Wine trivia answers

• 25 ounces in a typical bottle of wine

• Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the two most commonly grown grape varietals

• California produces 90% of all domestic wine

• An oenophile is a person who loves wine

• The grape varietal Garnacha is known as Grenache in France

• Sangiovese is the main grape used to make Chianti

• Foreign wine accounts for 25% of all wine consumed in the US

• The number of bubbles in a bottle of Champagne is in the millions

• France consumes the most wine per capita

Previous Puzzles:

November/December

Puzzle You have a valuable object that you want to send to a friend.  You have a box that can be locked with a padlock and have several padlocks and keys.  However, your friend does not have a key to any of your locks.  You don’t want to send the key separately because it might be copied.  How can you lock the box with the valuable object inside, send it to your friend, and enable her to open it? 

Solution There are several correct solutions to this puzzle.  One would be to put a lock on the box and mail it to your friend who would then put her own lock on the box and mail it back.  You would take off your lock and send it back at which point she could take off her lock and open the box.  Another solution would be to put on a combination lock and call your friend with the combination. 

January/February

Puzzle You are lost in the Napa Valley (don’t we all wish) somewhere between the cities of Cork Town and Grapeville.  In Cork Town only live liars – they always lie.  On the other hand, people who live in Grapeville always tell the truth.  You need to get to Grapeville for a wine tasting. 

As you wander aimlessly through a vineyard you stumble across a man pruning grape vines.  Because there are no cities other than Cork Town and Grapeville for miles and miles, you know that he must live in one of those two places.  You can only ask him one question… what would you ask him to find out for sure where Grapeville is?

Solution Ask the man which town he lives in.  He will always point to Grapeville.  If he is from Cork Town he will lie and point to Grapeville.  If he is from Grapeville he will tell the truth and also point to Grapeville.

march

Puzzle Three wine connoisseurs decide to stop at a wine bar for a bottle of Chateau Beauchene Chateauneuf du Pape (an excellent wine, by the way).   The pay $30 for the bottle then go find a table while they wait for the wine to be opened and brought to them.  Before the wine is sent to their table, the sommelier realizes that the wine is only $25 and not $30 per bottle.  He gives the waiter $5 to return to the customers.  The waiter reasons that $5 would be difficult to divide among three people so he pockets $2 and gives $1 back to each customer. 

So, each customer paid $10 and got back $1, totaling $27.  The waiter has $2, totaling $29.  Where is the missing $1?

Solution The challenge lies in the way that the question is worded.  In reality, there is no missing $1.  The sommelier gets $25, the waiter gets $2 and each wine connoisseurs gets $1 (for a total of $3).  This adds up to $30. 

summer

Puzzle  You are in a friend’s well stocked basement wine cellar and you notice three light switches on the wall.  All three are in the off position.  Each light switch controls one of three light bulbs on the floor above.  You can move any of the switches but you can only upstairs one time.  How can you determine which switch controls which light?

Hint… like drinking wine, problem solving often involves using all of your senses.

Solution  Turn any one switch to the "on" position for 5 minutes, then turn that switch "off". Quickly turn any other switch to the "on" position and run up stairs. Feel the two lights that are "off". One of them will be "hot" because is was "on" for 5 minutes. Obviously the "hot" bulb is controlled by the first switch you turned "on". The light that is currently "on" is controlled by the switch you last turn "on". The "cold" bulb that is "off" is controlled by the only switch left.