Just for Fun - Vineyard Trivia:
This industry has its share of jargon. Some of those who love wine can be pretentious. Wine is mysterious to many [Why do you think in the 60’s Gallo promoted ‘Hearty Burgundy?’ It obviously had virtually nothing to do with the great reds of that great French district! But it had a familiar ring to some ears and helped sell the not-so-sophisticated red blend to Americans uncomfortable with their own palate decisions.] There are lots of ‘rules:’ red wine with red meat, white wine with chicken and fish. Some wanna-be wine lovers feel less than refined if they do not drink ‘dry’ even though the overwhelming majority of wine consumed in this country is somewhat sweet. There are appreciation charts, giant tomes with hundreds of pages, difficult-to-read labels, maps to study and so much more.
However, wine can be fun. And the answers to a few trivia questions can be appealing. So here goes*:
How many clusters of grapes are needed to produce one 5-to-6-ounce glass? Answer: one cluster
ON AVERAGE, how many grape berries ore in a cluster: Answer: sort-of: 75 berries, however, there is a wide variation based on the grape varietal. Seventy-five is an average.
How many typical clusters are in a 750 ml wine bottle? Answer: Four
Again, on average, how many bottles of wine come from a single winegrape vine? Answer: about 10, but again it depends on the winegrower’s practices and the varietals vines ability to produce mature fruit. Some growers look for 2 tons per acre for great reds, other varieties can produce 5 or 6 tons and make really wonderful wines.
How many clusters does it take to be crushed and then to fill a typical wine barrel? Answer: about 1200 clusters
How many gallons are there in a typical oak wine barrel? Answer: 60 gallons
How many cases of wine [12 bottles of 750 ml] come from that 60-gallon barrel? Answer: 25 cases
How many vines [on average] are needed to fill one 60-gallon barrel? Answer: about 30 vines
How many vines are planted per acre in most vineyards? Answer: about 400 vines [But this can vary considerably. Where land is plentiful and cheap, most vines are planted with 9-foot spacing. But, when vines are planted on very expensive land, narrow tractors are purchased to accommodate much closer spacing. As an example: 20 years ago, high-quality vineyard sites in Ohio sold for a couple of thousand dollars an acre. Recently, in locations like the Grand River Valley in northeast Ohio, the best sites may now sell for prices in excess of $15,000. In 2016, Napa vineyard land sold for $75,000 to $125,000 per acre.]
Then, what is the average price for a bottle of wine? Answer: there is no average price
The moral of this article: Winemaking is both an art and a science. The countless variables of possibilities in wine vineyards are as many as the price differentials from a $3.99 bottle of a not-so-good red blend to $500 or more for a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime vintage. Every element, every single one of hundreds of variables, of myriads of decisions from the grape in the ground to the glass in your hand will challenge that winemaker who must weigh everything as he or she seeks to produce something customers will love and then buy.
Some of these statistics came from a Pinterest post by Winerist.
For additional information: dwinchell@ohiowines.org