Intro to Wine - Part 2 Flashcards
What can you tell me about acidity and wine?
The acidity level tells us the concentration of acids present in wine. 2g/l is very low acidity and the wine will taste flat and 10 g/l is high and very sour. Typically wines range between 4 and 8.
What can you tell me about pH and wine?
the pH level tells us how intense the acid taste. The relationship is inverse so that the lower the pH number, the more intense the acid present in the wine will taste. The number is logarithmic, so a pH of a 3 has 10 times more acidity than a pH of 4.
What is the ABV in wine?
This is the percentage of alcohol in whine. most wines range from 10-15% in alcohol although there are several speciality wines, such as Moscato D’Asti (very low) or port (very high), at the extremities.
What is Aging/Maturation in wine?
This tells us the methodology the winemaker’s use to age the wines, including whether wines were aged in oak and for how long. Some will also tell us the type of of oak (French, Hungarian or American) and how new they are (new vs. used or “neutral”). Aging wine is more common in red than in white wine.
What is Malolactic Fermentation (MLF)?
For MLF, the answer is usually “yes” or “no” and it tells us whether or not the winemaker chose to convert a tart-tasting acid, malic acid, into a smoother, creamier-tasting acid called lactic acid. Nearly all red wines undergo MLF, and much less so for white wines. A white wine that commonly undergoes MLF is Chardonnay.
What is RS?
This stands for residual sugar and is the measure of sweetness in wine. Typically, wines with less than 10 g/L are considered dry. Many dry wines have none at all.
What is Brix?
Brix is a measurement of the percentage of sugar in the grape juice at harvest. So, 24 Brix is 24% sweetness. Brix tells us how ripe and sweet the grapes were when they were picked.
What can you tell me about harvest date?
The moment the grapes are picked is a pretty big deal. It is probably the most important thing a winemaker can do to ensure that they make awesome wine.
Picking earlier will produce wines with higher acidity, lower alcohol and perhaps more green flavors and aromas. It could also lend to more bitter tannins.
Picking later in the harvest season will produce wines with lower acidity, higher alcohol (or sweetness) and more subdued tannin. Some wines when picked too late must be artificially acidified in order not to taste “flabby” or “flat.” Additionally, some will have water added to them (called “watering back”) to reduce the alcohol concentration in the completed wine. This could be why many commercial wines have identical ABV levels of 13.5^
Typically, how many pounds of grapes will yield a barrel of wine?
600 to 700 pounds of grapes
A barrel of wine will yield about how many cases?
23 cases (12 bottles per case)
What are recommended Brix units?
24 Brix to 25 Brix if you want good reviews
What is a Brix unit?
10 grams sugar per liter
What is chaptalization and why is it used?
Chaptalization is adding sugar to the wine. if your grapes come in at 20 brix, there may not be enough sugar to generate a final alcohol concentration that will enable a stable wine, or because they are not all the way ripe, there may be “green” or “weedy” flavors. Many ppl will add sugar to 24 Brix or so before fermentation starts.
When does fermentation starts?
Fermentation starts the moments the grapes are crushed. Wild yeasts colonize the grapes as they grow.
If you freeze the grapes, the process stops (temporarily). IT will restart when they are thawed.
Which country produces the best yeasts?
Germany
