Other wine types Flashcards
What is sparkling wine?
Wine with excessive CO2 dissolved in it.
Predominantly made using white/rose
There are examples of red e.g. Australian sparkling shiraz
What is the only type of wine not experiencing a wine glut - wine regions uprooting vines?
Sparkling wine
What are the 4 ways sparkling wine can be made?
- Traditional/ methode classique/champenoise
- Charmat method
- Injection with co2 (cheaper sparkling’s)
- Ancestral method
What is the main technique for making champagne?
Methode Classique - more expensive than charmat
What is the methode classique? how is it carried out?
Wine is fermented normally in a barrel and then undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle with the addition of liqueur de tirage
What is liqueur de tirage?
Yeast, sugar and nutrients
What is riddling in the methode classique?
After wine is sparkling. bottles are inverted so the lees can be removed - gradual process = riddling
What happens to the spent yeast in the methode classique?
It moves to the top of the bottle where it is frozen.
The bottle is opened and the yeast cap is disgorged by the pressure in the volume
What happens when the spent yeast is removed from the bottle in terms of volume during the methode classique?
Volume is replaced as well as an amount of sugar to add sweetness to wine (dosage)
What is the order of champagne in terms of dosage to least amount of sugar added to most?
Brut < Dry < Demi Sec < Doux
How long is non - vintage champagne stored on the lees for?
15 months
How long is vintage champagne stored on the lees for?
3 yrs
When was the charmat method invented?
1860
How is the charmat method undergone?
Wine is mixed in stainless steel pressure tank together with sugar and yeast.
When required pressure is reached, yeast is filtered out and the wine is bottled
What method of making sparkling wine is predominantly used in the US and for making prosecco?
Charmat
What method of sparkling wine production is used to make lower grades of sekt in Germany?
Charmat
Why is the charmat method cheaper than the methode classique?
Because wines are undergoing secondary fermentation in a pressure vessel instead of in individual bottles
- less individual control
What is the Ancestral method of making sparkling wine and how old is it?
200 yrs older than classique
- Main fermentation process halted using cold temps
- Wine is then bottled and fermentation process proceeds
- When fermentation is complete wine is then riddled and yeast cap disgorged as normal
What is not added during the ancestral method of making sparkling wine?
Sugar
- relies on original sugars in wine
What are the negatives of the acesteral method of making sparkling wine?
- hard to control
- low alcohol wine produced (around 6%)
What type of grapes/wine is champagne made from?
Mainly:
- Chardonnay
- Pinot noir
- pinot meunier
Small amounts of:
Pinot blanc, pinot gris, arbane and petit meslier
Why is champagne a protected term?
It is sparkling wine made specifically in the champagne region of france using the methode classique
How are champagne vineyards classified?
According to the ‘ladder of growth’
- sets the price and quality of graps
What is the grand crus and how many have this title?
- the best of the best champagne grape regions
- 17/300 villages