D5 Fortified Wines Flashcards
Fortifying Spirits?
Most are 95-96% neutral grape spirit
Port is ~77% flavourful grape spirit
Size of maturation vessel?
If meaningfully aged, likely to be in smaller vessel, to increase oxidation and evaporation/concentration (also, ullage)
What does ageing under flor reduce, and add, respectively?
Glycerol (and hence mouthfeel), and autolytic (e.g. bread dough) and acetaldehyde compounds (e.g. bruised apple, almond, hay, chamomile)
Typical ‘Rancio’ Aromas?
Leather, wood varnish, strong coffee
Unfiltered and Unfined Sherry?
En Rama
Reasons for Blending?
Balance, Style, Consistency, Complexity, Volume, Price
Sherry Regulatory Council?
Consejo Regulador
Growing environment for Sherry?
Low Altitude, Low Latitude, Hot Mediterranean Climate; Poniente (cooling Atlantic wind): Levante (hot African wind)
Where is Manzanilla made?
Sanlucar de Barrameda
Sherry Appellation?
Zona de Produccion > Jerez Superior & Jerez Zona > DO Manzanilla - Sanlucar de Barrameda & DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry > Individual “Pagos”
However, PX can be grown in Montilla, but must be matured in Zona de Crianza
Why is Jerez Superior ‘better’ than Jerez Zona?
Albariza Soil (limestone, silicon, clay) - excellent at retention and slow release, plus crusting to reduce evaporation, and light coloured to reflect sunlight to enhance ripening
Allows high density planting, and high yields for neutral Palomino
Sherry Vine Training System?
Historically, replacement cane pruning (vara y pulgar), but increasingly cordon trained, spur pruned, VSP to ease mechanisation.
Sherry Maximum Yield?
80 hL/ha (typically 60-70)
What is Aserpia?
Digging of trenches post-harvest to help capture rainfall in Sherry vineyards
Sherry Rootstocks?
333EM, 41-B, 13-5 EVEX (all Vinifera x Berlandieri hybrids) with tolerance for limestone, drought endurance and high yields
Vineyard Issues in Sherry?
Dry season prevents disease; mildew occasionally which can be reduced through VSP and fungicides; No frost issues due to Poniente; European grapevine moth treated with pheromone traps
Palomino Grape Harvesting Conditions (e.g. ABV)?
12% potential alcohol, 5 g/L acid, 3.3-3.5 pH, maximum juice yield 70L/100kg
Sherry Clarification of Must?
Required due to dust from albariza soil - cold settling, centrifugation or flotation
Sherry Fermentation Temperature?
22-26 Celsius
MLF in Sherry?
Undesirable (already low acid, butteriness not wanted), but done through chilling for biologically aged wines - SO2 inhibits flor
Fortification Levels in Sherry?
15-15.5% for biological, 17% for oxidative
What is Sobretablas?
Post-fortification, pre-solera Sherry wines - going on to First and Second Classification for suitability
Zona de Crianza?
3 Municipalities for Palomino ageing - Sanlucar de Barrameda (also ‘Manzanilla’), El Puerto de Santa Maria, Jerez de la Frontera
Moscatel can be aged elsewhere Chiclana and Chipiona)
Typical Sherry Maturation Vessel?
600L Sherry Butt (heavily used American Oak, typically)
Ideal Conditions for Flor?
Cooler temperatures (16-20 Celsius), high humidity (~65% RH thanks to Poniente), lower ABV (no higher than 15.5%)
Layers of Solera?
Criadera (Solera is oldest, 1st Criadera next oldest etc.)
Solera Constraints?
40% maximum per year extracted; minimum 2 years old
When is ullage desirable in Sherry?
Biological ageing - flor needs oxygen
Volatile Acidity in Sherry?
Acetic Acid and Ethyl Acetate formed through oxidative ageing
Maximum Sugar Level in Dry Sherry?
5g/L
Manzanilla vs Fino
Very similar - Manzanilla specific to Sanlucar de Barrameda and is fresher and lighter due to different yeast strains (counter-intuitively given maturation conditions and higher presence of flor)
Manzanilla Pasada?
Lightly oxidatively aged (~1 year max) Manzanilla
Amontillado vs Palo Cortado?
PC tends to be fuller and rounder, as it’ll have seen more oxidative ageing, and less biological ageing, hence higher glycerol
PX and Sweet Moscatel Production?
Late harvest, 2-3 weeks drying to concentrate, ferment to 4-6% (natural stall), fortify to 15-16% ABV
PX and Moscatel Sugar Levels?
PX - Minimum 212 g/L, typically 450-550 g/L
Moscatel - Minimum 160 g/L, typically 325-375 g/L
VOS/VORS?
Vinum Optimum Signatum / Very Old Sherry - 20 years
Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum / Very Old Rare Sherry - 30 years
Average age - assessed stylistically
Sherry Volumes & Market Composition?
7,000 ha planted; average vineyard 3 ha
3,000 owned by co-ops, 2,000 owned by independents, 2,000 owned by shippers
Sherry Bodega Roles?
Production Bodega - usually co-ops in the production zone, who sell onto maturation zone producers
Ageing and Storage Bodega (Almacenistas) - matured then sold to shippers
Ageing and Shipping Bodega - only ones able to export/sell DO Sherries
Port Regulatory Authority?
Instituto dos Vinhos do Porto e do Douro (IVDP)
Portuguese Terraces & Planting?
Patamares - wider, better for mechanisation, lower density (about half)
Socalcos - thinner, not suitable for mechanisation, high density
Vinha ao Alto - vertical lines up slope; max 40 degrees slope for mechanisation, high density planting
Why is Douro valley so warm and dry?
Distance from sea, and mountainous shelter thanks to Serra do Marao
3 Regions of Douro?
Baixo Corgo - Westerly, coolest, wettest [lower quality]
Cima Corgo - central, warmer, drier [better quality]
Douro Superior - hottest, driest [better quality]
Douro Soil?
Schist - vertical layers, so vines can go very deep
Douro Rootstocks?
Drought resistant e.g. 110R and 1103P
Port Maximum Yield?
55 hL/ha though typically about half (30)
Viticultural Hazards in Port?
Spring frosts (highest altitude vineyards)
Disrupted flowering and fruitset by cool weather
Downy Mildew
Botrytis, especially in BC, but can be combated with canopy management and fungicides
Herbicides to address weed growth on patamares
Cover Crops can be grown to prevent soil erosion on Vinho ao Alto, and reduce weeds and provide nutrition
Top 5 Red Port Grapes
Touriga Nacional - mid-ripening with thick skin, deep colour and high tannins, black fruit, floral, can be excessively vigorous so needs careful pruning, coulure can cause yield issues
Touriga Franca - most widely grown, late ripening (so best suited to CC and DS), tight bunches, thick-skinned (good vs fungal), colour, tannin, acidity, red and black fruit
Tinta Roriz - Tempranillo, early ripening, better in cooler sites (BC), body, colour, high yield (need to be careful)
Tinta Barroca - early ripening, better in cooler sites (BC) otherwise heat damage and shrivelling, earthy, less floral, lesser acid and colour,
Tinta Cao - low-yielding, small thick-skinned grapes, good vs fungal, late ripening and heat tolerant, concentrated wines with high acid
Tinta Amarela - Trincadeira, tight bunches, prone to fungal, concentrated black fruit and spice
Sousao - thick-skinned, deep colour, high acid
White Port Grapes?
Malvasia Fina - Boal, neutral wines with medium acid, full body and honeyed palate
Moscatel Galego Branco - Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, aromatic
Residual Sugar in Port?
Typically 80-120 g/L