Odds Flashcards
Technique for Burgundian Wine
Barrel fermentation, lees-stirring contribute to the character.
Why would you recommend a Yarra Valley Chardonnay, when a guest says that they like “Meursault Premier Cru”?
Chardonnay is grown widely throughout Australia and many areas are simply too warm to create a wine that is similar in style to top quality Burgundian whites. The Yarra Valley is an area that is cooled by cool winds that blow off the coast and by altitude and so the wines do not have the very ripe tropical fruit character of the warmer areas that would be untypical of Burgundy. Nevertheless it is possible that these wines could have a fruitier quality that their Burgundian counterparts. The wine would also need to be barrel fermented and matured in a French oak and this should be done in a more restrained style than some Australian wines. The wine would also need to have a savoury quality and so it is likely that the musts will not have been clarified so much prior to fermentation.
Why would you recommend Margaret River, when a guest says they want Margaux.
Margaret River, right on the seaboard, has a very similar maritime climate to Bordeaux and has made a speciality of producing premium quality Cabernet Merlots where the cooler conditions mean the fruit can have more similar fruit characteristics to Bordeaux than a warmer area where their fruit would be riper and jammier. The wine should have a more structured tannin character and a restrained use of the new oak although the final choice should be led by the customers preferred style of Margaux where wines are becoming riper with more new oak influence.
