May 25 is National Wine Day, not to be confused with National Drink Wine Day (like you’re not going to drink wine on both holidays), which is celebrated in February.
According to the Wine Institute , the United States has the highest wine consumption of every country in the world with a total of 13.43 percent in 2015. To help all you wine aficionados celebrate (read: give you something to look at while you sip your full-bodied cab at dinner tonight), we’ve compiled a few wine-related facts, quotes, GIFs, and recipes.
Random Wine Facts
In 1976, France was smacked down by the craftsmanship of California growers in the 1976 Judgement of Paris, a wine competition organized by a British wine merchant named Steven Spurrier. During this blind tasting, two French judges tried two wines: one top-quality Chardonnay from France and a Cabernet Sauvignon from California. In the end, Cali won, unlike the reporter who covered the story — who was blacklisted .
In 2001, Frederic Brochet of the University of Bordeaux conducted an experiment involving 54 oenology students. During the experiment, the undergrads were to drink one glass of red wine and one glass of white wine. Little did they know the wines were exactly the same — he just dyed the white wine red. He asked the students to describe each wine in detail. The result: All 54 students described the “red” wine as a combination of berries, grapes, and tannins, completely missing the fact that it was actually white wine.
The oldest woman alive , aged at 122, claimed that her long life was due to a diet of olive oil, port wine, and 1kg of chocolate per week. In that case, I’m going to live forever.
“Wine experts” are basically meaningless, according to a 2005 study, that revealed a typical judge’s scoring of a wine varied by plus/minus four points over three blind tastings poured from the exact same bottle.
Five Quotes About Wine That Will Make You Say, “Girl, Same.”
“Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little music played out of doors by somebody I do not know.” ? John Keats
“I never taste the wine first in restaurants, I just ask the waiter to pour.” ? Nigella Lawson
“Either give me more wine or leave me alone.” ? Jalaluddin Rumi
“One should always be drunk. That’s all that matters…But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk.” ? Charles Baudelaire
“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink, I feel shame! Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this wine, they might be out of work, and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, ‘It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.’” ?Jack Handey
Two Wine Pop Recipes Perfect For Summer
Wine is great, but wine popsicles? That’s even better.
Rosé and Pink Grapefruit Ice Pops
Ingredients: one cup of rosé, one cup of pink grapefruit juice, one ounce of lime juice, one ounce of agave syrup, pink grapefruit for garnish.
Directions: Place slices of grapefruit in popsicle mold. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the mixture into the molds, with at least one half-inch at the top for the mixture to expand while freezing. Freeze for four hours and enjoy!
Blackberry Prosecco Pops
Ingredients: one-third cup blackberries, four ounces of crème de cassis, a splash of fresh lime juice, two pinches of lime zest, and 20 ounces of Prosecco.
Directions: Pour crème de cassis on blackberries, crush. Add lime juice and zest. Fill each popsicle form with one tsp of mixture, and top with Prosecco. Freeze for two hours. Insert popsicle sticks and freeze overnight for 12 delicious Prosecco pops.
[Feature Image by Pexels]