Fortified wine WSET4 Flashcards
1
Q
What are fortified wines?
A
Fortified wines are those which have been subject to fortification and therefore include sherry, port, madeira, vermouth,málaga, montilla, marsala, liqueur muscat, liqueur Tokay, and several strictly local specialities.
Liquids made by adding spirit to grape juice rather than wine are not, strictly, fortified wine.
2
Q
What is Madeira?
A
Fortified wine made by technique of using heat in the maturation process, high in acid with aromas of oxidation and maderization in a variety of sweetness levels. Finer have high-toned rancio aromas & searing acidity. Colour can vary from pale gold to deep mahogany brown with a yellow-green tinge.
3
Q
What is port?
A
A fortified wine made by adding brandy to arrest fermenting grape must that results in a wine, red and sometimes white, that is both sweet and high in alcohol. Port derives its name from the city Oporto (Porto). Eu law restricts the term Port to a strictly defined area in the Douro valley of Northern Portugal. Similar fortified wines are made in South Africa, Australia and California.
4
Q
Define vermouth?
A
Fortified wine flavoured by maceration with additional herbs/spices, it is what you call an aromatized wine. Traditionally vermouths were flavoured by infusion of ‘botanicals’, herbs, peels, and spices gathered from the wild. Modern vermouth is more likely to be flavoured by the addition of a concentrate designed for consistency to match an imagined ideal blend of botanicals. After sweetening, usually with mistelle, and fortification, most modern vermouth is chilled for tartrate stabilization and subjected to pasteurization and filtration.
5
Q
what is VDN?
A
VDN is sometimes used as an abbreviation for vin doux naturel.
6
Q
What is vin doux naturel?
A
Vin doux naturel translates directly from French - natural sweet wine. Vins doux naturels are made by mutage, by artificially arresting the conversion of grape sugar to alcohol by adding spirit before fermentation is complete, thereby incapacitating yeasts with alcohol and making a particularly strong, half sweet wine in which grape flavours dominate wine flavours. They are normally made of the grape varieties Muscat and Grenache and should have an alcoholic strength of between 15 and 18 per cent and a potential alcohol of at least 21.5 per cent. They therefore fall within the official EU category vin de liqueur.
7
Q
What does a young vin doux natural taste like?
A
A young vin doux naturel, like port, tastes relatively simply of grapes, sugar, and alcohol (although, since some fermentation has usually taken place, it may contain a more interesting array of fermentation products than those vin de liqueur that have been made by adding spirit to grape must).
8
Q
What is a Muscat de Rivesaltes?
A
Muscat de Rivesaltes is a sweet, white wine made of Muscat Petits Grains and Muscat of Alexandria fortified with pure alcohol and also an appellation for Muscat-based sweet wines from Roussillon, southern France. Powerful and intense, the Muscat of Alexandria gives fullness, ripe fruit aromas, fresh grape and rose. Refined and crisp, the Muscat Petits Grains gives exotic fruit and citrus scent. Young Muscat wines are pale golden in colour, with aromas reminiscent of peach, lemon, mango and mint. After a few years, their colour turns an intense shimmery gold colour and their aromas evolve towards notes of honey and preserved apricot. The appellation stretches over 90 towns of Pyrénées-Orientales and 9 towns of the Aude, which has a border with the Pyrénées-Orientales. Limestone and gneiss,Brown and black schist, Red & sandy clay.
9
Q
Banyuls
A
Geographic location: 4 towns of Pyrénées-Orientales, Banyuls-Sur-Mer, Cerbère, Collioure and Port-Vendres. - White vines: white and grey Grenache - Red vines: black and grey Grenache - Banyuls : black Grenache over or equal to 50% - Banyuls Grand Cru : black Grenache over or equal to 75% Colour: “oxydised” or “non oxydized” whites and reds (“Rimage”). Terroir: terrain of grey schist from the Cambien. The vines are settled on steep slopes or on very narrow terraces held back by low walls facing the sea. Surface area of Banyuls: 617 hectares Surface area of Banyuls Grand Cru: 261 hectares
10
Q
Banyuls Rimage
A
Banyuls « Rimage »: ageing for 12 months minimum in an airtight environment. Complex and elegant wines with notes of small black fruit.
11
Q
Oxidised Banyuls
A
Wines with notes of preserved fruit, fig and prune.
12
Q
Banyuls Grand Cru
A
Wines ageing for a minimum of 30 months in oak. Only the best vintages are issued, of a strong concentration. The oak ageing will refine their complexity and their structure. They develop a cooked fruit aroma with hints of spicies, mocha, tobacco and notes of roasted coffee.
13
Q
Maury
A
Geographic location: 4 towns of the Pyrénées-Orientales, to the north-west of Perpignan (Maury, Tautavel, Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet, Rasiguères), hills of black marl and schist in the north of the AC Côtes du Roussillon in the wine growing region Roussillon . A sweet, fortified Vin doux naturel in red, pink, white and tawny (amber) colour. Grape varieties: - white vines: white and grey Grenache, Macabeu, Malvoisie of Roussillon, Muscats of Alexandria and Muscat à Petits Grains. - red vines: black Grenache, Carignan and Syrah. The AC Maury Rancio applies to wines aged in oak barrels, which are exposed to sunlight. This gives them the typical Rancio . Mas Amiel-known producers, Domaine de la Coume du Roy, Jean-Louis Lafage Cave, Cave de Maury, and Domaine Maurydoré Pouderoux.
14
Q
Maury “Vendange”, “Récolte”, “Vintage”
A
Maury ageing for 12 months minimum in an air-tight environment. Powerful, complex wines with notes of black fruit
15
Q
“Oxidized” red Maury
A
Wines with hints of dried fruit, cocoa and coffee.
16
Q
White Maury
A
Wines ageing for 12 months minimum. Wines with white-fleshed fruit and citrus evolving overtime into preserved fruit and honey undertones. White Maury Hors d’Age : ageing for 5 years minimum in an environment favouring oxidisation.
17
Q
Maury Rancio
A
These rich, sticky, deep mahogany , very sweet, long-aged vins doux naturels are made from variously-coloured Grenache grapes, sun-shrivelled on the bush vines struggling for survival on the arid schists around Maury. That schist gives them great firmness and the long ageing in old casks results in appetising rancio flavours, the decongestant tang that comes from long, hot oak ageing. Alcohol has generally been added at some point to stop fermentation by mutage, pure alcohol of at least 96 ° in the minimum proportion of 5% to 10% maximum. Alcohol levels are usually around 16 per cent. On the nose candied fruits mingle with prunes, spices and leather. In the mouth intense roasted notes blend with honey and blond tobacco. Its finish is smooth and slightly chocolaty.
18
Q
Rivesaltes
A
The appellation stretches over 90 towns of Pyrénées-Orientales and 9 towns of the Aude, which has a border with the Pyrénées-Orientales. Limestone and gneiss,Brown and black schist, Red & sandy clay. Colour: amber, tuilé and garnet.
