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WSET diploma new Syllabus > Australia > Flashcards

Australia Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
WSET ® Level 1 Wine flashcards WSET ® Level 2 Wine flashcards WSET ® Level 3 Wine flashcards WSET ® Level 2 Spirits flashcards WSET ® Level 1 Spirits flashcards WSET ® Level 3 Spirits flashcards WSET® Level 4 Wine flashcards
1
Q

What is Sémillon usually blended with in Australia?

A

Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay

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2
Q

What is the most notable single varietal Sémillon in Australia?

A

Hunter Valley Sémillon

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3
Q

Name three different styles of Australian Sémillon

A
  1. Hunter Valley Sémillon - low alcohol, high acidity, unoaked, neutral in youth - develops aromatic complexity with bottle age
  2. Barossa Valley - fuller bodied with higher alcohol and flavours from oak maturation - not as age worthy as Hunter
  3. Riverina of New South Wales - complex sweet wines - noble rot
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4
Q

Where is New South Wales?

A

East coast of Australia

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5
Q

What is the most heavily populated state in Australia?

A

New South Wales - home to Sydney

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6
Q

What is the second largest state in terms of wine production in Australia?

A

New South Wales

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7
Q

What is the climate in New South Wales?

A

The Pacific Coast north of Sydney has a sub tropical climate with moderate to high temperates, high humidity and high rainfall which generally falls throughout the year but is often erratic

Protected from the tropical weather systems by the Great Dividing Range, the inland climate is mainly continental and can be very hot and dry especially in the Big Rivers Zone which includes Riverina.

The Central Ranges Zone and Southern New South Wales Zone altitude plays an important role in moderating temperatures

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8
Q

What is the most famous wine region in New South Wales?

A

Hunter Valley

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9
Q

Where is Hunter Valley Zone in relation to Sydney?

A

The Hunter Valley Zone is 200km north of Sydney

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10
Q

What latitude is Hunter Valley Zone?

A

Hunter Valley Zone is at a Latitude of 32-33°S

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11
Q

What is the climate in Hunter Valley Zone?

A

Almost tropical - one of the hotter and most humid wine producing regions in Australia

Summer day time temperatures regularly exceed 30°C although the nights are relatively cool

Low latitude means sun is intense but afternoon cloud cover offers some respite to the vines

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12
Q

How does Lower Hunter differ climate wise to Upper Hunter?

A

Lower Hunter is closer to the coast and benefits from some sea breezes which means it is slightly cooler than the Upper Hunter

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13
Q

What is the soil like in Lower Hunter?

A

Soils range from sandy loans to clay loams, often over a clay base

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14
Q

What is the topology of Lower Hunter?

A

The landscape is made up of undulating hills at relatively low altitudes

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15
Q

When does most of the rain fall in Hunter Valley Zone?

A

The majority of rainfall occurs during the growing season (500mm)

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16
Q

What makes fungal disease a major concern in Hunter Valley Zone?

A

High rainfall (500mm during growing season) and high humidity

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17
Q

What does Hunter’s position in the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range mean?

A

No protection from late summer tropical storms which sometimes sweep down Australia’s Pacific coast

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18
Q

Why is Hunter often the first Australian wine region to start and finish harvesting in Australia?

A

Warm climate, leading to earlier start to ripening and a risk of late summer storms

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19
Q

What wine region is often first to start and finish harvesting in Australia?

A

Hunter Valley Zone

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20
Q

What is the white/black grape split in Hunter?

A

Almost equal

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21
Q

What wine is Hunter Valley famous for?

A

It’s unique expression of Sémillon

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22
Q

What is Hunter Valley Sémillon style typically?

A

Dry, light bodied, high in acidity, low in alcohol (10-11° ABV)

Delicate citrus character - may be fairly neutral in youth

Can add for decades developing aromas of toast, honey and hay with bottle ageing

Many of the highest quality wines won’t be released until they are at least 5 years old

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23
Q

How many years are Hunter Valley Sémillon often aged in bottle for before being released by the best producers?

A

5 years

24
Q

When is Sémillon picked in Hunter Valley?

A

Early

25
Q

How are Hunter Valley Sémillon processed in the winery?

A

Picked early
Must gently pressed without skin contact to avoid extraction of phenolic compounds such as tannin

Must fermented at moderate temperate in stainless steel

Finished wine bottles shortly after

Wines rarely see any oak

Tend to be good to outstanding in quality

Mid priced to premium

26
Q

What are two significant producers of Hunter Valley Sémillon?

A

Tyrell’s

Mount Pleasant

27
Q

What other wines apparent from Sémillon is produced in Hunter Valley?

A
  1. Chardonnay - widely produced ranging from medium body with higher acidity through copper sites or earlier picking to riper full-bodied: with lower acidity. Both oaked and unoaked
  2. High quality reds - mostly Shiraz

Typically medium bodied with medium to high alcohol and red and black fruits and spicy notes. Often matured in oak but mainly large barrels and increasingly foudres so any oak character does not dominate

28
Q

What provides respite from otherwise hot and sunny Hunter Valley?

