Grapes and styles Flashcards
1
Q
Merlot Taste Bordeaux
A
medium to pronounced intensity fruit (strawberry and red plum with herbaceous flavours in cooler years;
cooked blackberry, black plum in hot years),
medium tannins
medium to high alcohol
1
Q
Merlot Vine Characteristics
A
- Early budding and mid ripening,
- It is susceptible to coulure, drought and botrytis bunch rot, making sorting necessary to maintain quality.
- All these hazards can reduce yields.
2
Q
Cabernet Sauvignon Vine Characteristics
A
- late budding variety, giving it some protection from spring frosts.
- It is a small-berried thick-skinned variety with high tannin content, resulting in wines with high tannins.
- It is prone to fungal diseases, especially powdery mildew and the trunk diseases, Eutypa and Esca.
- It ripens late (and hence needs to be grown on warmer soils), making it vulnerable to early autumn rains.
- It produces the highest quality fruit on warm, well-drained soils, such as the gravel beds of the Médoc
3
Q
Cabernet Sauvignon Taste (bordeaux)
A
- Pronounced violet, blackcurrant, black cherry and menthol or herbaceous flavours,
- Medium alcohol,
- High acidity and tannins
- In cooler seasons in Bordeaux, especially in the past with a cooler climate, growers could struggle to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon fully, resulting in wines with high acidity, unripe tannins and little fruit. As a result, and due to Cabernet Franc and Merlot’s earlier ripening, it was and still is regularly blended with these two varieties.
4
Q
Petit Verdot Vine Characteristics
A
- This variety buds early and ripens even later than Cabernet Sauvignon, making it unpopular with growers in the past in Bordeaux. It is also prone to spring frosts, a failure to ripen in cool years and to rain around harvest.
5
Q
Petit Verdot Taste Bordeaux
A
- When used, often as less than five per cent of the blend in Bordeaux, it contributes powerful, deeply coloured wines with spice notes and high tannins. While there are still very few plantings, it is increasingly valued, especially as a warmer climate means it is more likely to ripen in most years.
6
Q
Cabernet Franc Taste Bordeaux
A
it contributes red fruit, high acidity and medium tannins to the Bordeaux blend.
7
Q
Semillon Vine Characteristics
A
- This is a mid-ripening variety, susceptible to botrytis bunch rot and to noble rot in the right conditions. It can carry high yields.
8
Q
Semillon Taste Dry Bordeaux
A
- Sémillon has low intensity apple, lemon and, if under ripe, grassy, flavours, a medium body, medium alcohol and medium to medium (+) acidity.
- In high quality dry white Bordeaux blends, it contributes low to medium intensity aromas, weight and body, and medium acidity. As such, it softens Sauvignon Blanc’s more intense flavours and high acidity. It has a strong affinity with vanilla and sweet spice flavours from new French oak.
9
Q
Semillon Taste Sweet Bordeaux
A
- In botrytis-affected sweet Bordeaux wines, it contributes pronounced honey and dried fruit (lemon, peach) character and a waxy texture. As it is more susceptible to botrytis than Sauvignon Blanc, top Sauternes wines tend to have a high proportion of Sémillon in the blend, for example as in Ch. Climens or Ch. d’Yquem. Sémillon is also prized for its ageability, developing toast and honeyed notes with age in contrast to Sauvignon Blanc that can hold but whose flavours do not evolve.
10
Q
Sauvignon Blanc Taste Bordeaux
A
- It contributes its grassy and gooseberry fruit and high acidity to dry white blends and to sweet botrytis-affected wines.
- Because of the worldwide popularity of the variety, increasing amounts of dominantly or single-variety dry Sauvignon Blanc white wines are being made.
11
Q
Muscadelle Vine Characterisitcs
A
This white variety needs to be planted on a well-exposed site, as it is very prone to botrytis bunch rot.
12
Q
Muscadelle Taste Bordeaux
A
The vast majority is used in sweet white wines where it contributes flowery and grapey notes. It is not related to Muscat.
13
Q
Chardonnay Vine Characterisitcs
A
- It buds early and so can be susceptible to spring frosts. It also ripens early making it suitable to grow in a cool region.
It can produce relatively high yields without loss of quality. It is, however, prone to grey rot, powdery mildew, millerandage and grapevine yellows. It can be grown in a wide range of soils and climates, resulting in a range of styles.
