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WSET Sparkling Wine > Other French Sparkling (Cremant) > Flashcards

Other French Sparkling (Cremant) Flashcards

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1
Q

Crémant

A

“Regional French traditional method sparkling wines

made outside of the Champagne region”

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2
Q

How many Crémant regions are there?

A

8, the book focuses on 3 (+ 2 subregions)

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3
Q

What are the main Crémant regions and subregions?

A

”- Alsace

  • Bourgogne
  • Loire (+ AOC Saumur and AOC Vouvray)”
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4
Q

Common features of Crémant

A

”- Hand harvesting

  • Whole bunch pressing
  • Max yield at pressing is set low-ish
  • Min 12 months maturation between tirage and release (including min 9 months on lees)
  • Max 13% ABV
  • Min 4 atmospheres pressure”
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5
Q

Alsace - by numbers

A

”- 25% of the regions production

  • 500 producers (small)
  • 15% growth in vineyard area in 10 years”
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6
Q

Alsace - Grape Varieties

A

”- Pinot Blanc (most important)

  • Auxerrois
  • Chardonnay
  • Riesling
  • Pinot Gris
  • Pinot Noir (makes rosé)”
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7
Q

Alsace - Pinot Blanc

A

”- Early budding

  • Early ripening
  • Prone to spring frost, fungal diseases
  • Aromas of apples and pears
  • High acidity”
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8
Q

Alsace - Climate

A

Sunny continental

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9
Q

Alsace - Climate description

A

”- Often dry and hot during growing season

  • Shortage of water, spring frost, and rain at harvest can be an issue
  • Great dirunal range gives flavor ripeness w/ acidity”
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10
Q

Alsace - Site location

A

”- Eastern flanks of the Vosges mountains (200 - 400m) which protects vineyards from prevailing westerly winds

  • Best sites reserved for still wines
  • P. Blanc grown at high alt cool sites where grapes struggle to ripen or on fertile flat lands like Munster Valley where cool airflow helps to retain acidity”
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11
Q

Alsace - Vineyard management

A

”- Pruned for greater crop load than still (as they don’t need high flavor concentration)

  • Max yields similar to Champagne
  • Growers must declare in July that they’re doing to make Crémant
  • Harvest is early (late Aug, early Sept) to get just-ripe fruit
  • Harvest by hand
  • Mandatory whole bunch press (for low phenolic content)”
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12
Q

Alsace - Winemaking

A

”- Grapes from single vintage (no reserve wine)

  • Chapitalise must (due to low potential alcohol)
  • Traditional Method
  • 12 months on lees (better producers do more)
  • 8 to 10 g/L dosage for Brut (to balance high acidity)”
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13
Q

Alsace - Rosé

A

Maceration on the skins for 12 - 24 hours

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14
Q

Alsace - Market

A

”- 43% Coops, 37% merchant houses, 20% independent growers

  • Big names: Maison Bestheim, Valentin Zusslin, Muré
  • 80% sold in France”
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15
Q

Alsace - Crémant d’Alsace Emotion

A

”- Top quality category for Alsace sparkling wine

  • Min 75% Pinot Blanc, Chard, and PN (seperately or together)
  • Min 24 months on lees
  • New category has not been very popular”
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16
Q

Bourgogne - Intro

A

”- 10% of wine in the region is Crémant

  • Chardonnay is most used variety
  • Production has doubled
  • Winemakers must declare that they’re making Crémant by March”
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17
Q

Bourgogne - Style

A

”- Brut

  • M+ to H acid
  • M intensity in fruit
  • Apple + Lemon (cooler areas), Apricot (warmer) + Brioche
  • BdB, BdN, Rosé made”
18
Q

Bourgogne - Appelation Boundary

A

same as Bourgogne AOC

19
Q

Bourgogne - Sources of Fruit (From South to North)

A

”- Mâconnais for Chard (Côte Chalonnaise by Rully)

  • Beaujolais
  • Côte d’Or (flatland vineyards)
  • Chablis (Yonne dept + Châtillon-sur-Seine just S of Champ)
  • Hautes Côtes de Beaune + Hautes Côtes de Nuits
  • *areas are cooler and vineyard areas are cheaper”
20
Q

Bourgogne - Climate (ranges)

A

”- North: Cool (i.e. no distinct hot, dry summer period), vines face S or S/E to be able to ripen (warmth + light)

  • Central: Continental (cold winter, dry/sunny summers) which produce just-ripe fruit
  • South: Mediterranean (v warm summers) which produce riper fruit character, lower acidity”
21
Q

