Sparkling standard options Flashcards
Ideal climate for sparkling wines?
Cool climates where grapes struggle to ripen
Just-ripe flavour
Retain acidity
Slow sugar accumulation = low alc base wine (9-11%)
Secondary fermentation adds what abv%
additional 1-2%
Best latitudes for sparkling winegrowing
High latitude (ie far from equator) eg Champagne, England, Tasmania
Example of high altitude sparkling wine region
Trentodoc
More or less intense fruit flavours desirable?
Less intense fruit desired for high end traditional method
Intense fruit may be desirable for tank method, early drinking
Why is Chardonnay good for sparkling?
Well suited to autolytic style = subtle apple and citrus complement rather than compete with biscuit/pastry
Early ripen = good in cool climate
Retains high acid, low alcohol
Why is Chardonnay vulnerable to spring frost?
It buds early
Chardonnay buds early or late
Early
Susceptible to spring frost
Chardonnay capable of high yields without losing quality?
Yes, in good years
What is more disease resistant: Chardonnay or Pinot Noir?
Chardonnay
Chardonnay susceptible to what risks, hazards, pests, diseases?
Spring frost
Powdery mildew
Grapevine yellows
Botrytis bunch rot
Why is Pinot Noir suited to cool climate?
Early bud
Early ripen
Why is Pinot Noir prone to spring frost?
It buds early
Yields for Pinot Noir vs for Chardonnay
More moderate yields for PN
Quality drops in PN if yield is too high
Chard able to ripen high quality of larger yields
How does Chardonnay base wine respond to autolysis?
it becomes creamy
How does Xarel-lo base wine respond to autolysis?
It becomes toasty and smoky
Why are yields usually higher for sparkling than still?
High acid, low potential alcohol and delicate flavours are desirable
= better achieved with high yields
What are growers looking for with grapes for sparkling wine?
Clean, healthy fruit
Off flavours from disease enhanced by effervescence
Laccase enzyme (from botrytis) can cause oxidation
Why harvest early for sparkling wine?
High acid
Low alcohol
Relatively delicate flavours (under-ripe/just ripe fruit)
also: avoid autumn rain = reduce fungal risk
Hand or machine for sparkling?
It varies, dependes on local laws
Downside of hand harvest
Slow, labour intensive
Expensive
Downside of machine harvest
Can rupture skin of grapes = phenolic extraction, oxidation
Characteristics of press fractions
Higher phenolics, solids and pH (lower acid) than free run
Matures faster
How to amend juice that has excessive tannin or colour?
Fining
Casein, gelatine, PVPP
What temperature for primary fermentation?
14-20C
Retain fruit flavours but ensure not too cold for yeast
Why are pronounced primary flavours not desirable in traditional method?
Not wanted in autolytic styles as they can compete with autolytic flavours
Consideration when choosing cultured yeast for sparkling 2nd ferment
Yeast must be able to start fermenting in alcoholic conditions
10%abv too much for many yeasts
What is flocculation?
Process by which fine particules clump together
Prise de mousse/EC1118
most common cultured yeast for sparkling
EC1118
aka prise de mouse
one of the most common cultured yeasts for sparkling
MLF: why no buttery flavour for sparkling wine?
Diacetyl (which gives buttery flavour) is metabolised by yeast during 2nd ferment
Diacetyl
gives butter flavour
How to get around doing MLF?
Sterile filtration
LALVIN DV10
commercial yeast offered by Lallemand
Works in low pH, high total SO2 and low temperature; natural character enables subtle fruit to be expressed
What might happen if you dont do MLF before 2nd ferment?
It could start during 2nd ferment
Can turn wine hazy - difficult to rectify in bottle (trad method)
Sterile filter instead
Blending for balance example
Pinot Noir can lend body; Chardonnay can give acidity. Could also use warmer/cooler vineyard sites with same variety
Blending for consistency example
NV blend = consistency one year to next
Blending for style example
Cheapest wine maybe early-drinking = approachable, ripe fruit, less acidity
Top wine = longer ageing, on and off lees etc
Blending for rosé
Blend red and white wines
Blending for complexity
Greater range of flavours
Older wines add dried fruit to fresh fruit of current year etc
Blend to minimise faults
Rescue lots that arent faulty and blend with a larger volume
Blending for volume
Particularly for areas with small vyd holding
Make it viable
Blending varieties or reserve wines = increase volume
Blending for price
Meet a certain price point
Meunier cheaper than Chard and PN
Stabilisation before 2nd ferment?
Trad method: stabilise for tartrates and proteins
All methods: clarified before 2nd ferment
What does liqueur de tirage do?
Start 2nd ferment
2nd ferment started by adding what
liqueur de tirage
Liqueur de tirage contains what?
