Wine Quiz Beakers and Bottles: A Wine Science Quiz Oct 23, 2020 1 of 10 RIGHT! WRONG! In early 2020, a team at UCLA found that tiny shockwaves play a big role in making these patterns that wash up inside a wineglass after a good swish of Cabernet, Port or other high-alcohol vino. Wine tears Tartrate crystals Sauvignon sweats Tannic attacks With chemical tests (and not-so-pleasant tastings), French researchers in 2020 identified a chemical compound in oak barrels as one potential cause of which taste sensation in certain wines? Botrytis accents Carbonic berry aromas Bitterness Defeat In 2019, a team of scientists at the University of Southern California was able to analyze humans’ ability to detect sour flavors—including those in wine. Sour sensitivity, it turns out, is ultimately determined by what? Oak barrels Rods and cones Phosphofructokinase levels Genetics One of the essays in the 2019 scientific collection Alcohol and Humans: A Long and Social Affair proposed that alcohol consumption gave humans and their biological ancestors an evolutionary advantage because … Fermented fruits gave them an extra calorie boost, as they were the only species in their habitats that could process ethanol and digest them The vineyards and barley fields they grew provided helpful shelter for hiding from natural predators like bears Prehistoric humans understood that alcohol could help fight germs Once early man discovered swirling wine in a glass, the invention of the wheel was only a matter of time Analysis of DNA sequences, in one study, and the application of old gardeners’ wisdom about garlic, in another, have recently provided insights that may help win the fight against which of these major threats to vineyard health? Phylloxera Downy and powdery mildews Hailstorms Angry birds Which of these light sources, which may help reduce the threat of COVID-19, is now also being tried out as a tool to kill mildew pathogens in vineyards? Smudge pots UV light Lightning strikes Grape lasers Winemaking isn't just chemistry; there's physics, too. Vibrations in the cellar may disturb some wines, but they can also help separate which of these gritty elements from the juice? One winery in Washington even keeps its wine barrels in a room underneath train tracks to help the process along! Acidity Petrol flavors Sediment Cork fragments In 2019, the International Space Station received a shipment of wine onboard, a case of Bordeaux to be precise, in order to do what … in space? Study the effects of microgravity on the structure and taste of foods that benefit from aging Find out if it is possible to re-solidify grapes from their fermented, liquid state of matter Examine the hypothesis that dry wines become sweet in low gravity—and sweet wines become gin Find evidence of ice on Mars that is socially acceptable to put in your wine Recently, a cooperage in Chile found a new home and job for a team of (adorable) former drug-detecting dogs, whose superior sense of smell can be harnessed to sniff out which of these compounds that causes a common flaw in wine? TCA Malic acid Oxygen It's bacon In a different 2019 foray into space-related wine-related research, NASA published a study showing that this chemical compound—already celebrated for its health benefits on Earth—could protect against muscle deterioration in future space colonists in low-gravity conditions. Yeast Lactic acid Resveratrol Bilberry Next Results Your score is Retake this quiz