Grapes Flashcards
Generic Bordeaux style of wines
1 Style of red wine: Medium bodied red, blackberry and cedar flavours. Sometimes with astringent tannins and unripe flavours. Merlot becoming more common.
2. Style of white wines: Light, plain white wine with some herbaceousness if Sauvignon Blanc in blend.
3. Style of Roses: The best Bordeaux Rose is fresh and fruity whereas Clairet undergoes a longer maceration and is deeper in colour and fuller bodied.
Grape of Uruguay
Tannant.
- It can be used for huge arrange of wines from fortified wines to sweet roses.
- Export Style of Uruguay Tannat. elegant but powerful Bordeaux like style tannat blended with Merlot to soften the powerful tannins. Fruity dry red.
Malbec in Argentina
- It has been used for full bodied, ripe, black fruit, spice red wines.
- Malbec, In the last 10 years this style is move to more elegant examples.
- Malbec is the most planting grape variety in Argentina, that look to Malbec like the future.
- Initially used as a part of the blend like other Bordeaux varities.
- Now, it is made as style varietal, although it plays a leading role in some premium blends.
- Malbec made from fruit ripened at lower altitudes are fuller bodied, with more black fruit.
- Malbec wines made from higher altitude vineyard tend to be more elegant, displaying fresher, more floral aromas.
Bonarda
- Is the second most grown varietal in Argentina.
- It no yet international grape
- New improvements, on East Mendoza, have focus as more international grape again.
- Producers will be focusing on Bonarda as unique selling point for the diversity.
Torrontés
- Cross between Muscat of Alexandría and Criolla Chica.
- It is mostly planted in La Rioja, San Juan, and North of Salta.
- Before: many wines were coarse-textured, bitter and lacking acidity.
- With new winemaking techniques now it is the signature white variety.
- Best samples come from high altitude in Cafayate in Salta.
- Torrontés is medium body and medium acidity, intense fruity, floral perfume, dry white wine, Muscat like aromas.
Pinot Noir in Chile
- It is showing great promise, especially in San Antonio and Casablanca.
What best describes a typical Carmenére wine?
- Chile’s signature grape variety.
- Late-ripening, most successful in warmer areas.
- Full-bodied, high tannin. Pungent red with velvet tannins.
- Very difficult to ripen the tannins and avoid herbaceous flavours without having very high alcohol levels.
- Overtly herbaceous when not fully ripe, but good examples achieve a balance between herbal and black fruit and red pepper aromas.
- Mixed on vineyard with Merlot.
Sauvignon Blanc in Chile
- 1 of the 3 grape variety that dominated the plantings.
- Sauvignon Blanc has benefited from the development of new, cooler vineyard sites from Casablanca and San Antonio removing Sauvignonasse.
- The coastal vineyards are now yielding excellent fruity Sauvignon Blancs.
- Producers generally try to avoid excessive herbaceousness. The result: high alcohol as well as riper fruit.
- New plantings are showing clean, ripe and tropical fruit, and generally avoiding the extreme herbaceous notes that characterise many other Sauvignon Blanc.
Chardonnay in Chile
- Ripe and healthy fruit leads to a purity of flavour.
- Crisp citrus and apple characters are usually complemented by toast and caramel characters from oak treatment.
- Chardonnay in Chile have been made in a modern international style with ripe fruit and oak flavours.
Cabernet Sauvignon in Chile
- Half of the black grape varieties planted.
- Made in variety of styles from fruity to full body premium.
- Usually blended with Merlot, Carmenere and Syrah.
- The wines show intense berry fruit and capsicum.
Syrah in Chile
Areas such as San Antonio produce high quality Syrah with ripe, black fruits backed up by a subtle pepperines.
2. The premium expressions especially in the cooler coastal or northerly regions such as the Elqui Valley are already thought to be among the best wines in Chile.
What is the French hybrid variety allowed for Candian VQA Icewine?
Where is it mostly found and what types of wine does it typically make?
Vidal
Niagara Peninsula DVA, Ontario
When made into a dry white wine, it has little character that Riesling, but commonly used for Icewine production.
Describe a typical Zinfandel wine:
Dry (often with perceptible RS),
Full Body, Moderate Tannin, Moderate to Elevated Acidity,
Elevated to High Alcohol
-Jammy Red/Black fruit, dried berries, licorice.
Chenin Blanc ( Steen) in South Africa
White grape.
Locally knows as Steen.
Has been the biggest loser in the replanting
It remains the most widely planted variety of either colour.
It is versalite, both great sweet and dry styles produces.
Body and toasty characters added through barrel fermentation and barrel ageing.
Also used for sweet wines, from late harvested or botrytised grapes.
Growers are now making better optimization like in Loire Valley.
Pinotage in South Africa
Pinot Noir x Cinsault. Blended with international reds to produce a Cape Blend.
It is the national grape variety.
Sometimes it is blend with international varieties.
2 styles as well:
-like Beaujolais with red berry fruit character.
- As a single varietal produced from old bush trained vines produce wines full body rich, spiced berry fruit. Some shows hints of meat, rubber, banana or nail varnish. They can made the wine attractively complex when they do not dominate.
Flavour and structure still being explored.
