1 -- viticulture and vinification Flashcards
Factors That Affect Wine Style + Quality
Nature plus decisions made in the vineyard by people
Location (Site Selection) Climate Aspect/Topography Soil Grape variety or varieties planted Viticultural practices Harvest Yearly Weather/ Vintage Variation Terroir
***regional wine law can affect and influence all of these factors
Climate
grapes thrive in temperate climates
– because long frost-free growing season allows them to fully develop
macroclimate
– the overall climate of a region usually a large geographic area —distinguished from microclimate.
microclimate
– the climate of a very small or restricted area, especially when this differs from the climate of the surrounding area.
extreme climates exist (picture of Israel and the finger lakes NY)
latitudinal zones of winegrowing
between 30 and 50 degrees both north and south
Climate definitions
Basic Categories • Continental • Maritime • Tropical • Mediterranean • Desert/Arid
Can Be Further Defined...... • Cool • Moderate • Warm • Hot
- combinations possible
- climate affects wine style
Climatic Factors
• Diurnal shifts • Sunshine hours • Threats – Frost – Hail – Strong winds
Influences on Climate
• Bodies of Water – Rivers – Lakes – Oceans • Mountains – Rain Shadow Effect • Altitude/Elevation • Wind
OLD WORLD + NEW WORLD DEFINITIONS
OLD WORLD Continental Europe – France – Italy – Spain – Portugal – Germany – Austria Wide climate range Most aspects of grape growing and winemaking are rigidly codified by law
NEW WORLD Non-European Countries – North America – South America – South Africa – Australia – New Zealand Wide climate range
TOPOGRAPHY
• Local elevation or altitude • Slope – Steep hillside – Valley Floor • Aspect – Vineyard direction – Sun Exposure
SOIL TYPE
Many different soil types! Each with different properties • Drainage • Water retention • Sun reflection Examples • Granite • Limestone/Chalk • Marl • Schist • Clay • Sand
Grape Variety Choice
• Law! – What is planted and where is often dictated by law! • Soil Compatibility • Climate Compatibility – Will it Ripen?
Species (60+ vining plants)
• Vitis vinifera
– Native to the Mediterranean, Europe and Southwestern Asia
– Most common for quality grape production
– Upwards of 10,000 varieties • Ex: Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling, Syrah
At what temperature does bud break occur?
63°F - 68°F (17°C - 20°C)
What % of vine flowers die as “shatter”?
85%
Define the following:
- Climate/macroclimate
- Mesoclimate
- Microclimate
- weather patterns over a large area over a long period of time
- found over lakes/big cities -> smaller areas
- caused by local variations in topography and vegetation - area in which a vine exists
- 6ft (2m) above ground
- 3ft (1m) below ground
What defines a continental climate?
Hazards?
Examples?
- seasonal temps – hot summer, cold winter
- often areas without significant bodies of water
- wide diurnal temperature shifts
Hazards: frost/hail in growing season
Examples: burgundy, côte du rhône, loire valley, rioja, piedmont, eastern europe, canada (excluding coastal BC)
What defines a Mediterranean climate?
Hazards?
Examples?
- long growing seasons of moderate/warm temperatures
- little seasonal change + little rainfall during growing season
Hazards: drought
Examples: Tuscany, Ligura, most Middle East, Languedoc, Provence, Southern Rhône, costal California
What defines a Maritime climate?
Hazards?
Examples?
- close proximity to large bodies of water
- long growing seasons – temperatures moderated by water currents
- distinct seasonal changes – less dramatic than continental
Hazards: excessive rain, humidity – rot, mildew
Examples: Bordeaux, Champagne, Alsace, most German, Rías Biaxas, most Australia, West BC, England, Wales
What defines a tropical climate?
Hazards?
Examples?
- non-arid climate with all 12 months having a mean temperature at 18°C (64°F) or greater
- relatively constant temperature year-round
Hazards: excessive rain
Examples: Brazil
What defines an arid climate?
Hazards?
Examples?
a region that receives precipitation below evaporation
Hazards: soil salinity, need for irrigation
Examples: argentina
Why is being near a body of water beneficial?
- water retains heat better than land
- fog also helps to cool in warm climates
What effects do rivers have on vines?
- in cool climates, rivers keep fog moving (less rot, less frost damage)
- provides irrigation
- tempers climates
What is the importance of altitude to viticulture?
- allows grapes to grow in warmer climates if higher elevation is available
- increases diurnal shift + prevents drought
- increased UV exposure = thicker skins, more and riper tannins
What is the importance of aspect in viticulture?
Which slope is the best?
Why?
- south-facing slopes are preferred – insolation is greater facing the sun
- warms soil to help grapes ripen
SE facing is ideal; catches morning sun and warms faster
SW facing is ideal; catches evening sun and stays warm longer
When does the growing season take place?
N and S hemispheres
N – April 1 to October 31
S – October 1 - April 30
What are the average temperatures of the 4 climate groups?
cool: 55°F - 60°F (13°C - 15°C)
intermediate: 60°F - 62°F (16°C - 17°C)
warm: 62°F - 66°F (17°C - 19°C)
hot: 66°F - 70°F (19°C - 21°C)
How are average growing season temperatures calculated?
average of the 7 month growing season
How does wind impact viticulture?
