20.2 Producing Premium Small-Volume Dry Wine from a Neutral White Grape Variety Flashcards
1
Q
How would this wine be harvested? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Hand harvest
- Grapes picked in the coolest hours of morning and evening during hot weather. The grapes may also be stored in a cold storage on arrival at the winery.
- Allows for sorting in the vineyard to pick only healthy, fully ripe bunches and carry out initial sorting in the vineyard.
- Cool grapes are less affected by oxidation and microbial spoilage.
- Grapes picked at optimum ripeness, better for quality. Typically, significantly more expensive than machine harvesting.
- Retains primary fruit quality, enhancing overall quality. Chilling in cold storage adds cost while protecting quality.
2
Q
How would the grapes be transported to the winery? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Transport in small crates
- Addition of SO2
- Grapes collected and transported in small crates to limit damage and reduce crushing to minimum.
- Protection from microbial spoilage and oxidation.
- Negative effects on quality are avoided by minimizing crushing and the possibility of microbial spoilage or fermentation starting before reaching the winery.
- Retains quality.
3
Q
How would the grapes be received at the winery? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- High levels of sorting. Various options – sorted by workers on sorting table, on a moving/ vibrating belt or optical sorting.
- Elimination of under or extra-ripe grapes or bunches and of diseased or mouldy fruit.
- Each level of sorting raises potential quality by removing substandard grapes and adds cost (time, labour, equipment). Removing grapes also reduces volume of wine produced, and this has an implication on the price the wine needs to sell at for the winemaker to make a profit.
4
Q
How would the grapes be pressed? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Pneumatic press or Basket press
- Option: whole bunch press
- Both are gentle forms of press.
- Less oxidation as no prior stage of crushing, especially if grape bunches are covered with an inert gas. Low extraction of tannins
- Low extraction of unwanted phenolics. Basket presses take smaller loads and, depending on the volume of grapes, can be more labour intensive and therefore more expensive.
- Creates a smoother mouth feel. Whole bunch pressing is slow and more expensive than pressing crushed grapes.
5
Q
What adjustments might be made? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Made as necessary
- As great care has been taken with the picking date (and therefore the balance of fruit ripeness and acidity level), adjustments will be minimal. In some years, wines may need to be chaptalized or the acidity adjusted.
- Can help enhance the balance of the wine, which improves quality.
6
Q
What choices might be made in regards to must clarification? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Sedimentation
- Option: retain a relatively high proportion of solids
- Sedimentation is typically chosen as the method of clarification as it is traditional and involves the least manipulation. Additionally, there is often less pressure to speed up the winemaking process, compared to high-volume production.
- A small proportion of solids may be retained to increase complexity of aromas.
- Clarifying must can lead to less clarification post-fermentation with the aim of retaining delicate aromas and flavours.
- Increase in complexity of aromas, with possibly low levels of reductive sulfur compounds. Less fruity aromas and flavours.
7
Q
What choices might be made in regards to hyperoxidation? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Option: hyperoxidation may be carried out in some cases.
- Oxidize at this point the compounds which are most prone to oxidation. Remove bitter compounds.
- Smoother final wine and one less prone to later oxidation. This adds cost as this is a further procedure to be carried out.
8
Q
What yeast would be used for fermentation? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Option: ambient yeast
- Option: cultured yeast
- Ambient yeast may have a range of species present and are considered part of terroir
- Cultured yeasts chosen for neutrality or for promoting aromatic traits; and for reliable ferment to dry.
- Promotion of distinctive aroma/flavour characteristics in the wine
- Possible promotion of certain selected aroma/flavour characteristics, or production of relatively neutral wine to which flavours and texture from oak and lees can be added.
9
Q
What vessel would be used for fermentation? At what temperature? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Option: rack to barrels Fermentation in barrel is an option for high quality white wines, e.g. Chardonnay or Bordeaux blend
- Option: ferment in neutral container. High quality white wines such as Alsace Pinot Gris Grand Cru are typically fermented in large old wood vessels, concrete or stainless steel.
- Option: ferment in concrete eggs. Concrete eggs give a further option, often to produce a portion of the final wine for blending
- If new barrels used this adds oak flavours. If old barrels are used, there will be gentle exposure to oxygen. There may be variations between the barrels and this gives the winemaker more blending options.
- No added oak flavours desired.
- The shape of the egg is said to set up convection currents mixing the fermenting must and the lees
- Deeper colour, fuller body, above all better integration of the flavours of oak and primary fruit.
- Preserves the primary fruit.
