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WSET Level 4 Wine Diploma > D3 Chile & Argentina > Flashcards

D3 Chile & Argentina Flashcards

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1
Q

Features of Chile?

A

Atacama Dessert - North
Andes Mountains - East
Pacific Ocean - West
Patagonia Glaciers - South

Fairly consistent climate in spite of very wide latitude range

Warm Mediterranean climate

Lot latitude = intense sunlight

Humboldt Current - cooling from Antarctica

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2
Q

Weather System Affecting Chile?

A

El Nino - very high rainfall every 2-10 years

La Nina - low rainfall and drought

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3
Q

Vineyard risks in Chile?

A

Fungal disease in wetter areas

Forest fires in drier areas

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4
Q

Mechanisation in Chile?

A

Increasing, but still hand harvested a lot of the time

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5
Q

Indigenous Bulk Grape in Chile?

A

Pais, though significantly less planted now

Some better examples now grown in South (Bio Bio, Maule, Itata)

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6
Q

Chilean Grapes?

A

Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Carmenere
Syrah

Sauvignon Blanc

Chardonnay

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7
Q

Location in Chile for bulk wines?

A

Central Valley

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8
Q

Chile East to West Zones?

A

Costa
Entre Cordilleras
Andes

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9
Q

Chilean DO Grape Requirements?

A

Minimum 75% for domestic, 85% of variety for EU export

Minimum 11.5% ABV

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10
Q

Chile - Superior, Reserva, Reserva Especial, Reserva Privada, Gran Reserva?

A

Min. 12% for Reserva (Especial)
Min 12.5% Reserva Privada & Gran Reserva, also 6 months minimum oak ageing
Otherwise doesn’t mean a lot

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11
Q

Coquimbo Sub-Regions?

A

Elqui
Limari
Choapa

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12
Q

Coquimbo Features?

A

Low Latitude so very hot and intense sunlight
Mountain and ocean cooling critical
Humboldt provides cooling fogs, but very little rainfall
Edge of Atacama desert, and reduced Andean snowfall means even less access to irrigation water

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13
Q

Elqui Features & Grapes?

A

Elqui River
High altitude

Syrah
Sauvignon Bla

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14
Q

Limari Features & Grapes?

A

Ocean cooling in West, Andean cooling and high altitude in East

Chardonnay
Syrah

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15
Q

Aconcagua Sub-Regions?

A

Aconcagua Valley
San Antonio
Casablanca Valley

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16
Q

Aconcagua Features & Grapes?

A

Most pronounced effect of East to West zoning

Central part of valley is warm and dry, growing Cabernet and Merlot, and Camenere and Syrah to a lesser extent

Valley sides and East - lower alcohol, higher acid

Costa - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir & Syrah to lesser extent

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17
Q

Casablanca Valley Features & Grapes?

A

Very cool area - little protection from Pacific
Spring frosts acute risk
Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah

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18
Q

San Antonio Features & Grapes?

A

Heavy ocean influence, less as moving East

Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah

19
Q

Central Valley Sub-Regions?

A

Maipo Valley
Rapel Valley > Cachapoal Valley & Colchagua Valley
Curico Valley
Maule Valley

20
Q

Maipo Valley Features & Grapes?

A

Sheltered from maritime influence, so warm and dry
Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Syrah
Bulk Merlot

21
Q

Rapel Valley (Cachapoal & Colchagua) Features & Grapes?

A

Cachapoal - lots of bulk wines on dry valley floor
Peumo - concentrated high quality Carmenere, cooling winds funnelled along Cachapoal river from Pacific without frost risk; Cabernet also
Colchagua - lots of bulk wines on dry valley floor
Cooler less fertile parts of Colchagua making outstanding wines from Cabernet, Syrah and Carmenere
Costa part of Colchagua ideal for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

22
Q

Curico Valley Features & Grapes?

A

High volume wines of Cab, Merlot, SB, Chardonnay

23
Q

Maule Valley Features & Grapes?

A

High volume wines of Pais

Some rare instances of old vine high quality Pais

24
Q

Itata Valley Grapes?

A

Cheap blending grapes

However, old vine Pais, Muscat of Alexandria & Cinsault

25
Q

Southern Region Sub-Regions?

A

Itata Valley
Bio Bio Valley
Malleco Valley

26
Q

Bio Bio Valley Grapes?

A

Old vines of Pais
Riesling, Gewurz, SB
PN, Chardonnay

27
Q

Argentina Altitudes?

A

3300m in Salta
500m lowest
1,000+m typical;

Where latitude is lower (Northerly) there must be elevation to offer cooling

Altitude = high diurnal range (as much as 20 Celsius swing); more intense sunlight and UV = more tannins and anthocyanins

28
Q

Argentina Climate & Features?

A

Warm Continental generally
Andes casts a rain shadow, so very dry and requires irrigation
Dry air and winds alleviates disease pressure
Zonda wind, hot dry and powerful in spring/summer, can lowers humidity and creates water stress

29
Q

Vineyard Risks in Argentina?

A 
Wind damage from the zonda
Hail storms (netting is expensive)
Spring frosts in flat areas
El Nino hailstorms and very high rainfall
Nematodes
Relatively low disease risk otherwise
30
Q

Soils in Argentina?

A

Higher Altitude = calcareous
Middle Altitude - Gravel, sand, silt
Lower Altitude - loamy-clay (vigorous)

31
Q

Argentina Irrigation?

A

Widespread use of flood

Less commonly drip

32
Q

Argentina Vine Training?

A

Historically the use or pergolas (parral) especially for Whites that need shade e.g. Torrontes or high yield varieties

Increasingly VSP

33
Q

Argentina Harvesting?

A

Historically by hand, increasingly mechanised

34
Q

Bonarda?

A 
Mostly grown around San Juan
Simpler wines
Med(+) acidity, medium tannins and alcohol
Red and black fruit
Doesn't take oak well
35
Q

3 Layers of Argentina GI?

A

IP - very wide areas
IG - of a certain quality, from a certain place
DOC - only Lujan de Cuyo and San Rafael, both in Mendoza

36
Q

Argentina - labelling for variety and vintage?

A

Minimum 85% respectively

37
Q

Argentina - Reserva vs Gran Reserva?

A

Reserva - minimum 6 (whites) or 12 (reds) months oak maturation

Gran Reserva - minimum 12 (whites) or 24 (reds) months oak maturation

38
Q

Cuyo?

A

Mendoza, San Juan and La Rioja

39
Q

5 parts of Mendoza?

A

Northern - inexpensive simple wines
Eastern - inexpensive simple wines
Central > Lujan de Cuyo (~1000m), Maipu (600-900m, old vines)
Uco Valley - Tunuyan River, 850-1,500m
Southern > San Rafael 450-850m but higher latitude/cooler; lesser reputation but capable of very good wines, including Chenin Blanc

40
Q

San Juan?

A

Mostly inexpensive

Pedernal valley near Mendoza (1250-1500m) producing excellent Syrah, Malbec, Bonarda though

41
Q

La Rioja?

A

Inexpensive wines mostly Co-op

42
Q

Salta?

A

Calchaqui River
1500-3300m
Cafayate for Torrontes

43
Q

Patagonia?

A

Neuquen winds
Flat, relatively low elevation
High latitude so naturally cool
Growing cooler-climate grapes such as Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, alongside Chardonnay, Merlot, Semillon

WSET Level 4 Wine Diploma (21 decks)

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