Fortified Flashcards
Purpose of fortification
strengthen base wine in order to:
- add body
- add durability
- add age-worthiness
3 methods of fortification
1) addition of spirit during fermentation while sugar still remains/stopping fermentation (port)
2) addition of spirit after fermentation (sherry)
3) addition of spirit to grape must before fermentation
Who oversees the production of Port
Douro Port Wine Institute/Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP)
The law of thirds
sale of Port is restricted to 1/3 of a houses annual inventory
Beneficio authorization
growers are scored A-F by IVDP on a scale of 2,361 points in 12 different areas
determines the max amount of wine to be fortified that year
Port Grapes (red)
- Touriga Nacional
- Touriga Francesa
- Tinta Roriz
- Tinta Cão
- Tinta Barroca
- Tinta Amarela
- Tinta Francisca
- Bastardo
- Mourisco Tinto
Port Grapes (white)
- Gouveio
- Malvasia Fina
- Viosinho
- Rabigato
- Esgana Cão
- Folgasão
Patamares
wide terraced slopes, for tractors to fit through
Port fermentation length
2-3 days
Beneficio
fortification
- occurs when approx 1/3 of all sugar is fermented
- fortified to 19-22% abv
Aguardente
“fire water”
-the 77% abv neutral grain spirit used for fortification
Pipe
barrel used for aging (550 liters) and shipping (534.24 liters)
Types of Port
- Ruby
- Tawny
Types of Ruby Port
- Ruby
- Ruby Reserve
- Vintage
- Single Quinta
- Late Bottle Vintage (LBV)
Ruby Port
- aged in bulk for 2-3 years
- deeply colored, uncomplicated
- NV
Ruby Reserve Port
aka Premium Ruby
-more character and complexity than basic Ruby
Vintage Port
- 1-3% of all production (most expensive)
- houses declare vintage avg 3 times a decade
- aged in casks and bottled before July 30th of its 3rd year after harvest
- can be aged in bottle
Single Quinta Port
- product of one estates harvest
- same aging as vintage port
- can be aged in bottle
Late Bottle Vintage Port (LBV)
- 4-6 years in cask before bottle
- always single vintage
- filtered before bottle so will reach maturity faster
- not to be aged in bottle
Envelhecido en Garrafa
- unfiltered LBV
- min 3 years of bottle aging
Types of Tawny Port
- Tawny
- Reserve Tawny
- Tawny with age indication
- Colheita
Tawny Port
- pale style
- most do not see cask
- may have white Port added
Reserve Tawny
- aged for min 7 years before bottle
- not to be aged in bottle
Tawny with age indication
- 10, 20, 30, or 40 years old
- high quality fruit
- racked once a year
- not an avg age, rather an approx assumption by IVDP
Rancio State
tawny that has reached 40 years
-becomes oxidative, concentrated, developed
Colheita Tawny
- vintage dated
- min 7 years in cask
- many spend decades in cask
Madeira
island 625 miles off coast of Portugal
Torna Viagem
“round trip”
-simulated today by heating the wine
who oversees Madeira production
Embroidery and Handicraft Institute of Madeira (IVBAM)
Poios
terraces of Madeira lined by walls of basalt stone
Latadas
low trellises used in Pergola training to prevent fungal diseases in Madeiras subtropical climate
Levadas
system of canals fed by rainwater from its high elevation peaks
3 companies in Madeira production
- Production companies
- Export/shipping companies
- Partidistas
Madeira production companies
- based in Funchal (capital of Madeira)
- 8 total, 6 also export
- Vinhos Justino Henriques is largest (est. 1870)
Madeira export/shipping companies
select wines from a producer and have them bottled under their name
-usually based in London
Partidistas
store wine and sell it at maturity for profit
Madeira grapes (dry-sweet)
- Sercial
- Verdelho