19
Q
Amber Rivesaltes
A
Ageing of 30 months minimum in an environment favouring oxidization. Complex wines with notes of preserved orange, gingerbread, dried fruit, caramel and mild spices. White and grey Grenache, Macabeu, Malvoisie of Roussillon, Muscat Petits Grains and Muscat of Alexandria.
20
Q
Tuilé Rivesaltes
A
Ageing of 30 months minimum in an environment favouring oxidization. Intense wines with toasty notes, hints of cocoa, coffee, tobacco and preserved fruit. Black Grenache and vines from Amber Rivesaltes but except Muscats.
21
Q
Garnet Rivesaltes
A
Rivesaltes Grenat: ageing in a reduction environment, of which 3 months in-bottle. Rich and voluptuous wines with cherry and blackberry aromas made of black Grenache.
22
Q
Rivesaltes Hors d’Âge
A
Reserved for Amber or Tuilé Rivesaltes with a minimum of 5 years’ ageing.
23
Q
Rivesaltes Rancio
A
Rivesaltes Rancio: acquires the taste called “Rancio” with age (walnuts, dried fruits, etc…). Rivesaltes Rancio are produced as oxidated, sweet white wines that are either white or red. The whites are made with Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Maccabeu and Tourbat (Torbato) comprising the majority of the blend and up to 20% Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains and Muscat d’Alexandrie (Muscat à Gros Grains). For reds, the majority of the blend is at least 50% Grenache Noir, with smaller percentages of Grenache Gris or Blanc, Maccabeu and Tourbat. These wines are aged several years (a minimum of 5) on oak with exposure to air, imparting walnutty, honeyed, dried fruit flavors. These highly prized wines are available in vintage and non-vintage releases, and known to last for many years, even decades.
24
Q
What is the mutage method?
A
In order to produce a Vin Doux Naturel (fortified sweet wine) the Mutage technique is applied. This process consists of adding a pure, neutral wine originating spirit containing 96% alcohol to the musts while they are in alcoholic fermentation, of a proportion of about 5 to 10% of the must volume. This stops the action of the yeasts before they are able to transform all the sugar into alcohol. This is how the Vins Doux Naturels (fortified sweet wines) keep a part of the natural sweetness contained in the fruit. The Mutage happens on the cap of the must and allows the leveraging of the extraction power of alcohol for a period of 15 days to 3 weeks
25
What are brands?
Brands are interpreted strictly as individual products marketed on the basis of their name and image rather than on their inherent qualities, have a much less dominant position in the market for wine than for drinks such as beer or cola, for instance, but thanks to globalization they are growing in importance.
26
What is a quinta?
Portuguese word meaning 'farm', which may also refer to a wine-producing estate or vineyard. Single-quinta ports are those made from a single year and from a single estate in the Douro valley
27
Describe Portugal
On the western flank of the Iberian peninsula, Portugal joined the EU in 1986. Total area under vine has declined from 385,000 ha in the late 1980s to just over 240,000 ha producing just over 7 million hl by the mid 2000s.
28
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
Naturally aromatic Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grapes are particularly well suited to the production of vins doux naturels designed to be drunk young (and, usually, chilled to offset the sugar and alcohol). The best known of these golden sweet liquids that are made exclusively from the finest muscat vine variety, was historically Muscat de Frontignan. The Languedoc has three other appellation contrôlée vins doux naturels, however: Muscats de Lunel, Mireval, and, an exception far from the coast, St-Jean-de-Minervois, whose vineyards are even higher than most of those for the red, pink, and dry white wines of Minervois.
29
Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise
This is the only part of the Rhône which uses Muscat (besides the sparkling wines of Clairette de Die), it provides the most elegant, sweet fortified Muscats in the world. Little sweet Muscat was made before 1945 when Muscat de Beaumes de Venise was classified an AOC for its vin doux naturel, but by the 1970s and 1980s its popularity in northern Europe was probably greater than Sauternes or sweet German wines. Despite its minimum 15% alcohol, low acidity and intense sweetness Muscat de Beaumes de Venise is surprisingly delicate and refreshing with a nose of flowers and tropical fruits (a lovely floral fragrance) and sweet, pale-gold, grapey fruit and have a long finish. Made exclusively from the best variety, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains. The grapes must have a sugar content of over 252g/L. The addition of alcohol to the wine, mutage, must be performed with pure alcohol of at least 96%, when the musts contain 5% to 10% alcohol. The wines must contain at least 100g/L of sugar and feature at least 15% alcohol content. Planted on narrow terraces, known as "restanques" or "faysses", and supported by walls, the muscat vines have shaped the region's landscape. The vines draw from this thin soil the most powerful flavours. Made from assemblies of muscat à petits grains blanc and noir, their colour can vary from amber to rosé, and even purple. It should be drunk as young as possible, lightly chilled, either as an aperitif, with or after dessert.
30
When to serve a Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise
The Muscats benefit from being served young and chilled, but the alcohol preserves the freshness of wine in an opened bottle for at least a week.
31
What are the differences and similarities between port and muscat?
In both cases spirit is added when the fermenting must has reached about 6 per cent alcohol, except that whereas the added spirit constitutes between 5 and 10 per cent of the final volume of a vin doux naturel, typically resulting in an alcoholic strength of just over 15 per cent, the added spirit usually represents 20 per cent of the final volume of port, whose alcoholic strength is closer to 20 per cent. The spirit added to vins doux naturels is considerably stronger than that added to port, about 95 per cent alcohol as opposed to the traditional 77 per cent used in port fortification. Nowadays, however, the spirit may well come from exactly the same source, one of France's larger distilleries designed to reduce Europe's wine surplus.Thus a vin doux naturel contains less alcohol, and less added water, than port.
32
Describe the Douro.
Located in Northeast Portugal, within the Douro River basin, surrounded by craggy mountains that give it very particular soil and climacteric characteristics, this region spreads over a total area of approximately 250 000 hectares and is divided into three sub-regions (he Baixo Corgo and the Upper Corgo & Upper Douro) that differ greatly from each other not only as regards the weather but also for socio-economical reasons. The Douro valley is most famous as the source of fortified wine port. The Douro DOC is increasingly well known for the production of unfortified table wine. From the Douro's 38,000 ha of vines, just over half the region's production is made into port. The Douro was demarcated in 1756. Vines cover approximately 15.4% of all the land in the region. The land under vines is worked by approximately 33 000 farmers, each owning an average of 1 ha under vines. Small farmers are very representative in the production of Port Wine.
33
What is quinquinas?
Fortified wine flavored by maceration with additional herbs/spices. Cinchona bark is the essential flavouring element.
34
What are the 3 main methods of fortification? List an example 1
1) Arrest a wine's fermentation through adding spirit while sugars remain (e.g. Port)
35
What are the 3 main methods of fortification? List an example 2
2) Fortify wine after fermentation concludes (e.g. Sherry). Produces a dry fortified wine, although the winemaker may add sweetened wine or grape syrup.
