Sweet wines Flashcards
Whet are the characteristics of sweet wines from Sauternes ?
Climate: Moderate
Production : Noble rot
Style : Sweet, high acidity,full body with hints of new oak.
Flavours: Citrus, stone fruit of peach and apricot, botrytis flavours of marmalade, vanilla, toast and coffee from oak along with honeyed complexity.
Sauternes is a region in Bordeaux that produces these high quality sweet wines from botrytis grapes that have the ability to age for decades. The main varieties are Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc which adds acidity and aromatic fruit character. The wines are priced up to premium.
What are the characteristics of sweet wines from Muscat Beaumes-de-Venise AOC ?
Climate: Moderate
Production: Fortification
Style: Sweet,low to medium acidity, medium to full body with high alcohol.
Flavours: Intense fruit ofgrape, peach and floral perfume.
Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise is an example of Vin Doux Naturels produced in the Southern Rhône. Thiswine is made from the Muscat grape varietyand best enjoyed fresh and young.They are mid priced wines.
What are the characteristics of sweet wines from Germany ?
Climate: Cool
Production: Noble rot and frozen
Style: Sweet, high acidity, medium body with low alcohol.
Flavours: Intense botrytis flavours of orange marmalade, dried apricot and raisin withhoneyed complexity
Beerenauslese (BA) and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) are rare wines generally made from Riesling grapes with noble rot. They are intensely sweet but balanced by high acidity.The wines are priced up to premium.
Eiswein is made from frozen grapes that are healthy but intensely concentrated juice. The wines produced are high acid, full body and lusciously sweet. They are rare and premium priced.
What are the characteristics of sweet wines from Italy ?
Climate: Moderate
Production: Dried grapes
Style: Sweet, high acidity, medium to high tannins and full bodied.
Flavours: Intense red fruit flavours of cherry with dried fruit and spice.
Recioto della Valpolicella is made from healthy grapes that are picked and then dried for a period of time to encourage evaporation of the juice in the grapes and a concentration of sugars. This sweet red wine is pricedup to premium.
What are the characteristics of sweet wines from Spain ?
Climate: Hot
Production: Fortification
Style: Dry to sweet, low tomedium acidity,medium to full body.
Flavours: Range from zesty, yeast in the dry styles to intense dried fruit in the sweet styles.
Sherry are fortified wines from southern Spain. Most of the flavours in Sherry come from the ageing process.There aretwo options for ageing, under a layer of flor which protects the wine from oxygen, keeping it fresh e.g. Fino or aged with oxygen e.g. Oloroso. The wines are priced from inexpensive to mid priced.
What are the characteristics of sweet wines from Portugal ?
Climate: Moderate
Production: Fortification
Style: Sweet, low to medium acidity, medium to high tannins and medium to full body.
Flavours: Varies from black fruit of cherry, plum and blackberry, spice characters of clove and pepper to oxidative flavours of walnut, coffee and caramel.
Port are fortified wines from Portugal generally made from black grape varieties. The styles produced range from youthful fruity wines to rich, intense full bodied wines that need decades to mature. Port ranges in price from inexpensive to premium.
What are the characteristics of sweet wines from Hungary ?
Climate: Moderate
Production: Noble rot
Style: Sweet, high acidity, full body with medium alcohol.
Flavours: Dried fruit and sweet spices (orange peel, orange marmalade, dried apricots, raisins, cinnamon, ryebread) along with honeyed complexity.
Tokaji is a wine from north-eastern Hungary that produce high quality sweet wines from botrytis grapes that have the ability to age for decades. The wines are generally amber in colour due to the long period of ageing in oak. The wines are priced up to premium and can age for decades.
What are the three techniques to produce sweet wines ?
- Stopping fermentation
By filtering yeast
By adding Dioxyde Sulfur
By adding alcohol (VDN, Port) - Adding sweet component
Adding unfermented grape juice (Germany) - sussreserve
Adding PX Sherry, grape juice + alcohol or concentrated grape juice (Medium, Cream, Pale Cream Sherries) - Concentrate sugars in the grapes
Drying grapes - late-harvest or laying grapes (Recioto, PX Sherry)
Noble rot (Sauternes, Tokaji Azsu, TrockenBeerenauslese)
Freeze the grape (icewine, Eiswein)
Types of wines produce by noble rot ?
- Sauternes - Bordeaux (Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc)
- Tokaji Azsu - Hungary (Furmint, Harslevelu)
- Germany and Austria (Rhine, Mosel)
- Auslese (some)
- Beerenauslese - Riesling
- Trockenbeerenauslese - Riesling
- Coteaux du Layon, Vouvray - Loire (Chenin blanc)
- Alsace - SGN (Riesling, Gewurz, Pinot Gris, Muscat)
What is botrytis cinerea and what does it need to grow ?
- It is a mould
- Need problem-free ripening
- Need damps misty morning (for the mould)
- Need warn dry afternoon to dry the grape
How Sherry is made ?
- Starts with a neutral, dry, low acid white wine of Palomino grape
- Fermented in steel tanks
- Alcohol added at the end to fortify
- Matured using Solera system to ensure consistency, in old casks (butts)
What is the Fino sherry style ?
- Fino, Manzanilla
- Pale, dry, medium body.
- Uses flor to protect from oxydation
- Becomes a Pale Cream Sherry when sweetened with concentrated grape juice added
What are the Serry styles ?
- Fino, Manzanilla
- Amontillado
- Oloroso
- Pedro Ximénez
What is the Amontillado sherry style ?
- Adding more alcohol to a Fino or Manzanilla to kill the flor to oxydise
- Get amber with nutty flavours
- Normally dry
- Can be sweetened and called Medium
What is the Oloroso sherry style ?
- Fortified at 18 % so no flor
- Get intense kernel and animal flavours (roasted, nuts, coffee, meat)
- Brown, full bodied and high alcohol
- Normally dry
- Can be sweetened and called Cream
