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WINE TOASTS & RANDOM FACTS
Wine Toasts
To get the full value of joy,
you must have someone to divide it with.
— Mark Twain
To old times, old friends, the best of friends.
To new times, new friends, the best of friends.
— Amy Jo
A toast, to our ancestors that brought us this far;
may their efforts not be wasted and may we do as well by our descendants.
A toast made December 31, 1999 — Brannock
May the people who dance on your grave get cramps in their legs.
— from the book, The Joys of Yiddish
Give me wine to wash me clean
From the weather-stains of care.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
To temperance . . . in moderation.
— Lem Motlow
May bad fortune follow you all your days
And never catch up with you.
— Unknown
To my friends:
Friends we are today,
And friends we'll always be —
For I am wise to you,
And you can see through me.
— Unknown
May friendship, like wine, improve as time advances,
And may we always have old wine, old friends, and young cares.
— Unknown
May you live as long as you want
And may you never want as long as you live.
— Unknown
Grow old with me! The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which, the first is made.
-Robert Browning
Cultural Toasts
Chinese: Ganbei! (dry your cup)
Dutch: Prost! (health)
English: Cheers!
French: Santé! (health)
German: Prost! (cheers)
Hebrew: Le'chaim! (to life)
Irish: Sláinte! (to your health)
Italian: Per cent'anni! (for one hundred years)
Italian 2: Salute (health)
Japanese: Kanpai! (dry your cup)
Russian: Vashe zdorovie! (to health)
Spanish: Salud! (health)
Welsh: Iechyd da! (health)
Random Wine Trivia
Merlot is more heavily planted in the Bordeaux region than Cabernet Sauvignon. Source:
Damn Good Wine
According to scientist Bill Lembeck there are approximately 49 million bubbles in a bottle of Champagne. Source:
Damn Good Wine
The word Alcohol is derived from the Arabic language (al kohl or alkuhl). Consider the fact that a large proportion of the Arabic population is forbidden from consuming alcohol for religious reasons. Source:
Fun Facts
The corkscrew was invented in 1860. Source:
Alcohol Trivia
The largest cork tree in the world is known as 'The Whistler Tree.' This tree is located in the Alentejo region of Portugal and averages over 1 ton of raw cork per harvest. Enough to cork 100,000 bottles of wine. Source:
Damn good wine
The most expensive bottle of wine was sold at an auction at Christies, London, in December 1985. The buyer paid £105 000 for a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafitte claret that was engraved with the initials of Thomas Jefferson. Eleven months after the sale, the cork dried out, slipped into the bottle and spoiled the wine, making it the most expensive bottle of vinegar! Source:
New Scientist
An award-winning adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood was withdrawn from a recommended reading list by the school board in Culver City, California, simply because the heroine had included a bottle of wine in the basket she brought to her grandmother. Source:
Would you believe it
The average number of grapes it takes to produce a bottle of wine: 600. Source:
Damn Good Wine
The longest recorded champagne cork flight was 177 feet and 9 inches (53,32 m), four feet(1,2m) from level ground at Woodbury Vineyards in New York State. Source:
Alcohol Trivia
The word "ton" (metric tonne) is derived from a tun, a wine barrel. It gets its name from the French "tonnerre," or "thunder," from the sound the barrels made when rolled. Source:
Didyouknow.com
There's a little story behind the champagne glass, dating back to Greek mythology. The first "coupe" was said to be molded from the breast of Helen of Troy. The Greeks believed that wine drinking was a sensual experience, and it was only fitting that the most beautiful woman take part in shaping the chalice.
Centuries later, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, decided it was time to create a new champagne glass. She had coupes molded to her own breasts, which changed the shape of the glass entirely, since Marie Antoinette was - shall we say- better endowed than Helen of Troy. Source:
The Cellar
The most expensive current-release Australian wine is $2,500 a bottle. It is Seppelt 100 Year Old Para Liqueur Port. Every year since 1878, Seppelt has put aside a cask of port and, ever since 1978, it has been bottling a 100-year-old. Seppelt is probably the only winery in the world doing this. Source:
Seppelt
Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne; it had existed for several years. What he did invent was the mushroom shaped cork and wire cage that allowed the sparkling wine to be safely bottled. Previous attempts had all ended with popped corks. Source:
FuntriviaThere is a 1600 year old bottle of wine on display in the Speyer Museum in Germany. Source:
La Boheme
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