36
What are the 3 main methods of fortification? List an example 3
3) Fortify the wine prior to fermentation...produces a mistelle rather than a fortified wine, formerly known exclusively as vins de liqueur (e.g. Ratafia, Pineau des Charentes, Floc de Gascogne, Macvin du Jura)
37
When was the Douro first demarcated?
1756
38
Who protects/enforces Port production?
Douro Port Wine Institute (aka Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP),) a government-run regulatory body that supervises the promotion, production, and trade of all Porto and Douro DOP wines. Both growers and shippers must submit to its authority.
39
What is Casa do Douro?
Syndicate of growers’ guilds established in 1932 that assumed control over the regulation of viticulture. It lost many of its regulatory functions after it bought controlling shares in Royal Oporto, a port shipper and the surviving remnant of the Companhia Geral dos Vinhos do Alto Douro, orgin 1756. Casa do Douro continues to be a public association to which all farmers must belong and whose contractual relations with third parties are subject to commercial and civil law.
40
Ruby Style: Bottled matured, Ruby Reserve Port
Full-bodied, rich and deep ruby red, these wines are frequently the product of a selection of the best Port Wine made each year, blended together to create a young, powerful, fruity and intense wine that is also rounded and versatile.
41
Ruby Style: Bottled matured, Late Bottled Vintage Port (LBV)
This is a Ruby Port from a single year, chosen for its extremely high quality and bottled after ageing for four to six years in wood. Most of these Ports are ready for drinking when they are purchased, but some will continue to age in bottle (check the label). LBV Port is a deep ruby red, extremely full-bodied and rich in the mouth and it possesses the particular style and personality of a wine from a single harvest.
42
Ruby Style: Bottled matured, Vintage Port
Considered by many as the jewel in the Port Wine crown, this is the only Port that ages in bottle. Produced from the grapes harvested during a single year and bottled two to three years after the vintage, it develops gradually for 10 to 50 years before it is drunk. The charm of Vintage resides in the fact that it is attractive at pratically all stages of its life in bottle. During the first five years, it retains the intense ruby of its original colour, exuberant aromas of red fruits and wild berries and a taste of black chocolate, all of which is balanced by strong tannins that make it the perfect accompaniement to desserts that are rich in chocolate. After ten years in bottle, in addition to its throwing a light deposit, Vintage takes on garnet tones and attains a delicious plenitude of ripe fruit aromas and flavours. As the wine matures, its colour turns a rich golden brown and its fruit acquires a greater subtlety and complexity and the deposit that it throws becomes thicker.
43
Ruby Style: Bottled matured, Vintage Port, Single Quinta Vintage
These Vintages are unique in that they are not only the product of a single harvest but also of a single quinta, or wine estate, which makes them truly exceptional.
44
Tawny Style: Wood matured, Tawny Reserve Port
Tawny Reserve Port is aged in oak, this wine boasts extremely elegant flavours, the perfect combination of the fruitiness of youth and the maturity of age, also apparent in their attractive médium golden brown colour.
45
Tawny Style: Wood matured, Tawny 10 years old Port
A Tawny 10 years old Port is a bit more developed than Tawny Reserve, this is a very similar wine but with the added assurance that it bears the characteristics of a ten years old Port.
46
Tawny Style: Wood matured, Tawny 20 years old Port
With colours ranging from a reddish to golden Tawny, these exceptional wines are full of fruit and their flavours are more developed and concentrated due to the fact that the wine was aged in small oak casks. The extremely intense aromas and flavours are reminiscent of toasted vanilla and dried fruits, with delicate hints of oak.
47
Tawny Style: Wood matured, Tawny 30 years old Port
Tawny 30 years old Port.Certain Ports are set aside to age longer in wood. The gradual exposure to air concentrates and intensifies the original fruit of these wines, creating more complex characteristics where honey and spices are touched with deep aromas of dry peaches, hazelnuts and vanilla.
48
Tawny Style: Wood matured, Tawny 40 years old Port
Tawny 40 years old Port. This classification is given to the oldest Tawny Ports, wines that are marvellously concentrated and complex. Intense, they all but explode in the mouth, filling your palate with aromatic flavours that will astound your senses.
49
Tawny Style: Wood matured, Tawny Colheita Port
Colheita Port. These single vintage Tawnies are aged in cask for a minimum seven years and present a wide range of colours from golden red to tawny, depending on their age. Their bouquet and flavour also develop over time to create different style Tawnies.
50
Special categories of the White Port Wine
Special categories of the White Port Wine Port Wines can bear the designation 'Reserve' or 'Indication of Age' (10, 20, 30 or more than 40 years old) on the label, provided that the criteria of the Port Wine regulations are met
51
What characterises a port wine?
Port wines have highly persistent aromas and flavours, a high alcohol content (usually between 19 and 22% vol.), a vast range of degrees of sweetness and a assortment of colours. There is a set of categories that identify the different types of Port Wine. The different types of red Port vary in colour from deep purple to light gold, with a range of intermediary hues (tawny, golden tawny, golden and light gold). White Port comes in various shades (pale yellow, straw and golden white), all intimately related to the winemaking technique used. When aged in cask for many years, white wines acquire, through a natural oxidation, a golden hue that is very similar to that of a very old tawny wine. In terms of sweetness, Port can be very sweet, sweet, semi-dry or extra dry. Just how sweet a wine will be is a choice made during production; it depends on when the brandy is added to stop the fermentation of the wine.
52
What are the 2 major ageing categories for port wines?
Ruby Style Are wines in which the winemaker looks to restrain the evolution of their deep red colour and maintain the fruit and strength of a young wine. This is the type of wine that you will find in the following categories, in ascending order of quality: Ruby, Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) and Vintage. The finest category wines, especially Vintage, followed by LBV, are good for storing as they age well in bottle. Tawny Style Are obtained from lots of different wines that have aged for different lengths of time in casks or in vats. With age, the colour of the wines slowly develops into tawny, medium tawny or light tawny, with a bouquet of dried fruits and wood; the older the wine, the stronger these aromas. The present categories in this style are: Tawny, Tawny Reserve, Tawny with an Indication of Age (10, 20, 30 and 40 years old) and Colheita. These are blends of wines from several years, except for Colheitas, wines of a single year that are similar to an aged Tawny of the same age. These wines are ready to drink when they are bottled.
53
what are categories of sweetness in port?
In terms of sweetness, Port Wine can be very sweet, sweet, semi-dry, dry or extra dry. It is the winemaker who determines just how sweet a Port Wine will be according to when he interrupts the fermentation. The following table describes the different degrees of sweetness of several types of Port Wine. Extra dry - 130 Sugars (g/l)
54
Describe port vinification. method 1
Traditional winemaking method. After the grapes have been destemmed (separated from the stalks), they are crushed in lagares (open stone treading tanks with a maximum height of 60 cm). This operation, the treading, is traditionally performed by men and women although it may also be done with mechanical devices that simulate the action of the feet. After the first such crushing, the fermenting must is left to rest for some hours, after which it is again crushed until such a time as the fermenting must is separated from the solid matter in the juice (running off) and the brandy is added.
