VARIETAL CHARACTERISTICS Flashcards
What are the key permitted varieties in the Douro?
100+ permitted, 5 key (esp for replanting):
1) Touriga Franca
2) Tinta Roriz
3) Tinta Barroca
4) Tinta Amaerla
5) Tinto Cão
6) Touriga Nacional
7) Sousão
What are the characteristics of Touriga Franca? (5 points)
- Late ripening, and suited to warm, s-facing sites and low altitude
- Thick skins/tight bunches; disease resistant
- Vigorous and needs summer pruning
- Adds colour, tannin, acidity, juicy black/red fruit, floral aromas
- Most widely grown variety
What are the characteristics of Tinta Roriz? (4 points)
Aka. Tempranillo
- Early ripening, better in cooler sites
- Can suffer from water stress if too warm
- Can be high yielding but concentration suffers. Mgmt needed
- Lends deep colour and body
What are the characteristics of Tinta Barroca? (4 points)
- Early ripening, suited to cooler sites
- Prone to heat damage or shrivelling when too warm; loses acidity
- High yielding
- Lends earthy aromas; colour can fade quicker than Tinta Roriz/Franca
What are the characteristics of Tinta Amarela? (3 points)
- Tight bunches that are prone to fungal disease
- Adds black fruit, sprice
- Approachable in youth but can also age
What are the characteristics of Tinto Cão? (6 points)
- Late ripening, heat tolerant
- Small and thick skinned; disease resistant
- Low yielding
- Concentrated
- High acid
- Ageable
What are the characteristics of Sousão? (3 points)
Thick skinned
Deep colour intensity
High acid
(Increasing in Popularity)
What are the characteristics of Touriga Nacional? (7 points)
- Mid ripening
- Thick skins
- Retains acidity
- Adds deep colour, tannins, concentrated red/black fruit
- Vegetative vigour that needs to be managed via summer pruning
- Coulure susceptible
- Potential for long ageing
What are 2 white varieties used in White Port and what are their characteristics?
1) Malvasia Fina aka. Boal
- Neutral
- Med Acidity
- Full Body
- Slight honeyed character
2) Moscatel Galego Branco aka Muscat Blanc
- Aromatic
- Often used for unaged style
What are the 3 main grape varieties used in Sherry?
- Palomino (Fino)
- Moscatel aka Muscat of Alexandria
- Pedro Ximénez
What are the characteristics of the most common grape variety for Sherry? (6 points)
- Mid to Late Ripening
- High yielding
- Suited to dry, sunny weather
- Neutral character
- Loses acidity quickly at maturity
- Accounts of 97% of plantings
What are the characteristics of Moscatel (3) and where is it mainly grown?
aka Muscat of Alexandria
Mainly grown around coastal town of Chipiona on Arenas soils
- Late ripening
- Heat & drought resistant
Aromatic - Mainly used for “Moscatel” Sherry
What are the characteristics of PX (3), where is it grown and how much is grown in the delimited area?
- Small, thin-skinned
- Accummulates high sugar
- Neutral character, but achieves flavour via drying/maceration
1% of plantings in delimited area, but it can also be grown outside in Montilla and shipped to the Zona as grapes/raisins or young wines.
What are the 7 recommended varieties for Madeira?
1) Tinta Negra
2) Sercial
3) Verdelho
4) Boal Cachudo
5) Malvasia de Sāo Jorge
6) Malvasia Cândida
7) Terrantez
What are the characteristics of TInta Negra and what style of wine does it make?
- Black variety
- Most widely planted
- High yielding
- Easy to grw
- Variety can be listed on label since 2015, but often just sweetness listed
Style: A variety of sweetness levels
What are the characteristics of Sercial and what style of wine does it make? (9)
- High acidity
- Late ripening, esp in cool sites
- Picked last at min potential alc.
- Resistant to powdery
- Susceptible to botrytis and poor fruit set
- Small plantings
- Used for Extra Dry or Dry styles
- Lightest colour and lightest bodied
- Citrus peel and nuts
What are the characteristics of Verdelho and what style of wine does it make?
- 2nd most planted
- High acid
- Susceptible to downy, powdery, botrytis and coulure
- Medium dry styles
- More body than Sercial
- Candied fruit character
- Darker colour than Sercial typ.
What are the characteristics of Boal and what style of wine does it make?
- Term for a group of white varieties, but Boal Cachudo (aka Malvasia Fina) used in Madeira
- Best in the South Island in warm, low altitude sites
- Susceptible to drought, needs irrigation to do well
- Med Sweet styles
- Fuller, sweeter, and darker than Verdehlo
- Caramel, chocolate, candied nuts
What are the characteristics of Malvasia de São Jorge and what style of wine does it make?
- Falls under Malvasia umbrella of varieties
-Most widely planted Malvasia of the two - High yielding
- Susceptible to botrytis
- Sweet/Rich styles
- Full bodied
- Balanced by high acidity
- Raisins and caramel
- Brown colour
What are the characteristics of Malvasia Cândida and what style of wine does it make?
- Prized for quality
- Highly susceptible to powdery, limiting yields
- Small plantings
- Sweet/Rich styles
- Full-bodied
- Sweetness balanced w/high acidity
- Raisins and caramel
- Brown colour
What are the characteristics of Terrantez and what style of wine does it make?
- Susceptible to powdery & botrytis
- Picked at min. potential alc (9%)
- Very limited plantings
- Med Dry to Med Sweet styles
- High sugar, but delicate
- Citrus peel, caramel, floral
What are the 3 main varieties for VDN and what are their characteristics?
What are 3 other permitted varieties in Rousillon?
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains:
- Small grapes»_space; Intense
- Dry weather tolerant
- Susceptible to powdery, botrytis, mites
Muscat of Alexandria
- Larger grapes
- Higher sugar
- Susceptible to powdery, botrytis
- Less refined vs ^ so plantings declining.
Grenache Noir
- Late ripening
- High yielding
- Drought resistant
- High sugar
-Susceptible to coloure, downy, botrytis, phomopsis,
Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc, Macabeu also permitted in Rousillon.
What is the variety used for Rutherglen Muscat and what are the characteristics?
Muscat a Petit Grains Rouge aka Rutherglen Brown Muscat
A mutation of Muscat Blanc
Pronounced grapey/flora aromas
