Sparkling Wines and Fortified Wines Flashcards
What is a base wine?
The first stage of making sparkling wine: dry, high in acidity, low in alcohol. Usually a blend of different wines e.g. from different vintages, varieties and/or villages.
Describe the second fermentation in making sparkling wine
Sugar and yeast are added to the dry base wine, and the yeast convert the sugar to alcohol and CO2. The CO2 is trapped and dissolved in the wine.
What are two second fermentation methods
Bottle fermentation
Tank fermentation
Traditional Method steps
Second fermentation and yeast autolysis Riddling (by hand or gyropalettes) Disgorgement (removal) Dosage Resealing
Bottle-fermented sparkling wine regions
Champagne Catalunya South Africa NZ California Australia
Champagne typical base wine blend
Pinot Noir
Chardonnay
Meunier
Cava typical base wine blend
Local varieties
Chardonnay
Pinot Noir
Traditional Method best-known examples
Champagne
Cava (spain)
South African name for traditional-method sparkling wine
Methode Cap Classique
Two types of tank fermentation methods
Tank method - dry wines
Asti method - sweet wines
What does Brut mean?
A very small amount of sugar is added at the dosage stage - wine still tastes dry due to high acidity and bubbles
What does Demi-Sec mean?
Medium sweetness (based on addition of sugar at dosage stage)
What is the term for the wine and sugar mixture added at the dosage step?
Liqueur d’expedition
Describe a Vintage Champagne
A Champagne that is made using a portion of the best grapes from an exceptional vintage year, producing an exceptionally complex wine that is aged on lees for a long period then extended bottle ageing after disgorgement.
Tank fermentation steps
Add yeast + sugar to dry base wine Seal tank Second fermentation Lees removed (filtration) Bottle under pressure
Example of Tank fermentation wine and grape variety
Prosecco (Northern Italy) Glera grape Light- or medium-bodied Dry or off-dry Fruit flavours: apple, melon
Asti Method steps
Start with grape juice + yeast
Partial fermentation in pressurised tank (some CO2 escapes)
Tank sealed to retain CO2
Fermentation stopped by filtering yeast before fermentation is complete
Produces low-alcohol sweet sparkling wine
Example of Asti wine and grape variety
Asti DOCG
Moscato (Muscat) grape
Light-bodied
Pronounced floral and fruit flavours: grape, pear, peach, blossom
Two methods to fortify a wine
Sweet fortified wine - Interrupt fermentation by adding alcohol to kill yeast
Dry fortified wine - fortify after fermentation is complete
Three dry Sherry styles
Fino
Amontillado
Oloroso
Fino Sherry winemaking and characteristics
Base wine is fortified to about 15% abv before entering solera system
Biological ageing - ages under thick layer of flor (yeast) which protects it from oxidation in solera
Pale lemon, aromas of apple, almonds, pronounced biscuit/bread dough from flor. Should be consumed early as they lose freshness quickly after bottling. Best served chilled
Amontillado Sherry winemaking and characteristics
Base wine is fortified to about 15% abv before entering solera system
Biological ageing - ages under thick layer of flor for some time in solera
Refortified to 17% abv which kills flor, allowing wine to age oxidatively before bottling
Deeper in colour than Fino, flavours from flor (biscuit, bread dough), and from oxidative ageing (walnuts, caramel)
Oloroso Sherry winemaking and characteristics
Base wine is refortified to around 17% abv before entering solera system Oxidative ageing (aged without flor in solera) Wine becomes brown and develops flavours of dried fruits (raisins, prunes) and notes of deliberate oxidation (walnuts, caramel)
Name of a sweetened Fino Sherry
Pale Cream Sherry
Name of a sweetened Amontillado Sherry
Medium Sherry
Name of a sweetened Oloroso Sherry
Cream Sherry
Around which town is Sherry produced?
Jerez de la Frontera (south Spain)
Typical base wine composition for a Sherry
Palomino (local white grape variety)
What is Pedro Ximenez Sherry? (PX)
Sweet Sherry made from white PX grapes that have been concentrated by sun drying.
Wine is fortified and aged oxidatively in solera
Resulting wine is almost black, sweet with pronounced dried-fruit flavours (fig, prune, raising).
Often used as sweetening component in Cream Sherries
Winemaking of Port
Rapidly extract tannin and colour from grapeskins
Interrupt fermentation by adding grape spirit (kills yeast)
Results in sweet fortified wine
Wine is matured for some time before bottling
Where are grapes grown for Port?
Upper Duoro region of Portugal
Describe a Ruby-style Port?
Deeply coloured and fruity
After fortification, spend a period of time ageing in large vessels (typically large old-oak, sometimes stainless steel) before they are bottled
Cooked black fruit (black cherry, blackberry)
Black pepper
Compare inexpensive Ruby Port with Reserve Ruby Port
Inexpensive Ruby Ports are sweet, simple, fruity wines with lower tannins than other Ruby-style Port
Reserve Ruby Ports use better-quality wines with greater flavour intensity, and sometimes matured for longer than Ruby Ports to soften and integrate added alcohol
What is a Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) Port
Similar to Reserve Ruby but wines come from a single vintage
Describe a Vintage Port
Made from highest-quality wines from single exceptional vintage.
High tannin
Concentrated flavour
Can mature in bottle for at least 20 years
Colour turns from Ruby to garnet
Complex tertiary aromas of dried fruit, leather, coffee
Thick sediment-needs to be decanted before serving
Describe a Tawny-style Port
Extended Oxidative ageing in small barrels
Oxygen turns colour from Ruby to tawny
Wine develops complex aromas of dried fruit and oxidation (walnut, coffee, caramel)
Wines have age indication
Inexpensive examples are simple, fruity, low in tannin, pale