14
Q
Chardonnay Taste Burgundy
A
- In cool climates, for example in Burgundy, the resulting wines have apple, pear, lemon and lime fruit with wet stone notes, light to medium body and high acidity (Chablis). In more moderate climates, the wines have ripe citrus, melon and stone fruit, medium to medium (+) body, with medium (+) to high acidity (Côte d’Or).
- In good growing seasons in Burgundy, the main challenge in making high quality wine can be vigour management to avoid excessive yield and shading, which would reduce the quality of the fruit.
15
Q
Pinot Noir Vine Characteristics
A
- buds early (frost) and also ripens early making it suitable to grow in cool regions. However, unlike Chardonnay yields must be limited to produce quality wines.
- It is a delicate variety and prone to millerandage,downy and powdery mildew, botrytis bunch rot, and fan leaf and leaf roll viruses.
- In warm climates, it tends to ripen too fast (reducing the intensity of aromas), and the berries can shrivel and suffer from sunburn. In Burgundy, the concerns are more typically whether the fruit will ripen sufficiently to achieve the desired ripeness (tannins, colour and flavour).
16
Q
Pinot Noir Taste Burgundy
A
- Strawberry, raspberry and red cherry flavours with village wines and above having light, oak- derived flavours (smoke, clove),
- Low to medium tannins (grand cru wines can have medium (+) tannins),
- medium alcohol
- High acidity.
- The wines can develop earth, game and mushroom notes with time in bottle.
17
Q
Gamay Noir Vine Characteristics
A
- Gamay Noir is early budding, making it susceptible to spring frost. As stated, it is vulnerable to millerandage in cold, damp and windy conditions, which can reduce yields. Its thin delicate skin is vulnerable to rot and, as stated, to wind. It is early ripening, and can usually be picked before autumn rains arrive.
- Grapes grown on slopes with very good drainage, sites with very good sunlight interception and warm granite soils can create intense fruit character compared to the green leafy character often seen in less-ripe examples.
Gamay is a productive grape and yields need to be controlled for it to produce concentrated, ripe grapes. Reducing the number of buds helps to restrain the high fertility of the Gamay variety.
Traditionally vines were trained as bushes (giving some protection from the wind) and this is still the case on the steeper slopes. However, increasingly and where possible, vines are trained on trellises to aid mechanisation, especially where the aim is to make inexpensive wines.
Most Gamay grapes are picked by hand because whole bunches are required for the
most common form of winemaking in the region.
18
Q
Gamay Taste Beaujolais Villages
A
- The wines are typically purple in colour with medium intensity fresh red cherry, raspberry, red plum fruit (often with the kirsch and banana aromas typical of semi-carbonic maceration),
- medium (+) to high acidity,
- light to medium (–) body,
- medium alcohol
- light to medium tannins.
- They are good to very good in quality and inexpensive to mid-priced.
- Some top producers, often working organically with old vines, make low intervention wines that also may be aged in oak. These wines are medium (+) to pronounced intensity in aromas and flavours with medium tannins. The wines are typically very good to outstanding in quality and are premium and (for Beaujolais Crus) super-premium priced.
19
Q
Riesling Vine Characteristics
A
- Riesling is a cold-hardy variety (making it suitable to grow in regions with cold winters) that buds late, providing some protection against spring frosts. It needs a good site (full exposure to the sun and good drainage) and a long growing season to ripen fully but if these are provided it can produce very good quality grapes at relatively high yields (for example, 70 hL/ha). It has good disease resistance (resistant to downy mildew, fairly resistant to powdery mildew and botrytis bunch rot).
20
Q
Riesling Taste Alsace
A
- The wines are typically medium to pronounced in aroma
and flavour intensity, unoaked and high in acidity. The wines range in quality from good to outstanding and in price from mid- priced to premium, with a few super-premium examples. - The style in Alsace is typically dry (either with no residual sugar or a low amount that is not easily evident in tasting due to high acidity), medium to full body, medium alcohol, high acidity, with citrus (lemon, grapefruit) and stone fruit (peach) flavour with a prononounced stony/steely character.
21
Q
Gewurztraminer Vine Characteristics
A
- is an early budding variety (making
it prone to spring frosts) and early ripening (thus avoiding autumn rains). However, whilst it rapidly accumulates sugars, in Alsace it is picked late to achieve fully ripe skins to maximise the aromas and avoid unripe tannins. It is a vigorous variety (and therefore needs careful pruning and canopy management) but only moderately productive, due to coulure. It can suffer from chlorosis and from desiccation of the stems. In Alsace it is vulnerable to powdery mildew, grape vine moth and grey rot. Virus-free clones have been produced by research stations in Alsace to reduce this problem.
