South America Flashcards
What is Vale do Vinhedos?
Brazil’s first Origin Indication, located in Rio Grande do Sul
What is the synonym for Tannat in Uruguay?
Harriague
Where (in what region) does most of Brazil’s viticulture take place? Name two other regions in Brazil.
Rio Grande do Sul (Serra Gaucha specifically). Brazil is divided into six regions, four within Rio Grande do Sul: Serrra Gaucha, Serra do Sudeste, Campanha, and Campos de Cima de Serra. Planalto Catarinese & Vale do Sao Francisco are the other two.
What is the classic region in Chile for Cab?
Maipo Valley
Where is Famatina Valley?
La Rioja, Argentina
What are the three Argentinian Torrontes sub-varieties?
Torrontés Riojano, Torrontés Mendocino, Torrontés Sanjuanino
What country is notably devoid from ever being hit by phylloxera? Why?
Chile; it’s isolation between the Pacific and the Andes prevented phylloxera from ever reaching it
What is the synonym for the Black Mission Grape in Chile? Argentina? Canary Islands?
Chile = Pais
Argentina = Criolla Chica
Canary Islands = Listan Prieto
What is the most planted grape in Argentina?
Cereza, a pink-skinned grape used for bulk wine
What is the most common variant of Torrontes? What is it a cross of?
Torrontes Riojano; Criolla Chica x Muscat of Alexandria
What grape planted in Chile was commonly thought to be Sauvignon Blanc? What is a synonym, for it?
Sauvignon Vert aka Friulano
From north to south, what are the regional DOs of Chile?
Atacama Coquimbo Aconcagua Valle Central Sur
In what regional DOs of Chile do grapes typically go to Pisco production?
Atacama and Coquimbo
What are two geographical features that make the climate of the Valle Central of Chile more desirable?
Proximity of Andes cools nighttime temps and promotes diurnal swings
The cold, maritime Humboldt current cools the vines along the coast
When was Chilean wine law established? What did it mandate in terms of varietal, vintage, and denomination labeling? Alcohol percentage?
1995; 75% for all (though most wineries observe 85% for all to meet EU requirements for export); all wine must be at least 11.5% alcohol
What does it mean in Chile if wines are labeled Gran Reserva or Reserva Privada?
Minimum 12.5% alcohol and mandatory time in oak
What does it mean in Chile if wines are labeled Reserva or Reserva Especial?
Must have an ABV of 12%
What is the most planted grape in Chile? Second Most?
Cab; Pais
Approximately what percent of vineyard acreage do red grapes occupy in Chile?
73%
In what larger region would you find the Elqui Valley?
Coquimbo, Chile
In what larger region would you find the Limari Valley?
Coquimbo, Chile
What are the two northern valleys of Coquimbo, Chile? What is the most planted grape in both?
Elqui and Limari; Cabernet Sauvignon
What are the three sub-regions of Coquimbo?
Elqui Valley, Limari Valley, Choapa
Where is the highest mountain in the Americas?
Aconcagua, Chile
Where would you find Panquehue, and what estate is based there?
Aconcagua, Chile; Errazuriz
Who makes “Sena” and what is its claim to fame?
Errazuriz; a Bordeaux blend that beat out Lafite & Margaux in the Berlin tasting of 2004
What are the two main sub-regions of Aconcagua?
Casablanca and San Antonio
What grapes is Casablanca known for?
Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc
Where is Leyda?
Within the San Antonion sub-region of Aconcagua, Chile
Name the four sub-zones of San Antonio, Chile?
Leyda, Lo Abarca, Rosario, Malvilla
What are the DO sub-regions of the Valle Central, Chile, from north to south?
Maipo Valley
Rapel Valley
Curico
Maule Valley
Where is Concha y Toro’s Don Melchior made?
Puente Alto, Maipo Valley, Valle Central, Chile
Where is Errazuriz’s Vinedo Chadwick made? What award was famously bestowed on it?
Puente Alto, Maipo Valley, Valle Central, Chile; it won first place in the 04 Berlin Tasting
What are the two sub-regions of the Rapel Valley? Where is the Rapel Valley?
Cachapoal & Colchagua; south of Maipo in the Valle Central, Chile
Where is Apalta and what is famously made from there?
Apalta is in eastern Colchagua, in the Rapel Valley, Valle Central, Chile. Lapostelle’s Clos Apalta, and Bordeaux blend is made there, as well as Vina Montes’ “Alpha M”
Who makes ‘Purple Angel’ and from where?
Vina Montes; 100% Carmenere from Colchagua, Rapel Valley, Valle Central, Chile
Where is Maule Valley?
South of the Rapel Valley in Valle Central, Chile
What are the two sub-regions of Curico?
Lontue & Teno
What are the three valleys of the southern provinces of Chile?
Itata, Bio Bio, and Malleco
What are the most planted white and red grapes in Itata and Bio Bio?
Pais and Muscat de Alexandria
What are the three most planted white grapes in Chile?
Sauvignon Vert, Chardonnay, and Muscat de Alexandria
What three new geographic terms did the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture approve in 2011 to be appended to the names of pre-existing DOs? What percentage of grapes must be harvested in the appropriate region to qualify?
Costa – signifies proximity of a vineyard to the coast or coastal mountains
Entre Cordilleras – “between mountains” –> where 3/4 of Chilean wine grapes are grown
Andes – the Andes!
85%
What is Zonda?
A fierce, hot wind that blows down from the Andes into Argentina in the early summer/late spring that can adversely affect flowering
What notably climactic effect does the Andes have on Argentina?
Rain shadow effect – very dry
What region of Argentina contains the highest altitude vineyard sites?
Salta
True or False: Bonarda of Argentina is the same as Bonarda of Italy?
False; Bonarda of Argentina = Savoie’s Corbeau aka Charbono
What is the most planted white grape in Argentina?
Pedro Gimenez (NOT the same as Spain’s PX)
When were Reserva and Gran Reserva designations introduced in Argentina? What does each entail?
2008; both limit yields
Reserva – 6 months for whites, 1 year for reds
Gran Reserva – 1 year for whites, 2 years for reds
What three regions is Argentina broadly split into?
Northwestern provinces
Central provinces/Cuyo
Southern provinces/Patagonia
What is the northern most growing region in Argentina?
Salta
Where is Cafayate?
A department within Salta, Argentina
What is the most notable grape of Salta?
Torrontes
Where is Susana Balbo’s Crios Torrontes made?
Cafayete, Salta, Argentina
Where is Catamarca?
In the northern provinces of Argentina, just south of Salta
What are the three major provinces of Cuyo?
La Rioja, Mendoza, and San Juan
What is the northernmost of the three provinces of Cuyo?
La Rioja
Where is Famatina Valley?
La Rioja, Cuyo, Argentina
What is the most cultivated grape of La Rioja?
Torrontes