Grapes And Wine

Question 1

History of Winemaking (who made wine?)

Answer 1

• Grapes are over 60 million years old
• earliest cultivated vines 7000-5000 BCE
• numerous Mediterranean civilizations cultivated wine
  1) the Egyptians from 2800-550BCE
  2) Phoenicians 1400-200 BCE
  3) Greeks 2000-150 BCE (identified vitis vinifera varieties)
  4) Etruscans 800-350 BCE
  5) Romans 750 BCE - 450 ACE

Question 2

History of Winemaking (Romans)

Answer 2

The Romans were a major influence on winemaking. They spread grape growing (viticulture), and and winemaking (viniculture) throughout the empire.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, demand and supply of wine decreased

Question 3

History of winemaking ( religious influence)

Answer 3

The rise of the Catholic Church kept winemaking alive bc they needed wine for sacramental rites. They acquired land/vineyards and retained the winemaking knowledge.
The Cistercian Monks (Burgundy) are credited with preserving winemaking art.
Water was unsafe to drink in these times so wine was drunk daily
The European Renaissance created a new demand for good quality wine, new techniques; barrel aging, racking, sulphuring, glass bottles, cork stoppers

Question 4

History of winemaking what happened in 1856?

Answer 4

Pasteur begins work on elucidating fermentation mechanism. In 1863, began work on Pasteurization for the wine industry.

Question 5

History of winemaking what happened in 1863 that was bad?

Answer 5

Plant louse feeds on roots ( Phylloxera)
It was brought to Europe from NA
It devastated vineyards bc although the NA vines were resistant, the European vines weren’t
By 1869 Reduced total French wine production by almost 3 quarters
So they grafted European vines onto NA rootsalks
Hybrids developed that were disease resistant and cold and drought hardy.

Question 6

History of winemaking what happened in the 20th Century?

Answer 6

In 1919-1933 U.S. prohibition leads to decay of wine industry in U.S.
In 1935 France introduced laws to control quality and combat fraud
In 1970s to present is the New World Wines

Question 7

Define Terroir

Answer 7

Is the combined effect of CLIMATE, SOIL and TOPOGRAPHY on grapes and wine ( no human intervention )

Question 8

What affects the growth and quality of grapes?

Answer 8

CLIMATE - temp, rainfall, air movement, sun and cloud
SOIL
GRAPE VARIETY
VITICULTURE - vineyard practice such as pruning, insecticides
WEATHER

Question 9

Grape growing Variables (equator)

Answer 9

Most grapes grow between 30-50 degreesNorth and South of the equator
Too far toward the poles - fail to ripen, frost damage
Too close to equator - fail to fruit, dry out, or ripen to rapidly ( poor flavour development )
But different grape varieties have diff requirements
Eg. Resiling needs cool temp climate whereas Syrah needs heat to develop

Question 10

Grapes: Soils

Answer 10

Best soils are porous, light textured, deep and barely fertile
If too fertile stems and leaves grow too much and can interfere with ripening

Question 11

What are the steps of Winemaking?

Answer 11

1. Harvesting
2. Crushing
3. Pressing
4. Fermenting
5. Aging
6. Blending
7. Stabilizing
8. Filtering
9. Bottling

Question 12

What are the components that make up wine?

Answer 12

Acids, alcohols (primarily ethanol), sugars, phenolic compounds, water

Question 13

Winemaking Crushing Practice

Answer 13

The mixture of pulp, juice, skins, seeds and stalk is called MUST

• The crusher/de-stemmer breaks skins and removes stalks (especially for white wine)
• may add SO2 at this stage for white wine which inhibits PPO and kills wild yeast and bacteria
• skin contact releases the colour, tannins, and flavour (Essp for reds)

Question 14

Winemaking Settling Process

Answer 14

May include filtering or centrifuging.

Can be used to remove particles - like bitter phenolics

Question 15

Winemaking step 4: Fermentation

Answer 15

Sugar> ethanol plus carbon dioxide