Module 4: Chapters 5-7 - Still, Sparkling, Fortified Wines Flashcards
Stainless steel containers used for fermentation are considered __________ because the vessel itself does not impact the flavor of the wine.*
Inert
Clarification via use of an ingredient such as egg whites, gelatin, or bentonite clay.*
Fining.
Type of wine produced using the juice of white grapes that have been allowed some skin contact.*
Orange Wine
The process of breaking open the grape berries and allowing the juice to flow.*
Crushing
The process of allowing contact between grape skins and grape juice before fermentation starts.*
Cold Soak
The process of separating the grape juice from the skins and other solids.*
Pressing
Grape juice, or a mixture of juice and solids, that is destined to be fermented into wine.*
Must
Considered to be the highest quality juice in the batch.*
Free Run
Italian term for “Pomace Brandy.”*
Grappa
Adding sugar to the juice/juice mixture before fermentation.*
Chaptalization
Typical strain of yeast used for winemaking.*
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
Type of fermentation carried out by lactic bacteria.*
Malolactic Fermentation
Type of ester created, created by MLF, that smells “buttery.”*
Diacetyl
Term used for expired yeast cells and other solid matter in newly fermented wine.*
Lees
A type of clarification used to prevent the formation of tartrates.*
Cold stabilization
Alternative method of red wine fermentation that occurs inside whole, uncrushed grapes.*
Carbonic Maceration
Method used to produce very pale rose, like those made in Provence.*
Direct Press
The most highly regarded method of sparkling wine production.*
Methode Champenoise (Traditional Method)
French term for a riddling rack.*
Pupitre
Another term for Prestige sparkling wines, literally translated to “cream of the crop.”*
Tete de Cuvee
Sparkling wine made using only white grapes.*
Blanc de Blancs
Sparkling wine made using only red grapes.*
Blanc de Noirs
French term for “juice settling.”*
Debourbage
Mixture of base wine, sugar, and yeast that is added to induce the second fermentation of a bottle of wine.*
Liqueur de tirage
Term used for the decomposition of yeast cells during sur lie aging.*
Autolysis
French term for riddling.*
Remuage
Small amount of wine (and sometimes sugar) used to replace the volume lost in the disgorging of Champagne.*
Dosage
Alternative name for the “tank method” of sparkling wine production.*
Charmat (or, Cuve Close)
Method used to produce Moscato d’Asti.*
Partial fermentation
Process of halting fermentation by adding high-alcohol spirits while the must still has a significant amount of sugar.*
Mutage
Two main styles of Sherry.*
Fino and Oloroso
Complex series of barrels used for aging Sherry.*
Solera system
Type of aging that occurs in a Sherry that is aged with Flor yeast.*
Biological aging
Type of aging that occurs in Sherry that is aged without the presence of Flor yeast.*
Oxidative aging
Lightly fortified sweet wines produced throughout the South of France.*
Vin doux Naturel
True or false: Once grapes are picked, they immediately start to degrade.
True. Oxidation begins immediately. To minimize this, winemakers keep the grapes cool and covered, and may use sulfur as a preservative on the way to the winery.
What does sulfur do during the pre-fermentation period?
Acts as a preservative. It can be applied anytime during re-fermentation, combining with oxygen to form SO2, which stops the growth of yeast and bacteria. This stops premature spoilage and fermentation, and keep the juice from oxidizing and turning brown.
What is the broad name for the pre-fermentation period?
The “crush,” which is made up of not just the crushing, but anything else that gets the juice ready for the initiation of fermentation.
What does a sorting table do?
Removes leaves, underripe bunches, damaged fruit, and other debris. Largely done by hand, but can be partially mechanized. Rigorous selection processes result in high production costs and are primarily for high end wines.
What is the machine that breaks open the berries?
A crusher-destemmer. As the juice is released, the stem structure of the bunch is removed and discarded. What remains is a lot of liquids with skins and seeds.
What is different about whole-cluster pressing?
The stems are not removed by the crushing process.
Crushing and pressing are different. How?
Crushing must be done gently. While the grapes are broken and juice flows, too much pressure will crush the seeds and skins, releasing tannins. This astringency and bitterness is undesirable at this stage, particularly in white wines.
In white wine, skin contact is minimized, except in some of the more aromatic varieties. What is this process called in those grapes?
Cold Soak. A maceration process where the skins stay in contact with the juice to extract aromas/phenolics. Usually no more than 24 hours.