22
Q
Gewurtztraminer Taste Alsace
A
- Wines produced from this variety are typically medium lemon in colour (the ripe grapes themselves are a light pink), with pronounced aromas of lychee, peach/apricot, rose and spice (the German word Gewürz means ‘spice’).
- They have medium to high alcohol, a medium to full body and low acidity. In Alsace the wines are made in a range of styles from dry through to sweet.
- The wines range in quality from good to outstanding and in price from mid-priced to premium.
23
Q
Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois Taste Alsace
A
- The still wines in Alsace typically have low intensity aromas of apple and peach, and medium acidity and alcohol. They are mainly acceptable to good quality, with a few very good examples, and are inexpensive to mid-priced.
- Auxerrois, which can be labelled Pinot Blanc, is an early ripening, low aromatic variety producing wines with low acidity. The wines are most frequently used in blends or in Crémant d’Alsace.
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Pinot Gris Vine Characteristics
* Pinot Gris is an early budding variety (making it prone to spring frosts) and early ripening (thus avoiding autumn rains). It produces moderate yields and is susceptible to botrytis bunch rot and downy mildew. It can accumulate high sugar levels leading to medium to high alcohol levels.
25
Pinot Gris Taste Alsace
* In Alsace, the wines have medium intensity aromas of peach and apple and are full bodied with medium acidity. The best examples have a rich oily texture and have the capacity to age and develop honeyed and smoky notes.
26
Pinot Noir Alsace Taste
* Historically, it produced rather thin and lean wines but a warming climate, learning from other regions (Burgundy, neighbouring Germany) and local demand have resulted in rising quality with both unoaked and oaked wines. Significant producers include Domaine Muré and Domaine Albert Mann.
27
Melon Vine Characteristics
* It is quite a hardy variety, making it well suited to a cool region but buds early making it prone to spring frosts.
It ripens relatively early, reducing the threat of rain at harvest and can produce high yields.
It has good resistance to powdery mildew. It has tight bunches of fruit and is susceptible to downy mildew and botrytis bunch rot, both of which thrive in the humid climate. Timely and, as necessary, repeated spraying is required, adding some cost.
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Melon Taste Loire
Melon makes a wine with high acidity, a light body and low to the low end of medium alcohol. The wines typically have low aromatic intensity (green apple), which is often made sur lie (see below). The wines are acceptable to good in quality with some very good examples and inexpensive to mid-priced.
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Chenin Vine Characteristics
* Chenin Blanc buds early making it prone to spring frosts. It is a vigorous variety and if allowed can carry high yields. It is prone to powdery mildew, botrytis bunch rot (as well as to the positive effects of botrytis for making sweet wines) and trunk diseases. It ripens late making it vulnerable to the onset of autumn rains. As Chenin Blanc ripens unevenly, for the best quality it has to be picked on several passes through the vineyard. This limits the amount that mechanical picking can be employed. Where growers are seeking a wine with a high proportion of botrytis-affected grapes, multiple passes through the vineyard and picking by hand are necessary, adding to cost.
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Chenin Taste Loire
* In the middle Loire it produces a wide range of styles, sparkling wine, dry, off-dry and sweet wines. Here, the dry and off-dry wines have medium intensity aromas of green apple and lemon (sometimes with a steely, smoky character), medium alcohol, and noticeably high acidity, often balanced with some residual sugar for an off-dry style. They are typically good to very good in quality and inexpensive to mid-price, with some outstanding quality and premium priced options (e.g. Domaine Huet).
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Cabernet Franc Vine Characteristics
* Cabernet Franc is an early budding variety, making it prone to spring frost. It is also prone to coulure and therefore to a reduction in yields. As a mid-ripening variety, it can often be picked before autumn rains begin. If it is not ripened fully, the wines can taste excessive leafy. Better canopy management (avoiding dense canopies, leaf removal) along with warmer summers has reduced the incidence of overly herbaceous Loire Cabernet Franc. It is winter hardy, which makes it a good variety for cool areas.
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Cabernet Franc Taste Loire
* In the middle Loire, the wines typically have medium to pronounced intensity red fruit (redcurrant, raspberry), floral (violet) aromas and, as noted, can have leafy aromas, a light to medium body, medium tannins and high acidity.