55
Describe port vinification. method 2
In modern wineries, most operations are mechanised. Once the grapes have been fully or partially destemmed, the grapes are crushed and pumped into vats where they ferment for 2 to 3 days. During this period the juice is pumped over several times to extract the maximum of colour from the skins.
56
White port wines
White wines may be made differently. According to the traditional methods, it is made with some maceration and in these cases it ages in conditions that lead it to oxidate. The time of maceration is reduced for wines in which the winemaker wishes to keep a pale colour and the fresh aromas. Oxidating conditions are not encouraged as they age, whenever one wishes to retain a complex floral aroma and a pale, citrine colour.
57
How does fortifying of port work?
Fortifying the wine with brandy gives the wine specific organoleptic characteristics, improves the chemical stability and at the same time helps control the final degree of sweetness of the wine. Fermentation must continue until the amount of un-fermented sugars in the wine gives it the desired sweetness. The fermenting must is then separated from the solid matter (run off) and pumped into vats where the fermentation is stopped by adding grape brandy in set proportions. Tto obtain a Port Wine with 19% alcohol by volume and with a sweetness corresponding to 2º Baumé (Bé), brandy must be added to stop fermentation when the fermenting must reached a volumetric mass (p20) of 1.0296. At this moment, 83 litres of brandy are added to 467 litres of must; the resulting semi-sweet fortified wine then presents values of 76 grams of residual sugars per litre of wine. It is essential that the type of brandy that is to be added to the fermenting must be very carefully chosen as its chemical composition and aromatic potential are fundamental to making a high quality Port Wine.
58
Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) Ports
Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) Ports usually begin ageing in cask - during 2-3 years in the case of Vintage and 4 to 6 years in the case of Late Bottled Vintage. After these wines are bottled, the characteristics improve considerably as their bouquet develops with little possibility of oxidation. The longevity of these wines, due to their wealth of polyphenols, is extremely high (usually a maximum of about 20 years in the case of Vintage and of about 5 years in the case of LBV, although these frequently continue to improve for many more years.).
59
Port storage
The way by which one stores Port Wine will have a fundamental effect on the changes that occur to the wine and to its composition. The type and capacity of the containers must be adapted to the evolution that one wishes for the wine. Port Wine is usually stored in typical Douro casks called pipes, in large casks (25,000 to 35,000 litres) or in vats (550,000 to 750,000 litres). The storage capacity in wood represents more than two thirds the total storage capacity. The wood that is most often used is Portuguese oak although chestnut and other exotic woods have also been used. The large cylindrical vats in stainless steel and lined concrete are present approximately 10% of the total capacity and are only used for the temporary storage of wines.
60
Pumping over
Pumping over is the procedure that consists of pumping the fermenting must from the bottom of the tank and pouring it in at the top of the same tank so as to air the must and encourage the extraction of the compounds responsible for giving it its colour and to make it more homogeneous.
61
Racking from the lees
Racking from the lees is the process of transferring wine from one cask to another for purposes of separating it from the deposit is throws (lees) and airing it.
62
What is meant by an oxidative bouquet?
Through oxidative ageing the wine develops an oxidative bouquet, characterized by aldehydic compounds smelling of quince, apple, dried nuts butter, rancio and Madeira. It is this type of ageing that led Pasteur to say “oxygen makes the wine.
63
Australian ageing requirement for VDN?
Australian: No ageing; Classic: Min average age of 5 years. Grand: Min average age of 10 years. Rare: Min average age of 15 years (in practice much longer)
64
Factors for Rutherglen Muscat
Location: North-east Victoria, AU; Climate: Continental: hot, dry, sunny - long dry autumns + long ripening period. Soil: Alluvial, deep red clay - loam soils. Grapes: Muscat Blanc á Petits Grains rouge (brown muscat) + Muscadelle.
65
What is the winelaw (voluntary) for Rutherglen, Muscat?
Rutherglen Muscat: 2-5 years. Fresh grapey. 180-240 g/l. Classic R. muscat: 5-10 years. Blended, rancio, fuller body, complex. 200-280 g/l. Grand R. muscat: 11-19 years. Intense, matured, pronounced rancio. 270-400 g/l. Rare Ruth. muscat: Min 20 years. Premium product. Complex and rich. 270-400 g/l.
66
What is the Rutherglen network?
Established in 1995. Works with the falling of sales and consumptions of the muscat rutherglen. 8 members: All saints Estate, RL Buller & Son, Cambells, Chambers, Morris, Pferiffer, Rutherglen Estates, Stanton & Killeen.
67
The Muscat grape & fortified wines
Muscat grapes are used to make a variety of fortified wines in various parts of the world. In Portugal and Spain, where the grape and the wines produced from it are known as Moscatel or Muscatel. Moscatels made in these countries are typically sweet and fortified.
68
What are the Moscatel or Muscatel wines of Portugal?
Moscatel de Setubal a sweet fortified wine from the Setúbal Peninsula in Portugal. Moscatel de Favaios is a Moscatel from the Douro Region. A Moscatel Madeira wine has also been produced on the island of Madeira, although Moscatel has become increasingly rare there over the last century.
69
Where are sweet fortified Moscatels are produced in Spain?
iMoscatel is produced in a number of regions, notably Malaga and Jerez, and are sometimes made using the solera system. A variety of muscat is one of the varietals used in the production of sherry and according to Spanish law, it is one of only three grapes varietals allowed for this purpose.
70
Moscatels are produced in France?
France also produces a number of sweet fortified vins doux naturels from muscat grapes, such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, Muscat de Rivesaltes, Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat de Lunel, Muscat de Mireval, and Muscat de St-Jean Minervois.
71
Where are sweet fortified Moscatels are produced in Australia?
In Australia, sweet fortified muscat wines are produced in the Rutherglen region, with older wines made according to the solera system.[3]Muscat Blanc Petits Grains grapes are left to ripen and even shrivel well beyond normal maturity before being harvested.
72
Tell something about the Muscat grape
There are at least four principal varieties of Muscat, muscat hamburg and muscat of alexandria are raised as both wine grapes and table grapes muscat blanc à petits grains is the oldest and finest, producing wines of the greatest intensity, while muscat ottonel, paler is a relative parvenu
73
What's the history of the Muscat grape?
Muscat grapes were probably the 1rst to be distinguished and identified and have grown around the Mediterran. for many centuries. Strongly perfumed grapes (thanks to a particularly high concentration of monoterpenes), Muscat wines, carrying many different labels incl.Moscato (Italy), Moscatel(Iberia
74
Characteristics of Muscat?
Can vary from the refreshingly low-alcohol, sweet and frothy asti spumante, through Muscat d'alsace and other bone-dry Muscats made p.e. in Roussillon, to sweet wines with alcohol levels between 15 and 20 per cent, usually by mutage (as in the vins doux naturels of southern France and Greece).
75
(Colour) variation in Muscat?
Since a high proportion of the world's Muscat is dark-berried, and since a wide variety of wood-ageing techniques are used, wines can vary in colour from palest gold (as in modern Muscats de frontignan) to deepest brown (as some Australia's liqueur muscats).Most Muscat vines need relatively hot clim
76
What is flor?
