Red Grape Varieties Flashcards
Describe the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety
- Late ripening
- Thick skinned - abundance of flavour, tannin and colour
- Struggles to ripen in poor weather ⇒ astringent, tannin, herbaceous flavours
- Makes long lived wines
Describe Cabernet Sauvignon wine aromas and flavours
Deep Ruby
Nose Intensity: Med + to pronounced
Aromas: Blackcurrant / black cherry / plum / blackberry / violet / vanilla / cedar / black pepper / graphite / tobacco / leather /tar / truffle / cocoa
Dry / Acid - med + / tannin - high / ABV - med - high / body - full / Intensity - Med + to pronounced
What are the key regions for Cabernet sauvignon?
Italy & Spain: normally blended
Napa Valley
Coonawarra & Margaret River
Hawke’s Bay
Stellenbosch
Colchagua in Chile
What are some winemaking considerations for Cabernet Sauvignon?
- Normally crushed & destemmed - stems will be too herbaceous and astringent
- Cold soaked for extraction
- Extractive cap management avoided late in fermentation
- Post ferment maceration to smooth tannins
- Structure means well suited to oak maturation & can deal with high levels of new oak
Merlot Grape variety characteristics?
- Ripens earlier than Cab Sav.
- International style - harvested late for concentrated plum , velvet texture tannins, intense purple, oak aged
- Earlier harvest - med. body, higher acid, fresher red fruit, vegetal. Bordeaux
Winemaking considerations for Merlot?
- Destemmed & crushed
- Supple skin so less rigorous extracting during fermentation required
- Well suited for oak maturation - oak and clove notes suit the juicy pluminess
Pinot Noir grape variety charateristics?
- Early budding & early ripening
- Thin skin
- Good in cool climates
- Can have a vegetal, wet leave character in cool vintages
- Too hot ⇒ Jaminess
Describe Pinot Noir Wine?
- Varied depending on clone, climate and winemaking
- From light and fruity with red cherry to complex and earthy flavours
- Generally:
- Red fruit, Cherry, strawberry, raspberry, clove, mushroom,cranberry
- Med-high acidity
- low tannin
What are the winemaking considerations for Pinot Noir?
- Colour & tannin can be diffcult to extract so must be careful not to overwork juice
- Cold soak pre fermentation
- Some use whole bunches to enhance red fruit and florals
- Warmer ferment for colour extraction
- Some aok used 12-24 months but often 2nd or 3rd fill
What are key regions for Pinot Noir?
- Burgundy
- Baden
- Los Carneros & Sonoma
- Martinborough, Marlborough, Central Otago
- Yarra Valley, M’ton Penn, Tassie
- Walker Bay SA
- Casablanca Valley - Chile
Gamay Grape characteristics
- Thin skinned, purple & fleshy
- Early budding & ripening
- Can grow aggressively with big canopies & multiple shoots
- Grow well in nutrient-poor granite soils of Beaujolais
- Limit the yields and increase flavour concentration by green harvesting
- Goblet pruning - spur pruned & shoots tied together
Gamay wine
- Produces very fragrant wines with red fruit characteristics - cherry & raspberry
- Undergoes semi or cabonic maceration ⇒ banana, kirsch, bubblegum, cinamon
- Med- or low tannin & high acidity
- Other notes - raspberry, cranberry, violet.
Grenache Grape charateristics
- Buds early but late ripening
- Must be planted in warm or hot climates - tolerant to drought.
- Sweet, thin skinned variety.
- Survives well in granite & schist soil types & particularly the galet, rocky soil (heat retaining)
- Bush trained often, low to the ground - protects from the strong northerly winds in Southern Rhone
- Ilicorella soil in Priorat (red slate, small particles of mica that sparkle)
Describe Grenache wine
- Often used in blends
- Grenache adds perfume, body, alcohol and red fruit spiciness to blends
- Med+ to full body / med tannin / medium acidity / high ABV
- Dried strawberry / raspberry (sauce) / leather / liquorice / clove / tobacco / cherry (maraschino) / fig / prune / vanilla
Syrah / Shiraz grape characteristics
- Small with thick, darkly coloured skins
- Has difficulty ripening in very cool climates
- The style of wine is heavily influenced by the climate and can produce medium to full-bodied wines