- Boal
- Malvasia/Malmsey
Madeira label laws
- 85% of stated varietal if NV
- 100% of stated varietal if vintage is named
Estufagem process
- heating the fortified wine to 113-122F in stainless steel tanks
- held for at least 3 months
- transferred to cask after rest period
Estágio
min 90 day rest after estufagem process
Canteiro process
- cask aged min 2 years in hot attics
- for fine wines
Frasqueiras
wine aged in Canteiro process for more than 20 years
Sercial
- driest madeira (still 40-45 g/l of RS)
- searing acidity
- complex almond flavor
Verdelho
- off-dry
- high acid
- smoky/honey
Boal
- med sweet
- rich
- chocolate, roasted nuts, coffee
- darkest Madeira
Malvasia/Malmsey
- sweetest
- softest
- toffee, vanilla, marmalade
Multi-vintage blend Madeira
- Rainwater
- Seleccionado
- Reserva
- Reserva Especial
- Extra Reserve
- 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 years old
- Solera
Rainwater Madeira
- 100% Tinta Negra
- med dry, light body
Seleccionado Madeira
- labeled “finest”, “choice”, “select”
- tinta negra dominate
- Estufagem process, no cask
- 3-5 years old
Reserva Madeira
5-10 years old
Reserva Especial Madeira
- single varietal
- Canteiro process
- 10-15 years old
Extra Reserve Madeira
- single varietal
- Canteiro process
- 15-20 years old
Solera Madeira
- fractional blending
- Canteiro process
- very rare, not in practice in Madeira anymore
Vintage Madeira
- Colheita
- Frasqueira
- Vinho de Roda/da Touro/da Volta
Colheita Madeira
- 85% min single vintage fruit
- min 5 year aging
- can be single varietal OR blend
Vinho de Roda
wines that underwent the actual historical ocean journey
3 towns of Sherry production
- Jerez de la Frontera* (hottest region in ESP)
- El Puerto de Santa María
- Sanlúcar de Barrameda*
2 DO Zones of Sherry
- Jerez-Xérès-Sherry DO
- Manzanilla-Sanlúcar DO
Levante winds
hot, dry winds through Southern Spain, alternate with the Poniente
Poniente winds
humid winds through southern spain, alternate with Levante winds
Soils of J-X-S
- albariza (BEST!)=chalky, porous limestone
- barros=fertile, difficult clay
- arenas=sand
Sherry Grapes
- Palomino (most planted)
- Moscatel (used to sweeten)
- Pedro Ximénez (used to sweeten)
Sherry vine training
Vara y Pulgar =alternate spurs each year
3 stages of sherry juice
- Primera yerna (fino or manzanilla)
- segund yerna (oloroso)
- mosto prensa (distillate)
2 classifications of sherry base wine after fermentation
- Palo (for fino or manzanilla)
- Gordura (for oloroso)
Fino/Manzanilla aging type
biological aging (flor)
Oloroso aging type
oxidative aging
Fino/Manzanilla classifications
- Palma
- Palma Cortada
- Palo Cortado
- Raya
- Dos Rayas
Palma sherry
flor has protected against any oxidation. fine, delicate Fino Sherry.
Palma Cortada sherry
robust Fino, may become Amontillado (darker color) style
Palo Cortado sherry
rare. flor is present but is killed by further fortification to become oxidative oloroso
Raya sherry
flor has died so it is further fortified to become oloroso
Dos Rayas sherry
flor is not present. rough and course, high VA, becomes sherry vinegar.
Solera min aging
2 years
Criadera
tiers in a solera
Fino Sherry
- light, delicate. almond and honey tones
- 15-18%ABV
Amontillado Sherry
- Fino that still has its flor, good condition, allowed to age further and become darker in color
- 16-22% ABV
Oloroso Sherry
- Darker, fragrant, smooth. spice, walnut.
- 17-22% ABV
Manzanilla Sherry
- from Sanlúcar de Barrameda
- similar to Fino
- lower ABV
- moved through solera more quickly
Cabeceo process
- adding sweetener to finished sherry
- wines must be min 17.5% ABV