Benevolent yeasts which form a film of yeast cells which floats on the surface of a wine. Flor yeasts are typified by those native to the Jerez region of southern Spain which produce Fino and Manzanilla sherry. Flor yeasts are all capable of fermenting sugar in an anaerobic phase of their metabolism.
77
What are these film-forming flor yeasts capable of?
When all fermentable sugar has been consumed, these yeasts have the capacity to switch to another metabolic phase in which they use alcohol and oxygen from the atmosphere to produce a waxy or fatty coating on the cells' exterior which permits them to float on the wine's surface.
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What happens after fermentation as the ambient temperature begins to rise?
The flor yeasts begin to form as small white curds on the surface of the wine, typically in the spring after fermentation. These increase in size until the surface is completely covered by a thin white film which gradually thickens and browns. They also produce acetaldehyde & other aroma characters
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Influence of climate on Port production.
Drier and warmer conditions produce the best port-destined grapes. For example, in the lower corgo of Portugal, is cooloer and wetter than the more inland higher corgo region. The best ports are made in the higher corgo Even further ease is the douro superioe region wich is arid and even warmer.
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Describe 10 year old Malmsey
Malmsey or malvasia the noble grape for madeira. A sweet wine (3.5-6.5 Baume) with enough acidity to provide a refreshing balance. 10-yr old malmsey is a blend of malvasia wines with the youngest 10 years old. It is aged in cask without being subject to the estufa process, aging at elevated temprature. 10 year old Rich Malmsey underwent fermentation off the skins with natural yeast at temperatures between 18°C - 21°C in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. After approximately 48 hours, fortification with grape brandy takes place, arresting fermentation at the desired degree of sweetness. 10 Year Old Malmsey was aged for 10 years in seasoned American oak casks in the traditional ‘Canteiro’ system, whereby the casks of this wine are gradually transferred from the top floors of the lodge, where it is naturally warmer, to the middle floors and eventually to the ground floor where it is cooler. During this totally natural ageing, the wine underwent regular racking before finally being bottled.
Clear, dark golden brown with green tinges at the rim. Complex and intense nose revealing a bouquet of wood, dried fruits, toffee and spices. Sweet, fresh and smooth with length, full bodied with lingering, smoky characteristics and extremely well balanced acidity. Serve lightly chilled in Summer.
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The Gonzalez Byass company
The largest producer of sherry, still run by the family that founded the house. In 1855, Robert Blake Byass became a shareholder in the Gonzalez family business, but it was not until 1870, when his sons and the sons of the founder entered the firm that it became González Byass & Co.
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Tell something about the brand Gonzales Byass
The company owns 550 ha of vineyards, and controls a further 450 ha owned by independent farmers. In the mid 1990s, the company began releasing expensive vintage-dated dry Sherries, renewing a Jerez practice from the days before the Solera system was adopted. Tio Pepe is its best known brand.
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What is an Estufagem?
A heating process using estufas (Portuguese word meaning 'hothouse' or 'stove',) also applied to the tanks used to heat wine on the island of madeira, thereby accelerating its development and maturation.
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What is the history of estufagem?
Estufas simulate the effects of the long tropical sea voyages in the 18th-19th c. when madeira (and setúbal) was, at first accidentally and then deliberately, stowed in the hold of a ship to age prematurely as a result of the temperature changes involved in a round trip, or torna viagem, to tropics.
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What is the Douro Vineyard Classification?
Vineyards in the Douro are graded according to a complicated points system and classified into 6 different categories rated A to F. 12 different physical factors including site, aspect, exposure, and gradient are taken into consideration, each of which is allocated a numerical score.
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How many points a vineyard in the Douro Vineyard Classification can score and why it is important?
A vineyard could score a maximum of 2,031 points but a property with more than 1,200 points is awarded an A grade. A vineyard with less than 200 points is given an F grade. On this basis, the annual Beneficio authorization (total amount of port that year) is distributed to individual farmers.
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What is the the annual Beneficio authorization and who regulates this?
On this basis, the annual beneficio authorization (the total amount of port that may be made that year) is distributed to individual farmers. This is calculated annually by the port industry's regulating authority, the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (Douro Port Wine Institute, or IVDP).
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What does the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (Douro Port Wine Institute, or IVDP do?
Distribute permits to farmers detailing the amount of grape must that they may fortify to make port. The amount varies according to the year, A and B grade properties may make 550 to 600 l of port per thousand vines, while F grade properties are rarely allowed to make port at all.
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What happens to the surplus, wine that is not allowed to become port?
The surplus is usually made into unfortified wine with its own denomination (see Douro) but most of this sells for a much lower price than port.
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What is VDN?
VDN is sometimes used as an abbreviation for vin doux naturel. a wine that is naturally sweet but is a term used to describe a French wine speciality that might well be considered unnaturally sweet.
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What is mutage?
Vins doux naturels are made by mutage, by artificially arresting the conversion of grape sugar to alcohol by adding spirit before fermentation is complete, thereby incapacitating yeasts with alcohol and making a particularly strong, sweet half-wine in which grape flavours dominate wine flavours.
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Describe sweet wine (au naturel)?
Nature's sweetest wines contain so much grape sugar that the yeasts eventually give up the fermentation process of converting sugar into alcohol, leaving a residue of natural sugars in a stable wine of normal alcoholic strength (see sweet wine-making).
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What are the characteristics of Vins doux naturels?
They are normally made of the grape varieties Muscat and Grenache, and should have an alcoholic strength of between 15 and 18 per cent and a potential alcohol of at least 21.5 per cent. They therefore fall within the official EU category vin de liqueur.
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What is Commandaria?
Commanderia is a dark dessert wine speciality of cyprus with a honeyed, raisiny flavour and alcohol content usually around 15 per cent, produced from partially raisined grapes.
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Characteristics Commanderia?
In 1993 Commandaria became 1rst Cypriot wine to be granted full, legal protection covering both its geographical origin and production techniques. C. must be produced within a strictly defined region from the Mavro (red) and Xynisteri (white) grape varieties, trained in the traditional low bush form
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What happens after picking the grapes for the Commanderia?
The vintage usually takes place in mid September. After picking, the grapes are dried in the sun for at least one week. At the end of this period the sugar content of the juice must lie within the range of 390 g/l to 450 g/l.
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What are some of the regulations concerning Commanderia?
Fermentation,must take place within the Commandaria region, stops naturally long before all the sugar is converted into alcohol, leaving a wine with considerable residual sweetness & a min.alcoholic strength of 10 %. At this stage the wine is moved to one of the large wineries in Limassol to mature
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Fortification of Commanderia?
Once fermentation completed, the alcohol content of the wine may be increased by the addition of pure grape spirit (95 % alcohol) or wine distillate (at least 70 % alcohol), but the wine's actual alcohol must not exceed 20 %, while its total potential alcohol must be at least 22.5 %.
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Maturation of Commanderia.
