Sweet And Fortified Wines Flashcards
What is the aroma of a manzanilla?
The aroma of a good manzanila has the scent of green apples and chamomille (leaves of chamomille smell of apples). Some people mention aromas of yeast and a sharp tangy aroma. Slightly salty.
Where does the original name vermouth mean?
It means wermut or wormwood and the orginal vermouth is (or should be) made withmuscat grapes.
What is the taste of a manzanilla?
Bone dry, high alcohol, fresh acidity, clear, sharp aromatic, medium minus body, sharp tangy taste. Ethanol is main component of the sherry flavour.
What are the aromas of a sweet oloroso or cream sherry (non-vintage)?
Clear, colour of oloroso, amber yellow on rim, warm orang red and sometimes brownish. Caramelised sugar, raisins and some muscat grape tones.
What is the Taste of sweet oloroso or cream?
Full, rich, medium plus length, caramelized sugar, raisins, muscat notes, somewhat bitter walnuts. Blend of Oloroso and naturally sweet sherry. Better ones, well balanced and complex, sweet and soft.
What is a fino?
Pale, light. Good ones have a yellow green hue.
Changes in Douro since 2008?
Besides port, the 2008 vintage (long, cool summer season, one of best year table wines) started a trend to produce table wines for the middle segment in a completely different style than port. Coming from cooler, high altitude sites where farmers should not be growing grapes for port.
Crisis in port?
The small elite categories of port, particularly age designated tawnies and late bottled vintage is booming, while the volume side of the port business is diminishing. Demand for less expensive port has been trending down for decades, chain buyers looking for port at ever lower prices. Labor in short supply and global warming adds to the Douro’s extreme conditions. Prime site or not the farmers still have the beneficio, the authorization to sell acertain portion of their grapes for port production (makes port wine grapes most expensive in Iberian peninsula).
What is arrope?
Arrope is a thick, dark highly caramelized syrup, a 70% sugar solution. Obtained from second pressings of palomino grapes, boiling brings volume down to 1/5 of original volume, thus concentrating unfermented grape juice.
What is rectified grape must?
RGM is a preserved grape must that has been rectified and processed to reduce the concentrated of solids other than sugar. If further treated, by removing water, it yields rectified concentrated grape must or RCGM. Rcgm is promoted by EU to absorp surplus grape production via sion exchange and reverse osmosis with efficient filtration and evaporation to produce a concentrated invert sugar (glucose and fructose) solution from grape juice.
What is Mistella?
Mistella in Spanish and Mistelle in French is a mixture of grape juice and alcohol.
Fortified wine definition
Fortified wines are manipulated through the addition of neutral grape spirit, in order to strengthen the base wines for the purpose of added body, warmth, durability or ageworthiness.
Three general methods of fortification
A wine’s fermentation may be arrested through the addition of spirit while sugars remain.
A wine may be fortified after the fermentation has concluded.
Grape must is fortified prior to fermentation, producing a mistelle rather than a fortified wine. This category was once exclusively known as vins de liqueur (liqueur wines), but the EU has extended its definition to include all fortified wines.
Method for Port fortification
The wine’s fermentation is arrested through the addition of spirit while sugars remain
Where does Port come from
Portugal’s Douro Valley
Demarcated in 1756 (one of the world’s oldest appellations)
Oversees the production of Port
Douro Port Wine Institute - Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto (IVDP)
The IVDP requires Port houses to maintain compliance with the lei do tergo (“law of the third”), a decree restricting sales of Port to one-third of a house’s total inventory annually
Beneficio authorization
The IVDP grants the maximum amount of wine that may be fortified in a given year, based on a matrix of twelve factors (based on soil, climate, and vines)
Preferred red grapes for Porto
Touriga Nacional Touriga Francesa Tinta Roriz Tinta Cão Tinta Barroca Tinta Amarela Tinta Francisca Bastardo Mourisco Tinto
Preferred white grapes for Porto
Gouveio Malvasia Fina Viosinho Rabigato Esgana Cão Folgasão.
Beneficio
The fortification of wine with spirit. Known as “mutage” in France, this halts fermentation killing the yeasts and preserving sweetness in the Port
When does fortification of Port usually occur?
When approximately one-third of the sugar content has been converted to alcohol
What spirit is added to Port?
Aguardente (“burning water”)
A 77% alcohol neutral grape spirit
Contributes nothing to the character of the wine. It imparts the robustness necessary for the new Port to reach a proper maturity
Traditional vessel for aging and shipping Port
A pipe or pipa. In Douro Valley, it usually holds 550L. In Vila Nova de Gaia, it often holds 620L.
A pipe for shipping Port is 534.24L
Madeira’s distinctive character
Originally developed their distinctive character on lengthy ocean voyages through the tropics, where the wines would be subjected to repeated heating and cooling. The torna viagem (“round trip”) is approximated today by heating the wine during the production process. When coupled with lengthy cask aging, the resulting wine is nearly indestructible—the ravages of heat and air are embraced, as they impart Madeira’s distinctive character
