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WSET Level 4 Diploma D3 > France - Bordeaux > Flashcards

France - Bordeaux Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the latitude ranges of the grape growing regions ranges in France?

A

42 - 49 N

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2
Q

What are the common vine training system in France?

A

the cane-replacement pruned Guyot system with vertical shoot positioning (VSP)

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3
Q

What are the France’s most planted grapes?

A 
Merlot
Ugni Blanc
Grenache Noir
Syrah
Chardonnay
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4
Q

What are the top varieties planted in Bordeaux?

A 
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Franc
Semillon
Sauvignon Blanc
Muscadelle
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5
Q

What are the 2 main rivers going through Bordeaux?

A

River Garonne

River Dordogne

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6
Q

What is the climate of Bordeaux?

A

A moderate maritime climate. Gentle heat throughout the growing season, sufficient rainfall to promote growth and ripening, and fine, relatively dry and warm early autumns allow for steady and complete ripening

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7
Q

How can excessive rain affect vintage variation?

A

Excessive rain is an annual threat in a maritime climate. Too much rain during the growing season encourages green growth which needs to be managed accordingly. Otherwise shading in the canopy can be an issue as this can lead to an increase in fungal diseases, decrease the temperature of the canopy microclimate and prevent optimal spray penetration. These factors will impact on the quality of the fruit which results in vintage variation.

  • Rain at flowering can result in poor fruit set
  • Rain throughout the growing season can result in increased disease pressure
  • Rain at and following veraison can lead to unripe fruit and fungal diseases
  • Rain at harvest can dilute flavors
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8
Q

What are the frost damaged years in Bordeaux?

A

1956, 1991, 2017

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9
Q

What are the main soils of Left Bank Bordeuax?

A

gravel (mixed with clay and sand) and stony soils

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10
Q

What is the gravel mounds in Left Bank of Bordeaux called?

A

Croupes

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11
Q

What is the contribution of gravel soils?

A
  • drains well

- heat retention

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12
Q

What is the main soil of the Right Bank of Bordeaux?

A

Clay, suited for Merlot

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13
Q

What is the soil the best wines of Pomerol planted on?

A

the limestone plateau

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14
Q

Is Merlot early or late budding and ripening?

A

Early budding and early ripening

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15
Q

What are the characteristics of Merlot?

A
  • medium to pronounced intensity fruit (strawberry and red plum with herbaceous flavor in cooler years: cooked black berry, black plum in hot years),
  • medium tannins
  • medium to high alcohol
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16
Q

Is Cabernet Sauvignon early or late budding and ripening?

A

Late budding and late ripening

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17
Q

What diseases Cabernet Sauvignon prone to?

A
  • fungal diseases, powdery mildew

- trunk diseases, Eutypa and Esca

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18
Q

What are the characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon?

A
  • Violet, blackcurrant, black cherry, and menthol or herbaceous flavors
  • Medium alcohol
  • High acidity
  • High tannins
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19
Q

Is Petit Verdot early or late budding and ripening?

A

Buds early and ripens later

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20
Q

What are the characteristics of Petit Verdot?

A
  • Deep colors
  • spice notes
  • high tannins
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21
Q

What are the characteristics of Semillon?

A
  • Mid- ripening
  • Susceptible to botrytis rot and to noble rot
  • low intensity apple, lemon
  • medium body
  • medium acidity
22
Q

What are the common training system in Bordeaux?

A
  • head-trained, replacement cane-pruned
  • the left bank; Double Guyot
  • the right bank: Single Guyot
23
Q

For Bordeaux’s moderate, damp climate, what would be important for canopy management?

A
  • to reduce the incidence of downy mildew, powdery mildew, and botrytis bunch rot
  • Leaf removal to improve aeration and deter rot. This exposes grapes to ultraviolet light to aid ripening
24
Q

What is “soft pruning”?

A
  • making only small cuts if at all possible, leaving some extra wood at the cut site to allow the wood to dry out and maximizing the opportunity for sap to flow around the plant.
25
Q

What is the color of Bordeaux Superieur AOC wines and the yield?

A

Red only, 59 hl/ha

26
Q

What are the color of Medoc and Haut-Medoc AOC wines and the yield?

A

Red only and 55hl/ha

27
Q

What are the Haut-Medoc sub-regions? What is the style of wine? Max yield?

A

Saint-Estephe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Margaux. Red only. 57 hl/ha

28
Q

What are the styles of Graves AOP? What are the max yield?

A

White (58 hl/ha) and red 55 hal/ha, 85% red wines

29
Q

What is the style of Grave Superieures? Max yield?

A

late picked and/or botrytis-affected sweet wines. 40 hl/ha

30
Q

What is the yield and aging requirement of Saint-Emilion Grand Cru?

A

46 hl/ha (53 hl/ha for Saint-Emilion) , 20 months (6 months for Saint-Emilion)

31
Q

What are the Saint-Emilion satellites?

A

Montagne Saint-Emilion, Lussac-Saint-Emilion, (Puissegiun, St George)

32
Q

What are the communes of Cotes de Bordeuax?

A

Blaye, Cadillac, Castillon, Francs

Cadillac and Casillon are red only

33
Q

What 2 rivers influences Sauternes?

A

Ciron (colder) and Garrone (warmer)

34
Q

What are the ideal climate condition for noble rot?

A

Morning mists, and when these mists are burnt off by the middle of day, with sunshine in the afternoon drying the grapes to avoid the development of grey rot?