Commandaria must be matured in oak casks for at least two years. In practice it is usually matured in underground cellars for considerably longer than this. Some producers use a three-tier Solera system. A small quantity of vintage Commandaria is also produced.
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What is a Palo Cortado?
A traditional and fully natural style of sherry based on a fluke of nature. This is a wine that was originally pre-selected to become a fino or, later, an Amontillado, i.e. a wine of greater finesse than those pre-selected to become olorosos, which are aged in oxidative fashion from the start. The rarest category of sherry.
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What happens with the Palo Cortado?
Yet of these more delicate wines never develop the protective veil of flor yeast they become an Amontillado and end up ageing as an oloroso. As a result, such wines have an intermediate style—the elegance of the Amontillado with the power and body of the Oloroso.
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How many authorized Port Grape Varieties are there?
More than 80 different grape varieties are authorized for the production of port. All old vineyards contain a mixture of grapes, often 20 or 30 different varieties intermingled in the same plot. Touriga nacional, tinta barroca, touriga Franca,Tinta Roriz (Spain's tempranillo), & tinto cão.
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What are the most important Port grape varieties?
The 5 black-skinned varieties are touriga nacional, tinta barroca, touriga Franca, tinto cão,Tinta Roriz, (Spain's tempranillo), although varieties such as sousão, tinta amarela, and mourisco find favour with certain growers. gouveio, malvasia Fina, and viosinho the best varieties for white port.
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Sousão grape or Souzão and Sousón in Spain's Galicia
Souzão & Sousón -Spain's Galicia, is a dark-skinned grape variety widely planted in N. Portugal, notably high in acidity as well as colour and is therefore increasingly valued in port blends. It is an ingredient in Quinta do Noval Nacional. & in Minho it is known as Vinhão (red Vinho Verde)
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Port grape Tinta Amarela
Also Trincadeira, productive dark-skinned Port grape variety grown Douro/S.Portugal-rich, powerful dry reds. Can yield attractively scented, fine wines but suffers the disadvantage of being particularly sensitive to rot. Around 20 % of vines in the Baixo Corgo, the coolest& wettest Douro subregion.
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Mourisco Tinto grape
Mourisco Tinto is a lesser Port grape variety which produces red wines relatively light in colour in northern Portugal. Favoured by a few for light tawny ports, it is nonetheless the Douro's fourth most planted variety.
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Gouveio grape
Gouveio is adopted as the principal name for the estimated 400 ha total plantings of the particular Verdelho that is grown in the Alentejo and Dão regions of Portugal (not the Verdelho of Madeira or Australia). This is the vine variety known in Spain as godello.
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Malvasia grape
Malvasia name used widely, especially in Iberia and Italy, for a complex web of grape varieties, typically ancient and of Greek origin and producing characterful wines high in alcohol and, often, residual sugar. Most are deeply coloured whites but some are, usually light, reds.
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Different Malvasia Grapes in Portugal
Malvasia Fina, known as Boal, Arinto do Dão, Assario Branco in Dão, grown in higher vineyards in the Douro & can be a crisp contribution to blend white port., Malvasia Rei is Palomino; Malvasia Candida, and Malvasia Grossa, Malvasia Corada is Vital; Malvasia da Trincheira is Folgasão, or Terrantez.
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Malvasia in Italy
Malvasia, in its various forms —white and red, dry and sweet— has been one of Italy's most widely planted grapes, a 2000 survey however found only 8,800 ha of Malvasia Bianca di Candida in Italy, frequently grown in comb with various types of Trebbiano, standard central Italian white blend.
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Viosinho grape
Viosinho is alow-yielding white variety producing some good white wines, especially at higher altitudes, in the Douro, northern Portugal. Traditionally a constituent of white port, Viosinho is now also used to make unfortified wines.
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What is a pipe?
A pipe is a wine trade term, adapted from the Portuguese pipa meaning 'barrel', for a large cask with tapered ends, the traditional measure of PORT as well as of MADEIRA, other Portuguese wines, and MARSALA, although the volume can vary around the country.
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What are the sizes of the pipes in the Douro?
In the Douro valley the yield of each vineyard is measured in pipes of 550 l while downstream in VILA NOVA DE GAIA, the suburb of Oporto where port is matured, a pipe may vary in size between 580 and 630 l, but is usually taken as 620 l or 534.24 l for shipping purposes.
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What is bottle deposit?
Bottle deposit in red wines is a lacquer-like pigmented deposit adhering to the inner bottle surface and is different from sediment. The deposit is an insoluble complex polymer of pigmented tannins and protein. May begin in the first few months after bottling, in small area or entire surface
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What is oxidation?
Wine fault resulting from excessive exposure to oxygen. Wines spoiled by oxidation are said to be oxidized. Some wines, such as oloroso sherry, tawny port, and madeira, owe their character to various aspects of controlled oxidation, by the role played by oxygen in ageing.
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What is Maderisation (maderization) ?
Maderisation is a process that involves the heating and oxidization of a wine. The term is named after the process used in the production of Madeira wine it occurs while the wine in cask. Maderization is sometimes used interchangeably with oxidation, but should involve excessive exposure to heat.
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What is a beneficio?
The annual beneficio authorization (total amount of port production that year) is distributed to farmers on the basis of the Douro vineyard classification. The best vineyards get the biggest allocation. This is calculated annually by port industry's regulating authority, the IVDP.
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What is the IVDP?
The port industry's regulating authority, the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (Douro Port Wine Institute, or IVDP).
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What is an Amontillado?
Spanish word describing sherry in the style of Montilla. Today it has two related meanings in the sherry-making process. The basic fino wines become amontillado (Spanish for 'like Montilla') when the flor yeast dies and the wine is exposed to oxygen. Cheaper Amontillados are created artificially.
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Describe a true Amontillado-style sherry.
The finos become amontillado when the flor yeast dies &the wine is exposed to oxygen. This happens automatically if a fino type sherry is fortified to 16 %; the flor yeast cannot work in high alcohol. The wine turns amber and tastes richer and nuttier. True Amontillado sherry is an aged Fino.
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Characteristics of a commercially made Amontillado
Cheaper Amontillados, the most common Amontillado encountered commercially, are created artificially by blending and are usually sweetened. They tend to be quintessentially medium. Medium is a blend of Amontillado and PX.
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Moscatel de Setúbal
Moscatel de Setúbal is made predominantly from Moscatel. At least 85% of Moscatel de Setúbal or Moscatel Graúdo (muscat de Alexandria) plus a tiny amount of pink skinned Moscatel Roxo. Fermentation is arrested with grape spirit, but after vinification pungent Muscat grape skins are left to macerate in the wine for 5-6 months, which gives it its intense aroma and flavour and a taste of fresh desert grapes. Most Setúbal is matured in large oak vats for 4-5 years and than bottled, besides a small quantity which is bottled after 20 years on cask. The 4-5 year ols are amber-orange in colour with a spicy, raisiny, apricot character. The 20 year olds are deep brown and have a rich, grapey intensity. Jose Maria da Fonseca is by far largest producer.
