France - Alsace Flashcards
What is the most common style in terms of variety, and the main aim of winemaking?
Single varietal.
To preserve primary fruit.
What is commonly practised before fermentation? Why?
Some producers practise pre-fermentation skin contact, or simply keep the pressed grapes for longer in the press to extract flavour molecules and add to the texture of the wine.
What varieties might you ferment at cool temperatures, and which at mid-range?
Cool: Muscat, Riesling and Sylvaner.
Mid: Gewurz.
Why is the common fermentation temperature key for Gewurz?
It has pronounced aromas, not affected by slightly higher fermentation temperatures, and has high sugar levels. A slightly higher fermentation temperature is desirable to ensure the yeast can ferment effectively to high alcohol levels.
Low temperatures are avoided as its characteristic banana aroma is not desired.
How are the preferred fermentation temperatures achieved?
Many cellars are naturally cool enough. However temperature control is now usually installed.
Which fermentation vessels are most commonly used? Why?
Inert, either large oak vessels or stainless steel, as no additional flavours tend to be required.
Why type of yeast is often used?
Smaller, high-quality producers will tend to use ambient yeasts to achieve a more terroir expressive wine.
Is MLC often carried out?
Typically avoided, to retain fresh primary fruit.
Which vessels are wines often matured in?
The same large neutral containers as fermentation, and on the fine lees (for freshness) but without lees stirring, to retain primary fruit. New oak is very rarely used, which reduces production costs.
How have producers previously indicated sweetness, and how do they now?
Historically there’s very little consistency about if the wines have been fermented to dryness, instead buyers have needed to know the producers style.
An increasing number of producers now state sweetness on the back of the label.
The region has now agreed a standard approach to labelling sweetness of wines, using the EU categories, to be implemented from 2021.
