Welcome to the Weekly Wine Quiz, fresh off a Thanksgiving turkey-gorging binge. Roll yourself out of your easy chair and take a stab at this week’s wine mind-bender, so you can feel as though you accomplished something after your run-in with stuffing and pumpkin pie.
Standard disclaimer: I supply the quiz question, but *not* quiz answer right away. You supply your best guess as to that answer in the comments, and then tune back in later in the comments section for the official answer. You are of course encouraged to have courage and not cheat via the magic of Google, but we don’t judge!
The grape Tinta Cao represents what percentage of plantings in Portugal’s Port-producing regions?
- A. 20%
- B. 15%
- C. 3%
- D. 1%
Cheers, and good luck!
Comments
Richard Auffrey
D. 1%. A rare grape
1WineDude
Thanks, Richard. And if I may say so, you're a rare one yourself! :)
MyrddinGwin
Tough one. It's almost certainly behind Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), and probably behind Tinta Barocca, and also Tinta Amarela. I'm guessing it's more popular than a few of the permitted White Port varieties, but less popular than Loureiro, so I'm going to guess C.
If D were the answer, I wouldn't be surprised, either. I'm going to have to look this up immediately.
1WineDude
Thanks, MyrddinGwin. Truly, you have a dizzying intellect! :)
1WineDude
A tough one, indeed, this week. Here's your Official Wine Quiz Answer:
D. 1%
Tinta Cao, which produces juicy, fruity wine with spicy notes, is currently the rarest of the many grapes used in blending Port, accounting for a mere 1% of plantings. I've had more than a few grape growers and winemakers in Portugal tell me that this grape is a bit of a pain to deal with, however most also cited quite high quality potential from the grape. So here's a toast that we don't see this one go extinct too soon!