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Characteristics of a Fino Sherry?
A fino sherry is made from the Palomino fino grape, has an alcohol content of 15-17 ABV (depending on its age), less than 5 grams of sugar per litre and is biologically aged. It’s must is completely fermented and fortified up to 15%. The Fino is protected from oxidation by flor, film-forming yeasts. The aging process is carried out using the traditional criaderas and solera system. The colour of Fino ranges from pale yellow to very pale gold. Sometimes there are green reflections visible and in the more mature Finos there are also some hints of orange. The colour is bright and light and it hardly forms legs in the glass. It has a sharp, yeasty nose: almonds, herbs and fresh dough. It is very dry, with a mild acidity on the palate, but with a lot of structure. It is fresh, with the typical almond aftertaste of the flor yeast. Serve well chilled at 6-8 degrees Celsius.
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What is a Manzanilla Sherry?
A Manzanilla Sherry is created from Palomino grapes. The must is completely fermented and fortified up to 15% vol. It is then matured for 3-6 years under a natural layer of yeast (benevolent film-forming yeasts) called Flor and aged exclusively in the bodegas of San Lucar de Barrameda. The proximity to the sea and the western winds (Ponente or in Spanish Poniente) give the Manzanilla sherry its unique characteristics. The colour of Manzanilla ranges from pale yellow to pale gold; light, clear, bright appearance, with hardly any legs on the glass. It has a very delicate aroma, with pre-dominant notes of yeast, resembling fresh dough and almonds. There is also a very subtle floral note reminiscent of chamomile. It’s very dry and has a very mild acidity on the palate. It is fresh and light when it passes through the mouth with an elegant note of bitterness, with notes of almonds and chamomile in the aftertaste. This a sherry of the sea, ideal with seafood and fish, its low acidity makes it also perfect for cold soups and salads. Serve Manzanilla well chilled between 6-8 degrees C.
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Harvesting of grapes in madeira?
Madeira is a fortified wine found only on the mountainous Atlantic island of the same name.The vines are grown from sea level up to a height of 600 metres and the wines range from dry to very rich. The principal grape varieties are Malmsey, Bual, Verdelho, Sercial and Tinta Negra Mole.
The driest wines are made from the Sercial grape grown on high cool slopes mainly on the north of the Island. The sweetest Madeiras are made from the rich Malmsey (Malvasia) grape which flourishes on the warmer lower-lying vineyards, particularly around São João on the north and Jardim do Mar on the south. The vines are grown either on pergolas (hanging off trellises that are on average 1.5 metres off the ground) or upright in rows, trained onto horizontal wires.
The harvest starts in mid-August and is completed by the middle of October when a wine festival takes place in Funchal. The grapes are all picked by hand from the small terraced vineyards situated on the steep slopes around the island and then transported to the 'adegas' -wineries- where the winemaking takes place.
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Grape tinta negra mole
Tinta Negra Mole is a red Portuguese wine grape commonly used in the production of Madeira. It accounts for almost 90% of all grape production on the island. It is unique in its ability to acquire the characteristics of the different varietals according to the altitude at which it is grown (grown at a higher level it produces a drier wine whilst at a lower level a sweeter wine is produced), therefore becoming a most useful basis for blends
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The Sercial grape of Madeira
The English name Sercial is used for the Portuguese Cerceal, but the grape used on the island of Madeira is not to be confused with the Cerceal do Dao. The grapes are very compact, about 18cm long, weighing 170grams. This variety ripens late, producing a wine with volatile fruit and good, sometimes burning acidity. The high level of acidity makes Sercial almost undrinkable in its youth. The minimum of twenty years in cask for vintages will just be enough to soften the piercing acidity. Sercial grapes produce the driest style in Madeira wine and are mostly found on the south of the island at jardim da Serra in Estreito de Camara de Lobos at an altitude between 600-700 metres and on the north side at Porto Moniz and Seixal at 150-200 metres. Sugar content: 11º; Residual Sugar: 0.5 - 1.5º Baumé; Grapes picked late-on in the harvest.
Pale, light-bodied and dry, this is a fresh invigorating wine. A vintage Sercial wine usually has a color of a golden tawny, similar to old German Riesling wines. The nose might display some high volatile acidity. Young Sercials often have a range of fruit aromas with a focus on orange and lemon, but as the wine matures this can shift to a more nutty and turpentine like taste, again similar to old Rieslings. A high level of acidity will be present in most Sercials, which will make this wine a good before-dinner drink. Also after a meal to cleanse the palate.
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The verdelho grape in Madeira
Verdelho is also a white grape, the taste being medium dry, tasting between Sercial and Bual. Grown on the north of the island at Ponta Delgada & São Vincente at an altitude up to 400 metres.
This grape variety is suited to harsher climatic conditions. Sugar content: 11º-12º
Residual Sugar: 1.5 - 2.5º Baumé; Grapes picked during middle of harvest.
Golden in colour, this has marginally more body than the Sercial, and is a tangy fine textured wine. The color of Verdelho is about the same of Sercial, sometimes a little darker. It does not have the piercing acidity of Sercial but displays a more rounded taste. The nose has dried fruits and honey that are also evident on the palate and sometimes there are also a little coffee and chocolate. Verdelho is the main ingredient of a medium dry light wine called "Rainwater" which is very popular in the United States. The cheaper qualities are made from Tinta Negra Mole.
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The Bual grape in Madeira
Bual is the English name for the Portuguese Boal. Bual is a white variety producing a medium sweet wine. Located on the south side of the island, mainly at Campanário & Calheta at fairly low altitude (100-300 metres), it took over for Malmsey in many vineyards. Sugar content: 11º-13º; Residual Sugar: 2.5 - 3.5º Baumé; Picked early on during the harvest.
Medium to dark, full-bodied and fruity with a well rounded flavour and attractive ‘smoky’ complexity. Bual is a good start for those having their first experience with Madeira wine. It is medium sweet but not to sticky, very aromatic with some acidity balancing the sweetness. Do not let yourself be fooled by the color which tends to be the darkest of all Madeira wines. The nose has richness and aromas of barley sugar and the palate often has some additional caramel and coffee aromas as well as dried fruits like orange peel or apricot.
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The malmsey grape of Madeira
Malmsey is the most famous Madeira wine. Malmsey Madeira is the richest, most full-bodied Madeira style. The English name Malmsey derives from the white Malvasia grape. Of Greek origin most Malvasia varieties are to a certain extend related to Malvasia Bianca, with the exception of Malvasia di Candia. The large grapes with small elliptic berries weigh up to 400 grams and are grown on high and solid vines. The variety ripens fast but can stay on the vine for a long time as they do not easily rot. Almost grown exclusively on the south side of the island around Jardim do Mar at an altitude between 150-200 metres. Malmsey is the first variety to be harvested. Sugar content: 12º-14º; Residual Sugar: 3.5 - 6.2º Baumé. Medium dark to dark, a luscious rich soft-textured wine, distinctly full honeyed and mellow.The vineyards are the lowest in altitude, about 250 m above sea level. The grapes are grown in São Jorge and Santana on the north coast and in Câmara de Lobos and Estreito de Câmara de Lobos on the south coast.
