This is a question we get asked a lot. The answer begins with the fact the government agency that regulates winemaking (the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau — more snappily known as the TTB) allows winemakers to add upwards of 70 different additives to their wines….

As I kid I was never very good at saving treats. If someone gave me a bag of candy, I would methodically work my way through it until it was gone. Once I’d started, I just couldn’t stop. Holidays were especially torturous.

Some years ago I had a date coming over. I was going to impress her with a fish dish taken from a Raymond Blanc* cookbook (sophisticated indeed!). It offered a wine pairing. A Bourgogne. But wait. What the hell was a Bourgogne? A grape, a place, a winery, a person?

There’s a common belief that added sulfur in wine is the culprit for the red-wine-headache blues. Thing is, it’s a total myth. There is no evidence that sulfites are to blame.

Adding anything wine is one of those things that doesn’t seem quite right. Europeans, however, have been doing this for centuries (and we all know that Europeans always have the best ideas).

Here’s your next totally useless but semi-interesting fact to pull out as a party trick. How many bubbles are there in a glass of Champagne (or any bubbly wine for that matter)?