Kate's Curios

Spiritually Uplifting Wine
Continuing my ‘interesting wine varieties’ theme, I recently discovered an enchanting variety named Bourboulenc, an ancient white grape often found in southern Rhône wines. I was then delighted to meet a chef who claimed she was not only very familiar with it, but found it spiritually uplifting, too. She said it was great for the soul. It turns out she was actually talking white wine and butter sauce (otherwise known as beurre blanc) and the fish, lemon sole. The upshot of this very curious conversation was that ‘bblonk’ (either the wine, or the sauce) is a winner with fish – especially enlightened ones.

Allergic to wasps? You might like to cellar your wine for a while…
An article recently published in Newscientist.com reports that people who thought they suffered a sudden allergic reaction to wine were actually allergic to wasps. None of the patients had been stung, but antibodies in their blood suggested they had been. The team tested newly pressed wine and aged wine from a number of vineyards. They discovered trace amounts of venom from yellow-jacket wasps (the most prevalent wasp species in Spain) in the newly pressed material. None was found in the aged wine however; the scientists concluded that the venom had probably broken down as the wine matured. If you’re allergic to wasps or bees, it might be a good idea to avoid new vintage wines…(at least in Spain, anyway!)

A viticulturist's wife who didn't understand him
Choosing the right time to pick grapes is crucial. So in the lead-up to harvesting, winegrowers, viticulturists and winemakers descend upon their vineyards, and ‘sample' the grapes. This process, done many times over a period of weeks, involves tasting a cross-section of grapes, then sending the samples back to the lab. The sampling can go for weeks – and you can get pretty tired of tasting grapes. Which reminds me of a viticulturist I know, whose wife would always supply him with a hearty packed lunch. It usually contained, amongst other things, some thick-cut sandwiches and a slice of her delicious home-made cake. Except for one day, at the height of the grape-sampling period. She thought he might like a change from his usual morning tea, and had replaced the cake with a bunch of new season grapes...

Volkswagens in the Vineyard
A colleague visited Germany recently, and toured several vineyards. She was intrigued by the remark of one German viticulturist who said they had a very serious problem with Volkswagens in the vineyards. Whenever she got the chance to look at a piece of machinery she would surreptitiously make note of the brand, all the time wondering why there was a problem with Volkswagens. It wasn't until she asked another viticulturist why Volkswagens were such a problem that she found out that the German vineyards actually had a problem with – you guessed it – beetles.

Medals and madness
Apparently, in the early days of Australia's wine drinking history, drinking wine could send you mad. It seems that convicts and settlers preferred beer and rum to wine. To make their wine more appealing, some winemakers added an array of spirits, many of which were poisonous. The side effects of drinking the wine included delirium, madness, paralysis – and death. All this changed, however, when winemakers began to enter their wines into the Agricultural Shows. The shows lead to the eradication of not only poisonous spirits, but all manner of wine faults as well. The result was a big improvement in quality – and safety!

Italian Carabinieri
Armed with a corkscrew (and a gun) Policemen with a penchant for fine wine would be interested to hear what their Italian colleagues are up to these days. An elite group of Italian military police has been trained as sommeliers, in order to help combat the counterfeit wine industry. As members of the military police, they carry a gun. Might be something to keep in mind next time you don't agree with the sommelier's choice in a restaurant in Italy!