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