Burgundy Flashcards
Because of its northerly location, spring frosts are a huge risk in Chablis. List the risk management options and the effects they may have.
- Smudge pots: Heat the vineyard, but cause pollution and require staff supervision.
- Sprinklers: Popular and environmentally friendly, but require initial upfront investment.
- Pruning choices: Pruning later can promote later budburst.
What are the limestone and clay soils (some of which has a considerable amount of fossilized seashells) known as?
Kimmeridgian
Why is Chardonnay particularly well suited to being grown in Chablis?
- Chardonnay is a grape variety that can successfully ripen to produce high quality wines in cool to warm climates, therefore it is suited to the cool continental climate that typifies Chablis.
- It is an early ripening variety which is beneficial as the summers can be short in Chablis.
- The styles of wines produced range from unoaked, dry, high acidity and light body to richer, medium body with green apple and citrus fruit character when grown on warmer sites.
List the Burgundy wine regions geographically from North to South.
- Chablis
- Côte de nuits
- Côte de Beaune
- Côte Chalonnaise
- Mâconnais
Which rootstock is widely used in Chablis due to its tolerance of limestone soils with a high pH?
41B
Why is double Guyot replacement cane training widely practised in Chablis?
Due to the risk of frost damage in Chablis, this system means that if one of the canes is damaged by frost, the other one may well survive, thereby reducing the impact on yield.
Which area depicts Chablis Grand Cru?
Area 2
The south-facing slopes of Chablis Grand Cru promote ripening and the wines have a greater weight and concentration than either premier cru of village level Chablis. The mixture of crumbly marl with good drainage and high clay content for water retention contributes to higher quality. Chablis Grand Cru represents just 1 per cent of the region’s total production.
List Chablis’ top 5 export markets from largest to smallest.
- UK
- USA
- Japan
- Sweden
- Canada
What is the climate type in the Côte d’Or?
Continental
Why can ripening Pinot Noir prove difficult in Côte d’Or, Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais despite its continental climate?
The weather is variable from year to year which challenges the ripening potential of Pinot Noir. Extreme weather events are becoming the norm in Burgundy, particularly hail storms occurring during the summer or early autumn. The threat of rain during early autumn, prior to vintage, can decrease the ripening potential of the grapes and increase fungal diseases.
Using bullet points, identify 3 things wine producers may do to alleviate the effect of hail in Burgundy.
- Since June 2018 netting has been permitted to protect the vines and grapes from hail.
- Silver iodide is often used to seed thunderclouds, to induce rainfall instead of hail away from the vineyards.
- Grape sorting tables are used to eliminate damaged grapes.
Describe why the soil on Burgundian slopes can often cause problems with grape growing.
- On slopes erosion is an issue with soil moving down the slope over time.
- The depth of the soils vary on a slope as a result, soils at the top of the slope tend to be thinner than the soils at the bottom of the slope which are deeper.
- In Burgundy the soils are quite often a mixture of clay and limestone. With deeper soils at the bottom of the slope, this can cause issues with drainage and excessive vine vigour leading to increased foliage growth due to higher soil fertility.
- The soil at the top of the slopes is often too shallow to allow vines to successfully grow their roots. This soil is nutrient deficient and struggles to retain enough water for optimum vine growth.
What is the name of the variant method of replacement cane pruning often used in Burgundy to maintain the same sap route from one year to the next?
Poussard-Guyot
Define Poussard-Guyot
This system maintains the same sap route from one year to the next with pruning wounds only on the upper part of the cordon. This reduces the number of pruning wounds and seeks to cut down the incidence of Esca and other trunk diseases.
Using bullet points, detail the ways producers may reduce yields in Burgundy and why they choose these methods.
- Choice of rootstock and clone will be well matched to the vigour of a site for new plantings or when replacing vines in established vineyards. This option is only available to a limited number of producers as Burgundy is an old established wine region.
- Planting density has an impact on vine vigour which may help to manage yields depending on the weather during the growing season. However, this is also a limited option for established producers.
- Choice of training, trellising and pruning has an impact on vine vigour but this choice is limited to new plantings and vineyards replacing older vines.
- De-budding in late spring to remove any excess buds to ensure the buds left on the vine can develop fully to support the ripening of all bunches.
- Green harvesting - removing bunches later in the season that will not ripen in time for harvest and allowing the remaining bunches to ripen fully.
