Portugal Flashcards
Define Rainwater Madeira
A light dry blended Madeira
Name 6 important red Port grapes
Touriga Nacional
Touriga Francesa
Tinta Roriz (only name for Tempranillo in Portugal)
Tinta Cao
Tinta Baroca
Bastardo (in both Port and Madeira but not important for either)
What was the world’s first demarcated wine region?
1560: Rioja (named after RIver OJA)
Spain’s first DO in 1925
Spain’s first DOCa in 1991
Name the most important DOC of Portugal
Vinho Verde Porto & Douro Dao Bairrada Borba Madeira
Define lagar
a large stone trough traditionally used to tread and ferment grapes when making port or sherry
Lagares- plural
How did Port originate?
Abbey at Lamego: practice of fortifying must during fermentation
Marquis de Pombal: tightened rules; ordered boundary to be marked by granite posts (Pombal stones)
Pombal decreed all port must be fortified with aguardente bought from Portugese government; now, it can come from anywhere but must be tested at Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP)
Grapes for white port.
Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Rabigato, Esgana Cão, and Folgasão
Describe ruby port…
The cheapest & most extensive- aged in concrete or stainless steel so does not age oxidatively. Generally filtered.
Describe ruby reserve port…
A premium ruby port approved by the IVDP tasting panel.
Previously called “vintage character port”
What is vintage port…
Aged in cask & bottled by July 30 of the 3rd yr after harvest. It is the most expensive port (1-3% of production), declared only in exceptional harvests- on average 3 yrs out of 10.
What is a single Quinta vintage port?
The product of one estate’s harvest.
What is a Late-Bottled vintage port?
LBV port is the product of a single vintage & aged in cask for 4-6 years and, generally, filtered prior to bottling. They do not usually improve with bottle age.
What is a tawny port?
Port wines, made from red grapes, aged in wooden barrels.
What is a reserve tawny?
Reserve Tawny Port ages for at least seven years and is a blend of several vintages. It has youthful freshness and a hint of the creamy, delicate nature of a true old Tawny. Tawny Port will not improve with additional bottle age.
What is Tawny with Indication of Age?
A result of high quality fruit, matured in seasoned wood/ may be labeled 10, 20, 30 or 40 yrs old- gaining in concentration & character. They are generally freshened every year to replace the evaporated wine & blended together before bottling. The age indication is not based on actual years but by flavor profiles- evaluated by IVDP.
What is a Colheita Tawny? Name a famous producer.
Colheita Tawny Port is a vintage-dated Port that spends a minimum of seven years in cask—many stay in cask for decades.
Calem.
What are the two most common methods for processing/ heating Madeira?
Estufagem and canteiro
Describe the estufagem process.
The wine is transferred to an estufa, a stainless steel vat, where it is heated for at least 3 months by serpentine metal coils within the tank. It is heated to 113-122 degrees Fahrenheit to slowly caramelize the sugars and give it it’s distinctive taste.
Once the estufagem process is complete, the wine rests for at least __ day; this is called the ______.
90 (at least). Estágio.
It is then transferred to cask.
Estufagem wines may not be released until ________ after the harvest.
Two years
What company employs a gentler heat over a period of a year or more in special rooms called ______________ ?
Madeira Wine Company
Armazens de calor- rooms warmed by nearby tanks or steam pipes rather than the direct heat of the estufa.
Describe the Canteiro process?
Cask aged for at least 2 yrs in lodge attics for a slower process of maturation by the heat of the sun- avoids the over-caramelization of sugars.
What are varietal wines of Madeira, from sweetest to driest?
Malvasia, Boal, Verdelho, and Sercial.
Wines of Madeira are fortified with grape spirits from France of __% abv?
95%
What are the terraces of Madeira called?
Poios.
What are the trellises if Madeira called?
Latadas.
What are the canals, responsible for agricultural irrigation, called?
Levadas
What two islands can produce Madeira DOP wines?
Madeira and Porto Santo.