce white wines. Charlemagne ordered white grapes to be planted. Thus: Corton-Charlemagne!

ñ When Leif Ericsson landed in North America in A.D. 1001, he was so impressed by the proliferation of grapevines that he named it Vinland.

ñ 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.

ñ Merlot was the “hot” varietal in 1999, but in 1949, the “darling of the California wine industry” was Muscatel!

ñ The Napa Valley crop described in 1889 newspapers as the finest of its kind grown in the U.S. was hops.

ñ When Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii in volcanic lava in A.D. 79, it also buried more than 200 wine bars.

ñ The “top five” chateau of Bordeaux, according to the 1855 Classification, were actually only four: Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion. In the only change to that historic classification, Mouton-Rothschild was added in 1973.

ñ Grapevines cannot reproduce reliably from seed. To cultivate a particular grape variety, grafting (a plant version of cloning) is used.

ñ Wine has so many organic chemical compounds it is considered more complex than blood serum.

WINE FACTS

Q & A (part 1)
1. How many acres are planted to grapes worldwide?
2. Among the world's fruit crops, where do wine grapes rank in number of acres planted?
3. How many countries import California wines?
4. What was the primary fruit crop in Napa Valley during the 1940's?
5. How many gallons of wine were lost in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?
6. When was phylloxera first discovered in California?
7. How many acres of Napa County vineyards have been replanted in the last 15 years because of phylloxera?
8. How many more acres of Napa County vineyards will need replacement?
9. How long does it take to harvest a commercial crop from newly replanted grape vines?
10. How many varieties of wine grapes exist worldwide?
11. How much does it cost per bottle to age wine in a French oak barrel?
12. How much does it cost per bottle to age wine in only new French oak barrels?
13. How much white zinfandel is consumed in this country?

Answers:
1) 20 million
2) #1
3) 164
4) Prunes
5) 30 million
6) August 19, 1873
7) 10,450
8) 4,450
9) 4-5 years
10) 10,000
11) 90 cents
12) $2.50
13) Too much!


Q & A (part 2)
1. When was the first known reference to a specific wine vintage?
2. How old was the wine being “reviewed”?
3. A bottle of opened wine stored in the refrigerator lasts how much longer than it would if stored at room temp?
4. How many oak species are there?
5. How many are used in making oak barrels?
6. What percent of an oak tree is suitable for making high grade wine barrels?
7. The 1996 grape crop in Napa Valley was down what percentage from normal?
8. What are the top three U.S. states in terms of wine consumption?
9. What percentage of legal-aged Americans contacted in a Nielson phone survey drink wine?
10. What percentage of restaurant wine sales do red wines represent?
11. What is the average cost of the grapes used to produce a $20 bottle of wine?

Answers:
1. Roman Historian Pliny the Elder rated 121 B.C. as a vintage “of the highest excellence.”
2. 200 years old! Pliny the Elder wrote the history of the Roman Empire around 70 A.D.
3. 6-16 times longer
4. 400
5. 20
6. 5%
7. 20-25%
8. CA, NY, FL
9. 58%
10. 55%
11. $2.64