In 1478 the Duke of Clarence preferred death by drowning himself in a cask of Malmsey to the death by sword. In the works of William Shakespeare's you can find many hints to Malmsey.
In the 19th century Malmsey really came en vogue. There was the "Morning Malmsey" to begin the day and many other rituals revolving around the golden wine. It also makes a good vino da meditazione. The combination with coffee, cookies or nuts is classical, as is the taste together with a very good bitter chocolate. But also on its own, Malmsey itself is an excellent desert. An old Malmsey vintage will just be a little lighter in colour than Bual. The nose is all toffee, vanilla and sometimes even beef bouillon. The palate has toffee and vanilla as well, added by marmalade sweetness and -some say- a distinctive taste of cough syrup.
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Fermentation of Madeira grapes
At the 'adega' the wines are selected and pressed to separate the must from the skins. Fermentation takes place in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and is stopped with the addition of grape brandy when the appropriate amount of natural grape sugar has been converted into natural alcohol. Malmsey is fortified early on in order to retain the richness for which it is renowned. Bual is fortified after approximately half the sugars have been converted into alcohol, Verdelho ferments still further whilst Sercial is allowed to ferment out until completely dry. All the wines are fortified up to 19% alcohol by volume.
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The aging of Madeira wines
The next stage in Madeira's production is unique to the island and involves then heating of the wines for some months following the vintage, known as ESTUFAGEM. During the 18th century many of the ships which took on casks of Madeira passed through the heat of the tropics. It was noticed that the effects of the increased temperature on the casks of the fortified wine was entirely beneficial. Indeed the wines acquired remarkable keeping qualities, extraordinary longevity and an attractive mellowed character.
With the demise of the shipping trade another method was found. This involved ageing the wines in large lofts naturally heated by the plentiful Madeiran sunlight. Today all the premium wines continue to be aged using the traditional 'canteiro' system, where the wines are warmed over a period of years in seasoned American oak casks by the natural heat of the sun in the lodges of Funchal. A development of this system was later introduced for the ageing of Tinta Negra Mole with the construction of special heating rooms called 'estufas' lined with hot water pipes in order to keep the temperature at a constant level (45ºC for a minimum of 3 months). A significant quantity of Tinta Negra Mole is also aged using the traditional canteiro method.
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How is red port made?
Rapid extraction of colour and tannins are paramount for making red port, due to the fact that the grape juice or must stays only 2-3 days in contact with the skins. Fermentation begins because of the the effect ambient yeasts have on the grapes'sugar. The produced alcohol and the increased temprature of the mass of skins, stems and juice encourages the extraction of phenolics. To get more extraction regular punching down of the cap is necessary. When the level of the fermenting must declines from 12-13 Baume to 6-8m Baume (after 24-36 hours) depening on the required level of sweetness, the wine would be racked from the lagares into a vat filled with 1/5 grape spirit of 77% ABV. The grape spirit kills the yeast and the fermentation stops. There you have it, a young, sweet port with an alcohol content of 19-20%.
Other ways of vinificating include autovinification, cap plungers (Fladgate) and and automated treading machines or 'robotic lagares' (Symington).
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What are modern vermouth brands?
Modern large-scale vermouth production dates from 18th-century Piemonte, close to the alps which could supply the necessary herbs. Brands such as Cinzano, Martini, and the French Noilly Prat threw off any pretence at curative powers during the cocktail age and were particularly popular in the early and mid 20th century. France's most delicately alpine vermouth is Chambéry, while the vermouth most closely linked to fine wine is Lillet of Bordeaux.
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Where and what is Banyuls?
In the extreme south, inserted between the Mediterranean and Spain, Banyuls shares its territory with Collioure, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. On a barren soil, rich in schist, facing the sea and the sun, the vine produces a very rich grape must to which pure alcohol was added during fermentation to preserve the natural sugar in the wine. After an elaborate maturation / aging, the wine is completely transformed and remarkable. Banyuls has a mahogany colour with tawny shades . When it turns rancio the nose has notes of nuts, leather, tobacco , amber , fig, pasta black fruits, spices, creme brulee , licorice. In the mouth it its soft tannins combine with a nice freshness. The finish is equally opulent and strong, with notes of spice and cocoa.
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What is Rasteau VDN
The AOC Rasteau is located north of Vaucluse and covers an area of 50 hectares in the municipalities of Rasteau, Cairanne and Sablet, north of Avignon. The vineyards, neighbor of Beaumes-de-Venise, are located on hillsides facing south, with a typically Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild winters. In addition, the mistral plays an important role in slowing and extending the maturity of the grapes by infusing cold currents from the north in the summer.
Plots dedicated to the production of sweet wines are on sandy clay hills. With this climate and soil, the vineyards produce grapes with highly concentrated sugar, which have reached a high level of maturation. To obtain a Vin Doux Naturel (VDN), all wines from this AOC must undergo fortification, a process initiated by Arnaud de Villeneuve in the 13th century, which is to stop the fermentation of the must by adding wine alcohol of 96% minimum. This traditional process preserves the sugars and enhances the natural flavours of the Grenache, the unique name grape variety of the area and on grown old vines ( 50-90 years).
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Different versions of Muscat Beaumes -de-Venise?
After a long hiatus due to the ravages of phylloxera, the difficult replanting of Muscat by a handful of enterprising winegrowers (for the most part, small family farmers practicing sustainable viticulture) uplifted the AOC. In this area overheated by the sun, where the grapes ripen more quickly than elsewhere , one makes three classic versions of sweet wine ( VDN ) Beaumes : the tradition in its original bottle , sometimes called " muscat popes " the Carte d'Or with flavors of fresh grapes, and the Bois Doré, vintage aged in casks, where it acquires an aging good quality. The cooperative , chaired by Claude Chabran also produces a un muscat rosé couleur with a pomegranate colour , the bio muscat a youthful wine, and Rougexclusif a surprising muscat red with raspberry and flavours of red and black fruit . The cellar Balma Vénitia also leverages the Grenache , Syrah and Mourvedre to develop temperamental reds under AOC Beaumes de Venise and Mont Ventoux.
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Define AOC Muscat Beaumes -de-Venise?
Muscat Beaumes -de-Venise is the name of one of the seven members of the French family of Muscat, a natural sweet wine musts ((110 g sugar / liter) obtained by fortification with alcohol spirits. In this region of Vaison in Vaucluse ( "Venice" in French ), AOC since 1943, the production is limited to the villages of Beaumes -de-Venise and Aubignan. The vines are planted on steep terraces on the south side of the Laces of Montmirail, the massive limestone hills with sawtooth ridges that dominate the landscape south of Vaison -la-Romaine. The cooperative winery that would play a big role was born in 1956.Today, the producers of Beaumes -de-Venise are the only ones that grow very aromatic grape -Muscat a petit grains- in the Rhone Valley .
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