Prelude to Wine Flashcards
What are the tastes in wine?
Sweet
Sour
Bitter
What are the 3 sources that can affect a wine’s flavor?
Grapes
Fermentation
Maturation & Aging
The major wine grapes come from what species?
Vitis vinifera
Name 3 grapes that have high tannin.
Nebbiolo
Cabernet Sauvignon
Syrah / Shiraz
What is Terroir?
How the elements of a particular region influence the flavor of a wine
Soil Composition Geography Sunlight Weather Climate Plant Life
What is Brix?
Winemaker’s measure of sugar in grapes
What is phylloxera?
Grape louse that can kill the entire plant
What is Noble Rot?
Botrytis cinerea. Mold that can increase the concentration of acid & sugar
Sugar + ___ = ___ + CO2
Yeast
Alcohol
What is the abv % range for sparkling wine?
8-12%
What is the abv % range for table wine?
8-15%
What is the abv % range for fortified wine?
17-22%
What is must?
The mixture of grape juice & skins
How is white wine made from red grapes?
The skins are removed from the juice
What is maceration?
Soaking the grape skins with the juice to extract aromas, tannin, & color
What is chaptalization?
Adding sugar to the must to increase final abv
What is residual sugar?
Natural sugars left over after fermentation has ended
Where does tannin come from?
The skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes
What does a vintage on a bottle indicate?
The year the grapes were harvested
What are the factors that affect whether a wine will last more than 5 years?
The color / grape Vintage Where the wine comes from How the wine was made Storage Conditions
What is a “corked” wine?
Musty aroma [fault] caused by TCA
What is sulfur dioxide?
A natural antioxidant, preservative, and disinfectant
What is vertical tasting?
Comparing the same wine from different vintages
What happens to the color of white wines as they age?
The color concentration increases
What happens to the color of red wines as they age?
The color concentration decreases
What is the difference between aroma & bouquet?
Aroma describes the smell of the grapes
Bouquet describes the total smell of the wine [usually found in older wines]
Why should you swirl a wine before smelling it?
To release the volatile compounds [esters, ethers, & aldehydes] to yield the wine’s aroma / bouquet