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Grolleau Noir
This is an early budding and mid-ripening variety. It is prone to botrytis bunch rot. It is used mainly as a blending variety in rosés, especially Rosé d’Anjou and Rosé de Loire.
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Sauvignon Blanc Vine Characteristics
* This is a late budding and relatively early ripening variety, making it suitable to be grown in cool climates and regions with a threat of early autumn rains. It grows vigorously and is therefore best grown on poor soils. The canopy has to be carefully managed to avoid shading (which would lead to under-ripe, overly green fruit flavours). It is prone to powdery mildew, botrytis bunch rot and to trunk diseases (e.g. Esca) including, if cordon- trained, to the fungal disease eutypa dieback.
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Sauvignon Blanc Taste Loire
* Wine made from Sauvignon Blanc typically have pronounced intensity aromas of grass, bell pepper and asparagus with gooseberry, grapefruit and wet stone flavours (cooler areas) to riper, passion fruit (warmer areas). They typically have medium body and alcohol and high acidity.
* In the vineyard, row orientation and canopy management can affect the flavour profile of the fruit. Fruit grown in shadier conditions will result in more green pepper and grassy notes, while fruit grown with more sunlight will have more tropical fruit flavour. Picking date is also important, with the growers having to judge optimum ripeness but before the acidity drops and the flavours become over-ripe.
36
Pinot Noir Taste Loire
* The wines are typically medium ruby in colour, light to medium intensity of raspberry and strawberry fruit, high acidity and medium alcohol. The wines are mid- price to premium.
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Syrah Vine Characteristics
* This vigorous variety needs careful training and tying in to protect it from the Mistral wind that blows through both the northern and southern Rhône. On the steep slopes of the top northern Rhône appellations individual plants are often tied to one or two poles as trellising is not possible, adding to cost. It is susceptible to mites and to botrytis bunch rot. In addition to common diseases, there is also a disease called Syrah decline or disorder in which the leaves turn red and the graft point breaks up and the vine dies.
38
Syrah Taste Rhone
* deep ruby in colour, medium to pronounced intensity aromas and flavours of violet, plum (red plum in cooler years and sites, black plum in warmer years and sites), blackberry with black pepper and herbal notes. Acidity and tannins range from medium to high. Syrah adds structure, fruit and colour to Southern Rhône blends.
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Grenache Noir Vine Characteristics
* This high yielding variety needs a warm climate to ripen. It ripens late and therefore can be affected by early autumn rains. Its upright growth makes it very suitable to be trained as a bush vine, pruned short to contain its vigour, and it does well on dry, low fertility soils. It has good drought resistance but is prone to coulure (leading to reduced yields) and to the fungal diseases downy mildew, phomopsis and botrytis bunch rot. It is also prone to bacterial necrosis or bacterial blight, a disease that kills leaves and shoots and eventually the plant. The disease is combatted by planting only disease-free stock and avoiding contamination from pruning tools. The grapes can accumulate high sugar levels quickly, which can be an issue in dry wines but makes it very suitable for producing Vin Doux Naturel.
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Grenache Noir Taste Rhone
It contributes pale ruby colour, ripe red fruit (strawberry, red plum, red cherry), spicy and herbal notes, high alcohol, low to medium tannins and low acidity.
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Mourvedre Vine Characteristics
* This is a late budding and late ripening variety that only thrives in warm to hot climates. It needs high temperatures at the end of the season to ripen fully and therefore can be under ripe if the late summer is not hot. It is not drought resistant but requires small but regular amounts of water, for example from deep calcareous soils that stores water. It is best pruned short and can be grown either with a cordon system or on bush vines. It only produces low yields. It is prone to mites, leafhoppers and sour rot (a disease that affects ripening bunches due to insect or bird damage to grapes, which then become prone to bacteria and fungi).
* In the winery, it is strongly prone to reduction and therefore care has to be taken to make sure the must has adequate access to oxygen. It is typically aged in old oak, which adds a small amount of cost.
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Mourvedre Taste Rhone
contributes deep ruby colour, intense aromas of blackberries, blueberries and violets, high alcohol and high, firm tannins.
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Baga Taste
It has high acidity and tannins with a medium body and cranberry, cherry and plum fruit. It can be astringent when young but becomes softer and more complex with bottle ageing.
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Baga vine characteristics
Baga is late ripening and productive, meaning that careful site selection and limiting yields are required to ensure full ripeness
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Maria Gomes