Free run juice is considered the best and sometimes set aside for use in the winery’s best wines. Why?
This is the juice from berries that broke open during movement since the harvest. It is rich in sugars and low in tannin.
True or false: Juice created during the crushing process is still considered ‘free run’ juice.
True. Anything prior to pressing is considered free run.
Modern presses are far gentler than old mechanical devices that smashed the grapes between two flat surfaces. Why is this important?
Most modern presses are bladder presses, which essentially inflate a large balloon. Force is still exerted, but the flexibility keeps skin cells from bursting and seeds from being crushed, which allows more liquid extraction without the negative consequences of too much pressure.
What is the cake of dry, compressed skins and seeds (pips) after the final pressing called?
Pomace. It is often composted or plowed back into the vineyard to improve soil structure.
What kind of adjustments are sometimes necessary to the grape must?
Hot climates: Acid levels may be too low in hot years for the accompanying sugar levels, and is fixed by acidification.
Cool climates: Enough sugar may not have developed to accompany the acid levels in the grapes. Combated by chaptalization.
Define acidification.
The addition of acid (usually tartaric) to bring the wine into balance with the sugar level. Should not affect the flavor, outside of bringing this balance.
If necessary, a degree of de-acidification can be achieved by potassium or calcium bicarbonate.
Define Chaptalization
The adding of sugar to achieve an acceptable alcohol level in the finished wine. This is NOT a method for making wines sweet, as all of the added sugar along with original sugars will be fermented into alcohol.
Must adjustments are subject to regulations. Where are these restricted.
Old World restricts procedures that are not routinely required.
New World has few restrictions.
What is debourbage?
French term for juice settling. This usually takes a day or two and can be done for a few reasons: To allow a must adjustment to fully integrate; to wait for some of the solids to settle out of solution and create less post-fermentation sediment; to have time to process more grapes for the same batch.
True or false: Fermentation is a simple process.
FALSE! It is a complex process involving about thirty successive chemical reactions catalyzed by a specific enzyme in the yeast.
What the chemical formula for a sugar molecule?
C6H12O6
What remains after the sugar molecules are broken apart by yeast?
Some of the energy is turned into heat, but the basic formula looks like this:
C6H12O6 + yeast —–> 2(C2H5OH) + 2(CO2) + Heat
Only about 90% of the grape sugars are fully converted into ethanol and CO2. Where do the rest go?
Various transitional products like glycerol, succinic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, and other alcohols like methanol.
What is the standard wine barrel size?
60 gallons (225 liters)
Oak is a standard fermentation vessel. What others are there for white wine?
Steel, large wooden casks, concrete vats.
True or false: It is often harder to prevent fermentation from beginning in wineries than to make it begin.
True. Yeast spores and cells come in with new crops and sometimes remain from previous years’ fermentations. As soon as the juice is released, yeast will attack the sugars.
This is prevented by sulfur additions and refrigeration.
Naturally occurring yeast may introduce strange flavors and aromas, or incompletely convert sugars. How is this combated?
Inoculation. The use of commercially grown yeast to get a jumpstart on any naturally occurring yeast in the must. The cultivated yeast is designed to rapidly dominate the yeast population.
Most strains are Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but the specific strain can have a considerable effect on the overall style of the finished wine.
True or false: In regions that have been making wine a long time, “good” yeast can become dominant, making natural fermentation an option.
True. This is especially true in the Old World. New World winemakers tend to rely on inoculation of commercial yeast.
What is the ideal temperature range for white wines during fermentation?
Between 50F and 60F to retain the fruit and floral aromas that are key in whites.
As temperature increases, yeast becomes more active and converts sugar to alcohol faster, further raising the temp. At what point will that stop?
Elevated temps will give white wine a neutral or cooked note. An out of control fermentation can get liquids above 100F, but much above that and the yeast will die, resulting in a “stuck fermentation” which is very hard to reverse.
Temperature control is one of the most important roles of the winemaker. What helps?
Technology. Remote monitoring of temperature, refrigeration coils or panels. Used to need chilly fall temps or underground caves to keep fermentation vessels cool, and some still do that. But tech makes it easier.
How long does fermentation take?
Really depends on sugar levels and style desired. Can take from several days to several weeks. May end at 14% alcohol, beyond which yeast has trouble surviving.
How is RS retained for off-dry or medium dry wines?
The winemaker may intentionally stop fermentation to retain the sugars. This will keep alcohol content lower.
