Climate/Soil/Viticulture

Question 1

What is the climate of Bordeaux?

Answer 1

Maritime with increasingly hot and humid summers.

Occasional rain at harvest.

Question 2

What area of Bordeaux has more annual rainfall than any other region of France?

Answer 2

The Medoc.

Question 3

How does the Atlantic Gulf Stream current affect the climate of Bordeaux?

Answer 3

It brings warm waters from the Caribbean and helps keep the climate in Bordeaux mild.

Question 4

Where does Bordeaux fall on the Winkler Scale?

Answer 4

Region II

Question 5

Is there a sizable diurnal temperature shift in Bordeaux?

Answer 5

No.

Question 6

What is coulure?

Answer 6

Coulure is a viticultural hazard that is the result of metabolic reactions to weather conditions that causes a failure of grapes to develop after flowering.
Triggered by periods of cold, cloudy, rainy weather or very high out-of-season temperatures.
Coulure can also cause irregular bunches of grapes which are less compact than normal.

Question 7

What is 2-methoxy-3isobutylpyrazine?

Answer 7

Pyrazines.

Question 8

What ripens earlier, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot?

Answer 8

Merlot.

Question 9

Another name for Malbec in Bordeaux is what?

Answer 9

Pessac Noir.

Question 10

What are the parents of Cabernet Sauvignon?

Answer 10

Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

Question 11

Cabernet Franc is a parent of these three grapes.

Answer 11

Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Carmeniere

Question 12

True or False.

Merlot and Malbec are siblings.

Answer 12

True.

Question 13

The Tertiary Geological deposits in Bordeaux developed into what soil types? Where is this prevalent in Bordeaux?

Answer 13

Clay and limestone.

Right Bank.

Question 14

The Quarternary geological deposits in Bordeaux developed into what soil types? Where is this prevalent in Bordeaux?

Answer 14

Alluvial, sandy and gravels.
Left Bank (Medoc, Graves, Sauternes).

Question 15

How did the gravel soils form in Bordeaux?

Answer 15

The gravel was left behind hundreds of thousands of years ago by melted glaciers from the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.

Question 16

What does gravel do for the vines?

Answer 16

It regulates water supply. Drainage is key for the vines.

Question 17

What is green harvesting? What does this do for the grapes?

Answer 17

Whole bunches are removed during the summer months.

This reduces vigor, produces smaller berries and yields more concentrated vines.

Question 18

What are the two sorting machines that are used in Bordeaux?

Answer 18

Optical sorter: Fruit is automatically rejected.

Density sorter: Grapes are run through a suger-water solution. The ones that float to the top are rejected.

Question 19

What is the vine training method used in Bordeaux?

Answer 19

Double Guyot

Question 20

What is the latitude of Bordeaux?

Answer 20

44.83 degrees

Question 21

What is remontage vs pigeage? What is more popular in Bordeaux?

Answer 21

Remontage: Pumping over
Pigeage: Punch down
Remontage is more popular in Bordeaux

Question 22

What is passerillage?

Answer 22

The practice of leaving grapes on the vine past normal harvest so that they dry up and concentrate their flavors.

Question 23

What reduces VA in Sauternes?

Answer 23

Sulfur Dioxide

Question 24

How does the climate of the right bank compare to the left bank?

Answer 24

The right bank is drier than the left bank.
There is a greater temperature swing from summer to winter on the right bank.
Spring and fall frosts are a greater concern on the right bank.

Question 25

True of False.

Petit Verdot does not exist on the right bank.

Answer 25

True