Bourgogne - Hazards

A

”- Summer storms in the South

- Hail, spring frost, fungal disease, esca”

22
Q

Bourgogne - Grapes

A

”- PN*

  • Chard*
  • Aligoté, Gamay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Melon Blanc”
23
Q

Bougogne - Winemaking

A

”- Early harvested fruit

- MLF optional”

24
Q

Bourgogne - Crémant de B Blanc

A

”- Min 30% Chard, PN, PB, PG either alone or in the blend

- Max 20% Gamay”

25
Q

Bourgogne - Market

A

”- 66% merchant houses, 30% Coops, 2% independent

  • 10 companies responsible for 90% of volume
  • 40% exports and growing”
26
Q

Bourgogne - Crémant de Bourgogne Eminent

A

Additional lees-ageing requirement of 24 month

27
Q

Bourgogne - Crémant de Bourgogne Grand Eminent

A

”- whites: PN and Chard only

  • rosé: only 20 per cent of Gamay is allowed
  • a vintage is optional (but common)
  • min of 36 months’ lees ageing and
  • 3 months in the bottle before release
  • Brut only”
28
Q

Loire - Sparkling Wine Appelations

A

”- 7 total, 3 covered in book

  • Crémant de Loire
  • sparkling Vouvray
  • sparkling Saumur”
29
Q

Loire - intro

A

”- 13% of Loire production

  • Major Loire co’s are owned by Champagne houses
  • 90% of Crémant de Loire is white
  • Producers must declare in July to make Crémant”
30
Q

Loire - Flavor Profile

A

“*Chenin dominant:

  • M intensity
  • Apple + citrus w/ light toasty autolytic notes
  • honeyed aromas in 2yr or 3yr old wine
  • High acidity
  • Brut (demi-sec, brut nature too)”
31
Q

Loire - Regions

A

”- Middle Loire districts: Anjou-Saumur + Touraine (only)

  • Surround Loire River + tributaries which moderate temp
  • S + W of Saumur source the most fruit for Crémant”
32
Q

Loire - Climate

A
  • Cool
33
Q

Loire - Climate Description

A

”- Atlantic ocean extends cool, mild influence through to the center of Touraine (most of the area set for Crémant)
- Risks: Fungal disease, untimely rain”

34
Q

Loire - Soils

A

”- Overall good drainage + water retention

  • Range: clay-limestone, flint-clay, sand, gravel, tuff
  • Soils w/ excessive clay = too cold, not classified in AOC
  • Anjou = more schist + limestone
  • Touraine = more chalk”
35
Q

Loire - Sites

A

”- Less well-exposed w/ higher proportion of clay than for still wines
- Need rootstocks tolerant to high lime content in soils”

36
Q

Loire - Grape varieties

A

”- Chenin Blanc*

  • Cab Franc <3
  • Cab Sauv
  • Grolleau Noir + Gris
  • Pineau d’Aunis
  • *Sauv Blanc is not allowed = too aromatic”
37
Q

Loire - Winemaking

A

”- Pneumatic press (gentle = low phenolics)

  • 1st Ferm in Stainless (oak not desired)
  • MLF optional
  • Blending wines from different areas within CdLoire (not often using reserve wines)
  • min 9 months on lees “
38
Q

Loire - Prestige de Loire

A

”- New top tier by InterLoire to establish higher price

  • White only from Chenin, Cab F, Chard, PN
  • Min 24 months on lees
  • Vintage dated
  • Brut, Brut Nature, Extra Brut
  • Environmental sustainability standards”
39
Q

Loire - Industry

A

”- 19 merchant houses (9 houses = 80% volume)

  • 10 Coops
  • 400 producers
  • 50% sold in france/domestic
  • Big names: Ackerman, Bouvet-Ladubay, Veuve-Amiot, Langlois-Chateau”
40
Q

Loire - Saumur Mousseux

A

”- 60% Chenin Blanc min, 10% Sauv Blanc max

  • Rosé = 60% Cab F min, 10% Sauv Blanc max
  • Harvest by machine allowed (more juice can be extracted than in Crémant)”
41
Q

Loire - Vouvray Mousseux

A

”- Chenin Blanc (must be majority)

  • Orbois (only other permitted grape, minority)
  • Production rules similar to Saumur
  • Vouvray Pétillant + Pet Nat produced, too”
42
Q

Loire - Why make sparkling?

A

”- Less risk as grapes can be picked early at lower minimum ripeness (avoiding the possibility of late season rain or botrytis spoiling or reducing the crop)
- Permitted yields are higher than for still AOC wine.”

WSET Sparkling Wine (18 decks)

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