True or false: Malolactic fermentation (MLF) must take place after primary fermentation.
False. It can take place simultaneously with primary (alcoholic) fermentation.
What does MLF do?
A particular strain of lactic acid bacteria decomposes malic acid, replacing the sharp green apples aromas of malic with the creamy, buttery aromas of lactic acid. Diacetyl is created during the process, which is what imparts the distinctive buttery note.
Does MLF start spontaneously?
Not generally, unless a wine is fermented or stored in barrels that had previously housed the bacteria. It can also be prevented by the introduction of SO2.
What is the process of removing the lees called?
Racking. It is a clarification method. The wine is drawn off the lees. This may happen several times before a wine is bottled.
What does sur lie aging add to wine?
The dead yeast cells begin to decompose and add yeasty aromas, creaminess to the palate, and increased overall complexity.
What is batonnage?
The stirring of the lees back into the liquid rather than leaving them to rest at the bottom of the barrel.
Why is the sulfur checked after fermentation?
Additional sulfur may be necessary in order to stop microbial spoilage or browning of the wine. It may also be added to wines with RS in order to prevent additional fermentation in the bottle.
What are fining agents?
Inert substances that have an affinity for certain particulates. These are put into the wine, they fall to the bottom and drag out the unwanted material. Egg whites and gelatin both are used to remove excessive tannins, while bentonite clay removes unwanted proteins.. The substances themselves are then removed by racking.
What is filtering?
Straining the wine through very fine openings to trap particulates above a certain size. In sterile filtering, all microbes (yeast and bacteria) that could cause spoilage are removed. Filtering must be done carefully to avoid removing some desirable flavor molecules.
What does a centrifuge do?
Uses accelerated gravity to separate the wine from heavier solids.
What does new oak add to white wines?
Adds complexity, and touches of vanilla, oak, wood, coconut, toast, or other aromas.
Not generally used in younger, lighter white wines, but the heavier ones like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon can benefit.
Why is blending important to branded wines?
Blending is the method by which the same flavor profile is created year after year in branded wines. It is used to develop complexity or balance, as well as a particular style.
What is cold stabilization?
Process of chilling high acid white wines to 25F and keeping them there for 1-3 weeks to precipitate out wine diamonds and keep them from forming in the consumer’s refrigerator. The wine is then racked off of these precipitates.
True or false: Stems may be added back to wine as an additional source of tannin, flavor, and complexity.
True. This happens after the grapes go through the crusher-destemmer machine, and typically only for red wines. If legally permitted, tannin powder may also be added.
What is the period of contact between the skins and the fermenting grape juice called?
Maceration. Its purpose os the extraction of phenolics like tannin, color, and flavor component from the skins.. This is the most important difference between red and white winemaking, and can last from a few days to a few weeks or longer.
Length of maceration is important. Why?
Longer periods will yield “extracted” wines, that are deeper in color, highly tannic, very flavorful, and generally need bottle time to mature.
Shorter maceration will yield softer, more accessible wines that are often ready for consumption on release.
True or false: Pinot Noir tends to have a longer maceration time.
True. PN has relatively little color and extract and takes longer to extract sufficient color.
What is a cold soak?
A maceration technique wherein the must is chilled below 55F in order to postpone fermentation. It is a method for controlling the extraction of phenolics.
True or false: Skin contact with the grape must needs to be maintained throughout fermentation.
True. This is necessary for the appropriate amount of phenolics to be extracted, The presence of skins also influences fermentation vessel selection, favoring larger, easier to clean tanks over small wooden barrels.
What is the dense, compact mass at the top of the fermentation vessel called?
The cap. It must be broken up and reintegrated into the liquid, as the phenolics can only be extracted by being in the liquid, rather than on top of it.
What are the 4 most common methods of cap management?
Punch down- physically pushing the cap back into the juice.
Pump-over (remontage)- pumping the juice from the bottom of the tank and spraying it over the cap.
Rack and return (delestage)- Racking the juice into a separate holding tank before spraying it over the cap. This results in significantly more aeration than pumping over.
Rotofermentation: Controlled by a computer, the fermenting must is agitated at regular intervals, eliminating the need for punch down or pump over.
True or false: Red wines are fermented at higher temps than whites.
True. Higher temps allow for increased extraction of phenolics. Might be 60F-70F for a lighter, fragrant PN, or up to 85F-95F for a high tannin Cab Sauv.
At higher temps, the sugar may be fully converted to alcohol within a week.