A

Cloud cover

29
Q

What is Australia’s largest wine producing state by volume?

A

South Australia

30
Q

Which Australian state produces approx 50% of the total weight of harvested fruit?

A

South Australia

31
Q

Why are most South Australian vineyards concentrated on the south eastern corner close to the coast?

A

Because much of South Australia is too hot for viticulture need cooling coastal influence

32
Q

Where is Barossa Zone?

A

North of Adelaide, South East Australia

33
Q

What two regions are in Barossa Zone?

A

Barossa Valley - flat valley floor

Eden Valley - hills to the east

34
Q

What is the dominant variety in Barossa Zone?

A

Shiraz is comfortable the dominant Variety

35
Q

Why do many producers blend Shiraz from both Barossa Valley and Eden Valley?

A

To combine the intensity and body of the warmer Barossa Valley with the elegance and acidity of wines from the cooler Eden Valley

36
Q

Where is Barossa Valley?

A

60km inland from Adelaide, Barossa Zone, south east Australia, south Australia zone

37
Q

How big is Barossa Valley?

A

It is one of Australia’s largest wine regions with vineyards covering over 11,000 ha

38
Q

What is the geography of Barossa Valley?

A

It is a flat plain protected in the west by low hills and on the east big the Eden Valley region and on the south by steeper parts of the Mount Lofty Ranges known as the Adelaide Hills

39
Q

What contributes to Barossa Valley’s warm climate?

A

Sheltered location protected by various hills to the west (Eden Valley), east and south (Adelaide Hills)

40
Q

How much rain does Barossa Valley get?

A

Relatively low amounts of rain during the growing season circa 160mm

Making irrigation necessary in most years but also that disease and fungal pressure is low

41
Q

Why is disease pressure low in Barossa Valley?

A

Hot, dry and sunny. No issues with fungal diseases and damp

42
Q

Where are vines planted in Barossa Valley?

A

Most vineyards lie on the plain between 250-370m above sea level

Ideal for production of ripe, full bodied reds

Vineyards on the valley sides are a little cooler producing a slightly fresher style of wine

43
Q

Why is the ironstone layer of soil in northern part of Barossa Valley so prized?

A

For it’s water retaining properties

Barossa Valley is warm and dry and irrigation can be necessary in most years in much of the valley
The vibes planted on the northern ironstone layer sooo produce some of Barossa’s most age worthy wines

44
Q

When were vines first planted in Barossa Valley?

A

Vines were first planted in Barossa Valley in the 1840s

45
Q

Why is Barossa home to some of the world’s oldest vines?

A

Because vines were first planted in 1840s and the region has not been affected by phylloxera

So it has some of the world’s oldest vines most notably of Shiraz and Grenache

46
Q

What vineyard factors contribute to Barossa Valley producing some outstanding, complex wines?

A 
Old vines (vines planted since 1840s, no phylloxera)
Low yielding due to age - concentrated flavours
Dry-farmed - no dilution due to irrigation
47
Q

What is the Barossa Old Vine Charter?

A

A system created in 2009 to record, preserve and promote old vines of Barossa - a number of categories created linked to vine age that appears on labels

48
Q

What categories of Barossa Old Vine Charter?

A

Barossa Old Vine - 35 years +
Barossa Survivor Vine - 70 years +
Barossa Centenarian Vine - 100years +

Ex. Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz Eden Valley

Barossa Ancestor Vine 125 years +

Examples.

Yulumba Tri-Centenary Grenache Barossa (planted 1889)

Cirillo Estate, Grenache 1850 Barossa Valley

Henschke Hill of Grace, Eden Valley

49
Q

Why were large number of old vines lost in Barossa Valley?

A

Due to the Vine Pull Scheme introduced in South Australia in 1980: to deal with oversupply

50
Q

What is Barossa Valley’s signature variety?

A

Shiraz - accounts for 66% of harvested fruit weight in 2019

51
Q

What is the signature style of Barossa Valley Shiraz?

A

Full bodied, high in alcohol with high levels of soft tannins, and pronounced ripe (often cooked or fried) black fruit aromas

Can age for a long time, softening and developing spicy, leathery aromas over time

Many are aged in new American oak although more recently many winemakers have been moving to French oak

52
Q

How are vines trained in Barossa?

A

Old vines bush vines

53
Q

Why have some Barossa producers started to harvest earlier?

A

To produce a fresher, more elegant and structured style

54
Q

What is the second most planted variety in Barossa Valley?

A

Cabernet Sauvignon

55
Q

On what sites is Cabernet mostly planted in Barossa Valley?

A

On the cooler, higher sites

The style is style richer and riper than Coonawarra or Margaret River with softer tannins and higher alcohol

56
Q

What % of harvest do white varieties make up in Barossa?

A

Just 9%

Shiraz, Cab Sav & Grenache dominate

There is some high quality warm climate Chardonnay with ripe tropical fruit and full bodied

Barossa Valley is also well known for its distinctive style of Sémillon, with higher alcohol and lower acidity than Hunter Valley.

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