Grape Varieties Flashcards
Chardonnay - Burgundy
MLF is common in almost all white wines in Burgundy
Lees Contact/ Lees stirring - breaking up the sediment of fine lees and mixing it with the wine.
early budding - spring frost
- Chablis: apple, citrus, wet stones, slate (stainless steel, older oak after fermentation impact less flavour but allow a gentle oxidation to promote complexity)
- Cote d Or: stone fruit + creamy oak (small new oak barrels)
- Maconnais, ripe and rounded, toasty oak
Bottle age: nuts and mushrooms
Chardonnay - New world
CA - Russian River Valley, Los Carneros Australia - Adelaide Hills, Geelong, Mornington Peninsula New Zealand - Gisborne, Marlborough Chile - Casablanca Valley
Pinot Gris
Early budding, early ripening
golden in color
Alsace - oily texture, ripe tropical fruit, hint of ginger and honey (large, old oak vessels)
New Zealand - more pure fruit flavours, residual sugar, medium acidity (prematurely stopping fermentation by chilling or add SO2)
Australia - Tasmania
USA - Oregon
Pinot Grigio
North-east Italy
- Trentino, Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Guilia
Veneto
- pale skin, high volume, inexpensive
Cold Soaking /Cold Maceration
extract color and flavour.
white wine 12-22
red wine 20-32
wine maker can lower tannin extraction by lower the temperature towards the end of alcoholic fermentation
Cap Management in red wine making
Punching down - needs to be careful towards the end when tannins are more easily extracted.
Pumping over
Rack and return
Rotary fermenters
Whole Bunch Fermentation
Must make sure that stems are fully ripe - if not, tannins in the stems can give the wine an undesirable bitter taste
oxygen-free
- intracellular fermentation
A. Carbonic maceration
- uncrushed bunches only, filled the vet with CO2 to remove oxygen. 2% skin starts to split
- extracts color but little tannins, wine are soft and fruity, with notes of kirsch, banana, bubble gum and cinnamon-like spice
B. Semi-carbonic maceration
- premium Pinot Noir, alcoholic fermentation continues on the skin, fresher fruit character
C. whole bunches with crushed fruit
cabernet sauvignon
thick skin, late ripenning; in cooler climate it can struggle to ripen fully - astringent tannins and herbaceous flavours
Post fermentation maceration may be used to encourage a more gentle extraction of tannin and to soften existing tannins
Cabernet Sauvignon
France
Haut-Medoc - grippy tannins when young, cedar and blackcurrent leaf aromas. Usually blend with Merlot.
Usually blend with Sangiovese in Italy
blend with Tempranillo in Spain
Blend with Shiraz in Australia
Cabernet Sauvignon
New World - Full body, ripe blackcurrents and black cherry
Napa Valley Australia - Coonawarra and Margaret River New Zealand - Hawke's Bay South Africa - Stellenbosch Chile - Colchagua Valley
Merlot
buds and ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon
Bordeaux - Saint-Emilion and Pomerol
International Style - harvest late to generate purple color, consentrated blackberry and plum fruit; soft, velvet-textured tannins. Matured in new oak to add toasty flavor
Harvest early - medium body and alcohol, higher acidity and fresh red fruit character, vegetal, leafy aromas - usually simple Bordeaux
Pinot Noir
early budding, early ripening, thin skin
Burgundy
Cote de Or
Germany - Baden
Post fermentation maceration is not widely practised
bottle aging - mushroom, forest floor
whole bunch fermentation is increasing popular
often matured in oak but too much new oak can be overpowering
Pinor Noir
- New World
CA - Los Carneros , sonoma
New Zealand - Martinborough, Marlborough and Central Otago
Australia - Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and Tasmania
South Africa - Walker Bay
Chile - Casablanca Valley
Syrah/Shiraz
small, think skin grape, dark color
medium body with fresh black fruit aromas and pepper, or smooth and full body with intense ripe black fruit and hints of liquorice
Syrah
France
North Rhone
Cote Rotie and Hermitage - fuller body with berry flavours and hints of pepper, notes of meat and leather after aging