- can break shoots/critically delay flowering
- can cool hot vineyards or dry out damp ones
- constant wind stress can delay ripening
What is the rain shadow effect?
the leeward side of the mountain is protected from wind and rain in a “shadow of dryness”
What is the importance of topography?
each area of vineyard experiences slightly different conditions based on microclimate; topography plays a role in this
aspect, slope, elevation are all facets of topography – they impact sun exposure, drainage and temperature
Alluvial soil
- fertile soil transported down a slope (usually by a river)
- forms a fan containing gravel, sand and silt
Basalt Soil
- cooled lava from volcanic rock
- high in Ca, Mg and Fe
Calcareous Soil
- lime rich clay soil
- high pH (more alkaline)
- high levels of calcium and magnesium carbonate
- ‘cool’ – retains water and delays ripening
- results in more acidic wines
Chalk (soil)
- porous + soft limestone
- easily penetrable
- fossilized seashells
- champagne is famous for their chalky soil
Clay (soil)
- sedimentary rock based
- good water retention, poor drainage
- ‘cool’, high in acidity
clay blended soils help to produce some of the boldest reds in the world
- Rioja, Ribera del Duero (limestone rich clay)
- in Burgundy, Vosne-Romanée (world’s most acclaimed Pinot Noir) on clay limestone soil called Marl.
- in Chianti, Albarese soil is a clay-limestone soil known for making bold Sangiovese wines
- hillside vineyards in Napa and the great Shiraz vineyards of Barossa are mostly found on clay-loam soils.
flint (soil)
- siliceous stone
- reflects sun well
– The best vineyards of the Loire mix limestone, clay and silica to form a flint and sand mixture known as silex.
galestro (soil)
- schist-based
- found in tuscany
//“Galestro” is the Italian name for a special soil comprised of loose marl and limestone. Tuscany’s Chianti region benefits from this soil type and even named a wine after it. Galestro, the wine, is a white wine based on Trebbiano grapes (also known in France as Ungi Blanc) and a smaller percentage of other varieties: Malvasia, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Riesling. The best vineyards in Chianti Classico are blessed with galestro soil, but the Galestro IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) wine is slowly fading away. Only a few large producers, such as Ruffino and Antinori, are still making the light, dry, acidic Galestro wine. If you come across it, enjoy it as an aperitif or drink with “pasta e olio”.
Gneiss (soil)
- coarse grained form of granite
- allows easy drainage
- permits roots to grow deep
- relatively infertile (fosters intense, complex flavors in the fruit)
Granite (soil)
- mineral rich
- 40-60% quartz
- warms quickly, retains heat well
- ideal for acidic grapes
main soil type for alsace
Gravel (soil)
- loose and pebbly
- good drainage, poor fertility
- roots must go deep to find nutrients
Greywacke (soil)
- sedimentary soil
- formed by rivers depositing quartz, mudstone and feldspar
- found in vineyards of Germany, New Zealand and South Africa
Hardpan (soil)
- dense layer of clay or other material impermeable to water //In some areas of Bordeaux, a sandy iron-rich layer is located deep enough below the surface to act as a water table for the vine.
Limestone (soil)
- wide range of sedimentary based soils formed of calcium carbonates from skeletal fragments of marine organisms
- alkaline, usually planted with high acid grapes
//Limestone offers beneficial nutrients to grapes that make them grow better and produce sweeter grapes. It’s special because it retains moisture in dry weather, but also offers good drainage in cool weather. The one negative effect of lime is it causes iron deficiency in grapes which means winemakers with soils that have high lime content must fertilize their soils frequently.
Llicorella (soil)
a soil type only found in the Priorat region of Spain
- mix of slate and quartz
- porous, drains well
//Around the foothills of Montsant (the Holy Mountain) resides an almost otherworldly soil type that cannot be duplicated anywhere else on earth: Llicorella. This mix of dark slate and quartzite that developed in Paleolithic times is dark in color but glitters in the sun from the high crystal content. It is rocky, porous and free-draining which forces the roots to dig way down deep (up to 25 meters) into the bedrock to find pockets of water and nutrients … almost abandoned as a wine region in the 1970s because the hills are so steep and must be worked entirely by hand, innovative winemakers from across the world have settled in this area today to take advantage of the unique combination of soil, climate and old vines of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan.
Loam (soil)
- warm, soft
- usually too fertile for high quality wines
- combination of sand, silt and clay
Loess (soil)
- fine, silt based
- wind-blown silt
- good water retention/warming properties
means loose in german
found in germany, alsace and hungary
Marl (soil)
- calcareous, clay based
- cool (delays ripening)
- deep, lacks stone fragments
//In Burgundy, Vosne-Romanée is noted for producing the world’s most acclaimed Pinot Noir on clay limestone soil called Marl.
Quartz (soil)
- common material found in a sand + silt soils
- high pH –> reduces acidity of wines
- stores heat –> can increase ripening of grapes
Sand (soil)
- warm, airy
- drains well, poor water retention
** phylloxera doesn’t like it **
Schist (soil)
- laminated, crystalline rock based soil
- retains heat well
- rich in Mg + K
- poor in organic nutrients and nitrogen
Shale (soil)
- fine grained sedimentary rock turned into slate under geologic pressure
- moderately fertile
- retains heat well
Silex (soil)
- flint/sand based
- clay + limestone + silica
- found in the loire
Silt (soil)
- fine grain deposits
- good water retention
- poor drainage
Slate (soil)
- metamorphic plate-like rock
- retains heat well, heats up quickly
germany (the mosel)
Terra-Rossa (soil)
- sedimentary
- formed after carbonates leached out of limestone
- breakdown leaves iron deposits which oxidize
//found in La Mancha in Spain and Coonawarra in Australia.
Tufa (soil)
- crumbly (friable)
- calcareous
- created from vent based volcanic rock which cools before it hits the ground
Volcanic (soil)
- formed from either vent-based or lava based activity