Wine and/or must Sugar Cultured yeasts Yeast nutrients Clarifying agent (bentonite, alginate)
More sugar added = more or less pressure?
More
The amount of sugar used depends on the degree of effervesence required
Why only a small % of new oak to be used?
Oak flavours (vanilla, toast, spice) heightened in sparkling wine
Prise de mousse
alternate name for second fermentation
also the name of a commercial yeast EC1118
Properties needed for commercial yeast for 2nd ferment
Able to ferment in unfavourable conditions
Commence ferment at 9.5-11%abv
Moderate temperature 16C
pH below 3
Withstanding high pressure later on in process
Yeast cells must flocculate readily (for riddling to work)
Sur latte
bottles stored horizontally for 2nd ferment
constant temp 10-12C
cooler temperature = slower ferment (more complex wine?)
4-6 weeks usually for ferment
How long for 2nd ferment
4-6 weeks
length of time depend on temperature. cooler temp = slower, longer ferment
Cava lees ageing
9 months
Lees ageing: after how many months are autolytic characters identifiable?
15-18 mths
What is autolysis?
the enzymatic breakdown of dead yeast cells
How long does autolysis continue for?
can be 4-5 years
can be as long as 10 years
add biscuity complexity
Why do late disgorged wines age faster?
The older a sparkling wine becomes, the less it can withstand the sudden shock of oxygen at disgorgement
Sur pointe
Wines stored upside down on their necks before being disgorged
= so lees remain in the neck of the bottle
Disgorgement step by step
Bottle cooled to 7C
neck immersed in bath of frozen brine (freezes yeast)
bottle inverted (now upright)
remove crown cap = frozen yeast plug shoots out
Lique d’expedition added
Cork, wire muzzle and capsule added
Why freeze neck for disgorgement
Freeze sediment to ease its extraction
Ensure it doesn’t fall back into wine when bottle turned upright
Increases solubility of CO2 (reduced chance of wine gushing when opened)
What is liqueur d’expedition? What does it do?
Mixture of wine and sugar (“dosage”) or RCGM
Tops up bottle where wine may have escaped during disgrogement
Determines final sweetness level
Brut Nature
no dosage
Extra Brut
dosage resulting in less than 6 g/L
What is the role of the dosage?
Balance the acidity - especially important in young wines
Perception of acidity rounds out with age = older the wine at disgorgement, smaller dosage required
What is the “dosage”
sugar used in liquer d’expedition
What is the Maillard reaction?
sugar in liquer d’expedition reacts with compounds formed during yeast auolysis. encourages roasted, toasted vanilla romas
Cork-sealed sparkling wine may be stored for a few months to allow development of these aromas
When was the transfer method developed? Why?
1940s
avoid cost of manual riddling
Benefit of transfer method
Retain bready, biscuit notes without cost of riddling
Reduce bottle-to-bottle variation
Final adjustments easier to make
(with automated riddling, these benefits less impressive)
Transfer method is used for what in Champagne?
Bottles smaller than 37.5cl and larger than 300cl (difficult to riddle)
Describe the transfer method
Trad method up to and including second ferment in bottle
No riddling
After lees ageing, wine is chilled to 0C
Bottles opened by transfer machine
Wine poured into pressurized receiving tanks
Sweetened, SO2 added, sterile filtering
Bottling
“Fermented in bottle” vs “Fermented in this bottle”
Pet nat style
Low alcohol, slightly cloudy dry to off-dry cider unconventional flavours no addition so2 at bottling erly drinking
Ancestral method
Partly fermented must is put into bottles
Remaining sugar converts to alcohol and CO2 (providing bubbles)
Dosage in ancestral method?
Typically no
Other names for tank method
Cuve close, Charmat, Martinotti
How is alcoholic fermentation stopped in tank method?
Cooling the wine to 2-4C when desired pressure and RS achieved
Why not common to lees age in tank method?
Expensive pressurised tanks are tied up for months while lees age takes place - defeating the inexpensive purpose
What is counter-pressure filling?
A system used with other carbonated rinks in which the bottle is first filled with CO2 under pressure.
bottle then filled with chilled wine replacing added CO2.
Prevents entrance of oxygen/loss of CO2
Asti method: where does sugar come from?
Comes from sugar in original must, not through later tirage
Brut Nature/Bruto Natural/Zero dosage
0-3g/l
Extra Brut
0-6g/l
Brut
0-12g/l
EU label; what is the tolerance (in g/L) for sweetness level for each band (eg Brut)
+/- 3g/L
Brut can be up to 15g/l
Diameter of corks for sparkling wine
31mm
Why are sparkling wine corks composed of agglomerate cork?
Virtually impossible to cut a cork of this width (31mm) from a cork tree of appropriate age
