Fortified Wines Flashcards
What is mistelle?
When grape must is fortified prior to fermentation, produces a mistelle rather than a fortified wine. This category was once exclusively known as vins de liqueur (liqueur wines), but the EU has extended its definition to include all fortified wines.
Name some vin de liqueur wines?
in Champagne, there is Ratafia; in Cognac, Pineau des Charentes; in Armagnac, Floc de Gascogne; in the Jura, Macvin du Jura.
What is aguardente?
During the production of Port the natural fermentation process is stopped at an alcohol level of about 7% by addition of aguardente (pure wine alcohol) of 77% in a ratio of around 1 : 4.
This stops the fermentation process leaving many rest sugars and developing a sweet wine with an alcohol level between 19 and 22%.
When is established Port Wine-producing Douro region?
Established in 1756, the Port Wine-producing Douro region is the third oldest protected wine region in the world after the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in Hungary, established in 1730 and Chianti 1716.
The production of Port is overseen by who?
Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP) a regulatory body set up in 2003. The organisation supervises the promotion, production, and trade of all Porto and Douro DOC wines, and also guarantees label integrity, age designations, and samples all appellation wines for authenticity.
What is the major soil type in vineyards destinate for Port production?
Schistous soils predominate in the region. Schist is a form of slate with strata which allows vine roots to permeate the rock.
Principal Red Grape varietals used for production of Port?
Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Baroca, Mourisco Tinto, Sousão, Bastardo.
Principal White Grape varietals used for production of Port?
Arinto, Codega, Malvasia Fino, Malvasia Corada, Rabigato, Viosinho, Folgasão., Esgana Cão.
What is Beneficio?
Beneficio is the fortification of wine with spirit in production of Port. This occurs when approx one-third of the sugar has been converted to alcohol.
What is Pipe?
A pipe is the traditional barrel used for both aging and shipping of Port wine. Pipes used in the Douro Valley usually hold 550 litres, but pipes in Vila Nova de Gaia may often contain 620 litres. The size of a pipe used for shipping is 534 litres.
Name two most important red grapes for Port production?
Although Touriga Nacional is the most celebrated Port grape, the difficulty of growing it and its small yields result in Touriga Francesa being the most widely-planted variety within the Douro.
What is Ruby Port?
Ruby Port is the most basic and least expensive style of Port. It is young, non-vintage, full bodied, deeply coloured wine, generally sold at less than three years old. Many are sweet, simple wines with rather harsh alcohol.
After fermentation it is stored in tanks made of concrete or stainless steel to prevent oxidative aging, and preserve its rich claret color. The wine is fined and cold filtered before bottling, and does not generally improve with age.
What is Ruby Reserve Port?
Ruby Reserve, or Premium Ruby, replaced the term “Vintage Character” and has more complexity and character than a basic Ruby Port.
What is Crusted Port?
Non vintage ruby Port . A blend of high quality wines sourced from 2 or more vintages.
Aged up to 4 years in cask before bottling. Ideally should have a minimum of 3 yrs bottle age before use. When it will have formed a deposit (Crust) in the bottle. Requires decanting before service.
What is Vintage Port?
Vintage Port must be authorized by the IVDP, and is aged in cask before being bottled by July 30 of the third year after harvest.
Vintage Port will continue to develop in the bottle for decades, shedding brash fruit in favor of more complex attributes.
Mature Vintage Port requires decanting, as it will develop a significant deposit in the bottle.
What is Single Quinta Vintage Port?
A single quinta Vintage Port is the product of one estate’s harvest. Often, if a Port house cannot confidently declare a vintage, it may nonetheless showcase the fruit of one of its better estates as a vintage wine. In a vintage year, such an esteemed estate would usually provide the backbone of a shipper’s Vintage Port.
Examples include Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha, Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas, and Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim. Many smaller quintas release their own vintage wines as well.
Single quinta wines are made in the same fashion as other Vintage Ports, and will improve with additional bottle age.
What is Late-Bottled Vintage Port (LBV)?
Late-Bottled Vintage Port (LBV) spends between four and six years in cask prior to bottling. Thus, the wines obtain some of the mellowed tones of a Tawny Port, while retaining the youthful fruit and directness of a Ruby Port.