35
Q

What is the max yield of Barsac and Sauternes AOC?

A

25 hl/ha

36
Q

What are the characteristics of Sauternes and Barsac AOC wines?

A
  • The pronounced aromas of citrus peel, honey, tropical fruit (mango) wityh vanilla oak notes.
  • full bodied, with high alcohol
  • medium to medium (+) acidity
  • a sweet finish
37
Q

What are the other sweet wine appellation other than Sauternes and Barsac AOC?

A
  • Sainte-Croix-du-Mont AOC
  • Loupiac AOC
  • Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux
38
Q

When did the Graves classification established? How many chateaux are classified?

A

1959, 16 chateuax

39
Q

When did the Saint-Emilion classification established?

A

1955, and has been revised at approximately 10-yearly intervals ever since

40
Q

When did the Crus Bourgeois du Medoc classification established?

A

1932

41
Q

What are the 3 tiers of the Crus Bourgeois du Medoc classifications since 2018?

A
  • Cru Bourgeois
  • Cru Bourgeois Superieur
  • Cru bourgeois Exceptionnel
42
Q

How much % of Bordeaux wines are sold in France? and where?

A

56%, 48% of that being sold in supermarkets

43
Q

How much Bordeaux wine are exported? Which countries are the top export markets?

A

44%

Hong Kong, China, USA and UK

44
Q

What is La Place de Bordeaux?

A

The unique commercial system in Bordeaux. Chateaux are selling the wines to a Broker/Courtier or a merchant / negocient

45
Q

Planting density of vines is high in Bordeaux. What are the advantages and disadvantages of high planting density in this region?

A

Advantages:
- Limits vine vigor
- makes the best use of expenses vineyard land by increasing potential yields
- water is often abundant so drought isn’t often a problem
Disadvantages
- High cost as more vines must be bought and managed
- added cost of trellising many vines
- specialist tractors may have to be bought that fit between the tight rows
- More time is needed for vine training, ploughing and spraying

46
Q

Briefly describe the problems Bordeaux often experiences with harvesting grapes in relation to weather

A

Due to the nature of a maritime climate, rainfall can happen at any time of year and rainfall at harvest time is not an exception in Bordeaux. This can cause various problems if the rain is very heavy just prior to harvest, the berries can swell by taking up too much water and then split. The splitting can lead to disease and the quality of the fruit is automatically jeopardized. Picking during wet weather is not ideal as water can accumulate in the picking crates or in the machine harvester, leading to dilution of the juice.

Cooler weather in the lead up to harvest is not uncommon in this climate and that impacts the potential ripening of the fruit. If temperatures are too low, sugars will accumulate very slowly, acids will remain high and flavor components will not fully develop leading to underride fruit.

47
Q

Identify and describe the two approaches to blending wines in Bordeaux.

A

Blending may be carried out in the winter post-harvest. For high quality wines this will be in time for the en primeur tastings in April. The process involves selecting the most appropriate wines from the different vats (tanks, oak vessels), different grape varieties to make up the final wine. This blend will be close to what the final wine will be at bottling.

The other approach to blending is when it is carried out closer to bottling leaving time for the different vats (oak vessels of different ages, sizes, etc) and different grape varieties to have gone through a period of maturation.

48
Q

What four factors determine the level of botrytis in the final sweet wines of Bordeaux?

A
  • Whether the environmental/weather conditions are correct for the spread of noble rot, which varies from year to year.
  • The position of estates (proximity to areas where mist forms most regularly versus other locations.
  • The willingness of estates to wait for the best times to harvest and risk losing all or part of the crop due to adverse weather.
  • The willingness of estates to pay for multiple passes through the vineyard to select botrytis-affected fruit.
49
Q

Briefly describe why the Saint-Émilion classification has proven controversial.

A

The classification is reviewed on average every 10 years with the aim of ensuring quality is maintained for the properties that are in the top tiers. For the properties in the lower tiers, ambition to move up a tier is viewed as a motivation to continually improve how properties are managed. This should ensure that overall quality within this classification is very high. The reality has been different particularly with the 2006 review causing lawsuits from demoted properties thus damaging the reputation and integrity of the process. Another controversial issue is the use of the term “Grand Cru” for the wines of the appellation outside of the classification, which is deemed misleading by many outside the region.

50
Q

The production cost for a classed growth Bordeaux is approximately €9.80 per bottle, whereas it’s €0.57 for Bordeaux AOC. Using bullet points, detail the additional production costs for a classed growth Bordeaux that create this disparity in costs.

A
  • Vine density
  • Harvest costs
  • Hugely higher viticultural costs
  • Lower yields
  • Rigorous grape selection
  • Barrel ageing (both the cost of a higher proportion of new barrels and extended time in barrel).
51
Q

Why might a négociant be forced to buy wines from a vintage they normally wouldn’t purchase when buying en primeur?

A

The rarest and most coveted wines are often sold on allocation. This means that négociants are given a set number of wines they can purchase. In order to maintain this allocation for the top vintages, the négociant will have to buy these wines in lesser vintages or years they normally might not want to buy any wine.

52
Q

What are the advantages and disadvantages of En Premier for estates?

A 
Advantages
- ability to test the market
- early payment return on investment
Disadvantages
- potentially selling lower price
- financial mismanage or losses by negocients

WSET Level 4 Diploma D3 (31 decks)

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