Wine Trivia

We’ve collected some curious statistics and facts about wine and wine tasting that you may find to be interesting.

On a worldwide basis, the production and consumption of wine is much larger than most people would expect. More than 70 countries around the world produce wine. In 2007, the combined production of wine throughout the world was 39 billion bottles. Over 33 billion bottles were consumed. That’s a lot of wine.

There are over 19.6 million acres in the vineyards around the world, which makes grapes the most popular fruit crop on the planet.

There are many interesting facts related to the production and consumption of wine around the world, many of which surprised us when we first discovered them. We hope that you will find them as interesting as we did.

• Grapes are very tart until they are ready to be harvested, at which point they turn sweet due to the accumulation of sugar in the grape from photosynthesis.
• The top three wine consuming countries are 1. France, 2. the USA and 3. Italy. The USA’s consumption of wine first exceeded that of Italy in 2007 after 14 consecutive years of consumption growth.
• The top five producers of wine are 1. France, 2. Italy, 3. Spain, 4. United States and 5. Argentina.
• A wine’s bouquet is the overall smell of the wine. Aroma is a scent of the grapes. Wine tasters use a the term “nose” to describe the aroma and bouquet of a wine.
• Costco is the largest wine retailer in the USA. Their wine sales exceed $750 million.
• Wineries can be found in all 50 USA states.
• Many studies have shown that drinking daily moderate amounts of red wine can be beneficial to your health.
• Most red grapes need a longer growing season, so red grapes tend to be grown in warmer climates.
• The color of wine comes from the grape skins. White wines are produced by removing the skins shortly after harvesting. California White Zinfandel is actually made from red Zinfandel grapes after the skins have been removed.
• White wines gain color as they age, while red wines lose color over time.
• Most wines do not age well and should be consumed with one year of production for the best flavor. Red wines tend to age better that white wines.
• Swirling a glass of wine oxygenates the wine, which improves the aroma and bouquet, and tends to enhance the flavor.
• A “corked wine” is a wine that has been contaminated by a faulty cork. A corked wine smells dank, wet, musty or like wet cardboard. The smell overpowers the sweet, fruity aroma of the wine and ruins it. All types and qualities of wine have occasional problems with bad corks.
• The production of Champagne is very complex. All Champagnes are a blend of 30 to 60 separate wines made from only three grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. True Champagne is only produced in the Champagne region of France.
• Each grapevine in a vineyard can produce an average of 5 bottles of wine.
• Many grapevines will produce good-quality grapes for more than 40 years.