LBV Port is always the product of a single vintage, but quality may vary greatly. The majority of LBV wines are filtered prior to bottling; they will not require decanting and do not usually improve with additional bottle age.
What is Reserve Tawny Port?
Reserve Tawny Port ages for at least seven years prior to bottling. Reserve Tawny wines are blended from several vintages, and retain some youthful freshness while gaining a hint of the creamy, delicate nature of a true old Tawny. Tawny Port will not improve with additional bottle age.
What is Methuen Treaty?
Port became very popular in England after the Methuen Treaty of 1703, when merchants were permitted to import it at a low duty, while war with France deprived English wine drinkers of French wine.
What are Quinta do Vesuvio?
Quinta do Vesuvio is a quintas with an extraordinary terroir that produces Vintage ports most years, and produce no other style of port, only the Vintage. In these instances, the wine is routinely offered En Primeur the second spring after harvest.
What is Garrafeira Port?
These ports from a single year age for a short time in wood followed by a longer period in small glass container “demijohns” (7 to 11 litre) capacity.
After 20, 30 or 40 years, the wine is decanted and bottled.
Speciality of the houses of Niepoort & Ferreira.
What is Tawny Port?
Many wines labeled as Tawny Port do not undergo the extensive cask aging that is critical to the style, but are simply paler wines—due to the provenance of grapes, a less-thorough extraction, or the addition of white Port to the blend.
Lesser vineyards and vintages constitute these wines, which are a popular aperitif in France.
What is Tawny with Indication of Age?
Tawny Port may be labeled as 10, 20, 30, or 40 Years Old. These wines show a progressively more concentrated and developed character, reaching a pronounced oxidative, rancio state by forty years of age.
Tawny Ports that display an age indication result from high-quality fruit, and are matured in seasoned wood. Typically, such Ports are racked once annually, often freshened with additional spirit or wine as evaporation takes its natural course, and are finally blended together prior to bottling.
What is Colheita Tawny Port?
Colheita Tawny Port is a vintage-dated Port that spends a minimum of seven years in cask—many stay in cask for decades. Some producers, such as Calem, a Port house that specializes in the Tawny style, will not bottle Colheita Tawny Ports until an order is received. Thus, Colheita Tawny Port from a particular vintage may vary in character from bottle to bottle.
What is lei do tergo or “law of the third”?
Decree restricting sales of Port to one-third of a house’s total inventory annually.
What is White Port?
White port wines are a blend of several vintages that are then chosen for cask aging. Aging lasts between 3 and 10 years and the final wine is bottled ready to drink.
Produced in dry, off dry & sweet styles (Lagrima). When white ports are matured in wood for long periods, the colour darkens.
Describe three different layouts of Port vineyards?
Traditionally the vineyards are cultivated on terraced slopes (Patamares).
Newer machine workable terraces are being built (Socalcoes) with more rows of vines between terrace walls walling.
Vineyards are also planted with rows running vertically down the slope (Vino ao Alta).
Name grape varieties used for Madeira production?
The principal noble white grapes of Madeira today are Sercial (Esgana Cão), Verdelho (Gouveio), Boal (Bual, Malvasia Fina), and Malmsey (originally Malvasia Candida, now more commonly Malvasia Branca de São Jorge). Tinta Negra (formerly called Tinta Negra Mole) is the island's workhorse, accounting for nearly 85% of its total production.
Name Madeira varietal wines in order from sweetest to driest?
Malvasia, Boal, Verdelho, and Sercial.
What is Rainwater?
A popular style of Madeira in the US, Rainwater Madeira is usually 100% Tinta Negra, and the youngest wine in the blend is a minimum three years old.
The wine is medium dry, and light in style.
Name Madeira ageing labeling?
Reserve (Reserva): 5 years of age or older (but below 10 years of age);
Special Reserve (Reserva Especial): 10 years of age or older (but below 15 years of age);
Extra Reserve: 15 years of age or older (but below 20 years of age);
20 Years Old, 30 Years Old, Over 40 Years Old.
What is Madeira Seleccionado?
Such bottles are often labeled “Finest,” “Choice,” or “Select,” and include a blended wine that is at least 3 years old (but below five years of age).
These wines are dominated by the Tinta Negra grape, heated in Estufagem and aged in tank rather than cask.