- Adds a portion of the wine which can then be blended into the final wine for additional complexity. Adds cost as the eggs are expensive to buy, contain relatively little wine and are additional vessels to monitor.
10
Q
What choices would be made in regards to malolactic conversion? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Option: avoid malolactic conversion
- Option: encourage malolactic conversion
- To retain primary fruit flavour and acidity (for example in Alsace Pinot Gris).
- If choice is full malolactic conversion then this slightly lowers acidity and can add buttery flavours (white Burgundy). Some will choose for a part of the wine to go through malolactic conversion creating options for blending for the final wine.
- Fruitier, no buttery aromas. Higher acidity than if malolactic conversion was encouraged.
- Slightly lower and more rounded acidity, additional complexity of buttery notes, less fruity. Part malolactic conversion: create further complexity by creating blending options for final wine.
11
Q
What choices would be made in regards to blending? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Choosing the lots which reach the quality standard and the style required.
- Blending of multi-varietal wines or of lots of single varieties
- Attain the quality required: flavour intensity, balance between flavour and acidity.
- Create the final blend for optimum quality. Choosing: 1) the precise proportions of the varietal components if a multi-varietal blend; 2) the best blend if blending the components of a single variety. The choice may be from fermentation in different types of vessel, from full or partial malolactic conversion lots or from slightly different expressions in individual barrels.
- Final wine to show the flavour intensity and balance required. Where lots are not used in the top wine, this leads to a potential loss of income.
- Maximize complexity and balance. Where lots are not used in the top wine, this leads to a potential loss of income.
12
Q
What choices would be made in regards to maturation? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Option: small oak barrels
- Option: large barrels or stainless steel
- Lees ageing
- Option: lees stirring
- If an oaked style is desired, then wine can be aged in small barrels to add oak flavours and to age the wine in a mildly oxidative process. Wines will also begin to clarify naturally due to time of maturation.
- Time in neutral containers allows flavours to integrate and for the wine to lose the aromas of fermentation esters associated with very young wines. Wines will begin to clarify naturally due to time of maturation.
- Adds texture while retaining freshness
- Lees stirring can add body to the wine and lessens the chance of reduction.
- Deeper colour, fuller body, addition of vanilla/sweet spice oak notes, start of the development of tertiary characteristics. Additional cost of barrels and of monitoring the wine and racking it as required.
- Best expression of primary fruit flavours. Additional costs are the requirements for more large containers for the maturing wine, the space to house them at the appropriate temperature and the need to monitor them and rack them as required.
- More textured palate, additional costs due to keeping the wine and monitoring its development on the lees.
- Adds body, aroma compounds and, lessens the chance of reductive sulfur compounds forming. Additional costs due to the work of stirring the lees and monitoring the wine’s development.
13
Q
What choices would be made in regards to finishing the wine before packaging? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Tartrate stabilisation
- Option: sedimentation
- Option: fining
- Option: sterile filtration
- Consumers of premium wines may not accept tartrate crystals. If this is regarded as an issue, wines can be stabilised. Cold stabilization is the most likely option as it is traditional and involves the least manipulation.
- Some makers of premium wines believe that quality is preserved by the fewest possible interventions. They may wish to avoid fining and filtering the wine. Sedimentation to clarify the wine is the main option in this case.
- Ensure wine stays clear and bright.
- Avoid risk of any faults developing in bottle.
- Maintain quality and style and avoid what some consumers may see as a fault.
- Maintain quality and style. Additional cost as wine has to be stored until it is clear.
- Maintain style and quality.
- Maintain style and quality
14
Q
What choices would be made in regards to packaging? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Glass bottle
- High quality cork or other high quality closures
- Only glass is suitable for wines which are intended to age as it is impermeable to oxygen.
- Most premium wine bottled under high quality cork. This is partly because this is what consumers expect of high quality wines and partly because they offer the potential to age the wine further in bottle. Some premium producers will choose either a screwcap or a high quality technical cork with low oxygen transfer rate, or glass stoppers.
- Maintain style and quality and offer possibility of further ageing in the bottle.
- Maintain style and quality and offer possibility of further ageing in the bottle. Both high quality natural cork and glass stoppers are costly options.
15
Q
At what temperature would fermentation be carried out? Why? What is the influence on style quality and price?
A
- Moderate temperature (17-25°C / 63-77°F)
- Up to 20°C / 68°F for Pinot Gris Grand Cru to retain fruitiness but avoid low-temperature esters. Up to 25°C / 77°F for barrel-fermented Chardonnay avoid low-temperature esters and to promote savoury notes.
- Pinot Gris: maximum fruit expression. Chardonnay: fruit expression and added complexity.