Languedoc and Roussillon in France - often blend with other varieties such as Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan and Cinsault - warmer weather so ripper flavor and tannin
Shiraz
New World
Australia - Hunter and Barossa Valley, soft earthy, spicy, with consentrated black fruit aromas
Australia (cooler region)- Great Southern, Geelong and Heathcote, produce leaner more peppery styles
Chile, South Africa, New Zealand- Hawke’s Bay, Washington state
Syrah/Shiraz
Wine making
warm and hot area
- cap management extract maximum color, flavour and tannin from ripe and over ripe grapes
New oak add toasty flavour
cooler climate or harvest early
- gentle cap management
- whole bunches fermentation
- extended post-fermentation maceration may achieve fine tannin structure
older oak and larger vessels - more elegant, restrained wines
Grenache
late ripenenig and needs warm or hat climate
tolerate for drought conditions
sweet, thin-skin grape
high in alcohol, low in acidity, full bodied with soft tannins and red fruit flavours
Destemmed and crushed, pre-fermentation maceration is common, extract more color and flavour before alcohol levels rise in fermentation.
some use whole bunches
stainless steel or old oak
gentle cap management such as punching down
Garnacha
Spain
Priorat
- blend with Carignan, deep color, high tannin, fresh black fruit, toasty oak
Rioja (Rioja Baja)
- blend with Tempranillo
- contributes perfume, body and alcohol to the wine
Calatayud, Carinena and Nvarra
in hot climates Grenache can be jammy and high in alcohol and therefore often blend with varieties that more tolerate of heat such as Carignan and Mourvedre
Grenache
France
South Rhone
Chateauneuf de Pape
- usually blended with Syrah and Mourvedre
- full body, rich texture, concentrated spicy red fruit
Languedoc and Roussillon
- blended with Syrah, Mourvedrtralia e, Carignan and Cinsault
Grenache
New World
Australia - Barossa Valley and Mclaren Vale
old vines - ripe rubust wines with intense flavours of red berries and peppery spice
Vine Species
Vitis Vinifera
American Vines - resistant to Phylloxera (a vine pest that attacks the vine’s roots) so they are widely used to produce rootstocks onto which Vitis Vinifera are grafted.
Grape Vareity
- Cutting
a section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant - Layering
a cane is bend down and a section is buried in the ground. The cane tip points upwards out of the ground. The buried section takes root and once the roots is established, the cane linking the new growth is cut.
Mutation - Clone selection
Vines with positive mutation will be selected for further propagation by cutting or layering, so that the positive characteristics of these vines can be carried forward in new plantings.
Cross fertilisation
create new varieties that able to thrive in certain climates and soil conditions, with improved disease resistance, and those deliver higher quality or quantity of grapes
Crossing
A new variety is produced from two parents of the same species. Every grape variety used today is a crossing. Cabernet Sauvignon = Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc Muller Thurgau (Riesling * Madeleine Royale) Pinotage (Pinot Noir * Cinsault)
Hybird
A vine whose parents come from two different vine species. Typically a hybrid will have at least one American vine as a parent.
- Root stocks
Phylloxera
an insert native to North America. American vines are able to inhibit the underground louse by clogging its mouth with a sticky sap. They also form protective layers behind
Bordeaux
moderate maritime climate
warming Effect of Gulf Stream: extends the growing season - spring frosts are rarely a problem
High level of rainfall and humidity
Rainfalls throughout the year can disrupt flowering and fruit set, promote rot and dilute the fruit flavours at harvest.
- Vintage variation is an important consideration in Bordeaux
- almost all red wines and most white wines are blend
Bordeaux varieties
cabernet sauvignon
merlot
cabernet franc
petit verdot
