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CMS Advanced > Vinification > Flashcards

Vinification Flashcards

Learn the steps to make red, white, and rosé wines from harvest to packaging.

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Introductory Sommelier Exam (CMS) flashcards
1
Q

When does vinification begin?

A

As soon as the grapes come into the winery after being harvested.

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2
Q

What are some decisions a winemaker has to make BEFORE fermentation even starts?

A
  • When to pick/ripeness of the grapes
  • How rigorous sorting must be
  • Whether or not to destem
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3
Q

What are some of the vessels used for primary fermentation?

A
  • Stainless steel
  • Cement
  • Barrels (new/used of varying sizes)
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4
Q

What are some of the effects fermentation vessels can have on a wine?

A
  • Aroma
  • Flavor
  • Texture
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5
Q

Define foudre.

A

A large wooden barrel that holds 1000+ liters.

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6
Q

Define barrique.

A

A smaller wooden barrel that holds 225 liters.

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7
Q

What exactly is fermentation?

A

A chemical, exothermic reaction where the grapes’ natural sugars are eaten by yeasts, which are either naturally present or added by the winemaker.

When yeasts eat sugar, the main byproducts kicked off are CO2 and alcohol. Flavors and aromas are also produced.

As grape juice ferments, it becomes drier (less sweet, because the yeasts are eating the sugar) and alcoholic.

This first fermentation is also known as primary fermentation and alcoholic fermentation.

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8
Q

Finish this equation:

Grape sugar + Yeast = _____

A
  • CO2
  • Alcohol
  • Heat
  • Flavors + aromas
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9
Q

What is the purpose of sorting grapes?

A

To remove:

  • excess leaves
  • damaged fruit (split, raisinated, underripe, sunburned, etc.)
  • MOGS (Materials Other than GrapeS, including rocks, moths, insects, twigs, etc.)

Click here for a quick video of a sorting table in action.

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10
Q
  1. What is destemming?
  2. Why do winemakers sometimes keep stems when making wine?
A
  1. When berries are separated from their stems.
  2. Stems are kept to add flavor and modify the style of wine.

Fun Fact: when a wine is vinified with stems the wine will typically be more tannic, but too many stems and the wine can taste stalky.

Read more about stems here.

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11
Q

What is ‘crushing’?

A

Grapes are almost always ‘crushed’ when they’re destemmed. Crushing releases the grapes’ juices, and it’s at this point that fermentation begins.

Note: if grapes are crushed too aggressively, the winemaker risks releasing unwanted tannins from the seeds and skins into the juice, making the resulting wine more astringent. Crushing should always be gentle.

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12
Q

What are some advantages of fermenting wine in oak barrels?

A
  1. Barrels add woody and toasty flavors straight into the wine;
  2. Barrels encourage flavor development due to the presence of oxygen;
  3. Barrels lend textural changes, softening tannins;
  4. Barrels can change the color of wine via oxidation, darkening white wines and lightening red wines.
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13
Q

What flavors will aging in new oak add to white wines?

A
  • Vanilla
  • Toast
  • Smoke
  • Coconut
  • Baking spice (clove, dill, nutmeg, anise)
  • Sweet spice (molasses, brown sugar, butterscotch)
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14
Q

What determines how much flavor an oak barrel adds to a wine?

A
  1. How the barrel was made (what was its level of toasting?)
  2. Age of barrel (if it’s new, it’ll impart more wood flavor than a used one)
  3. Size of barrel (smaller ones encourage more oxygen transfer, helping flavors evolve sooner)
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15
Q

Why are the effects of oak felt more so in small barrels vs. large barrels?

A

Because in smaller barrels there is a greater amount of wine surface area touching the oak.

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16
Q

Barrels that have never been used before are referred to as _____.

Barrels that have been used about 4 times or more are referred to as _____.

A

Never used: new oak or first-use

Used a few times: old or neutral oak

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17
Q

What can neutral or used oak impart on a wine?

A
  • Textural changes
  • Oxidative effects
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18
Q

What less-costly methods may be substituted for oak barrels but still add desirable oak flavors to value-priced wines?

A

The use of oak staves or oak chips.

This cheaper method is only used for inexpensive wines, never for premium wines.

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19
Q

What types of oak are available for a winemaker to use?

A
  1. French oak
  2. American oak
  3. Slavonian oak
  4. Hungarian oak
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20
Q

What are the typical flavors French oak imparts on a wine?

A
  • Vanilla
  • Toast
  • Spices (gentler baking spices)
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21
Q

What are the typical flavors American oak imparts on a wine?

A
  • Coconut
  • Dill
  • Vanilla extract
  • Intense baking spices (more assertive than French oak)
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22
Q

What is the name of the artisan who makes and toasts barrels?

A

Coopers (the company is called a cooperage)

23
Q

What are the levels of barrel toasting?

A
  • Light
  • Medium
  • Heavy
24
Q

Heavier toasts on barrels add increased flavor intensities of:

A
  • Vanillin
  • Spice
  • Toasty/woody notes
25
Q

Which toast allows a wine to extract the greatest amount of wood tannin?:

  • Light toast
  • Heavy toast
A

Light toast

26
Q

List some winemaking options available to winemakers after primary fermentation is complete.

A
  1. Malolactic fermentation
  2. Lees contact/stirring
  3. Adjustments, either sugar or acid additions
27
Q

What is malolactic fermentation?

A

A conversion of malic acid, which is tart, into lactic acid, which is soft.

Malolactic fermentation is also known as:

  • Malo
  • ML
  • Malolactic conversion
28
Q

How does a wine go through malo?

A

It usually occurs naturally if there is lactic bacteria present in the winery.

However, some wineries have to help a wine go through malo by adding lactic bacteria.

29
Q

What flavors does malo impart on a wine?

A
  • Butter
  • Movie theater popcorn butter
  • Cream/dairy
30
Q

What other sensory effect does malo impart on a wine?

A

Malo adds a creamy, richer, rounder texture to wine.

31
Q

The most common white grape to go through malo is ______.

A

Chardonnay

Other white grapes that go through malo:

  • Viognier
  • Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blends
  • Marsanne-Roussanne blends
32
Q

What are lees?

A

Dead yeast cells left over from primary fermentation that fall to the bottom of the fermentation vessel.

33
Q

What are the effects of stirring up the lees or keeping a wine on its lees for an extended period of time?

A
  • Lees add a creamy, round texture and richer body;
  • Lees add flavors of freshly-baked bread, yeast, beer head, delicate white flowers, almond skin, peanut shells
34
Q

What is autolysis?

A

When dead yeast cells break open and release proteins + flavor into the wine giving it a richer, creamier texture.

White wines more often see extended lees aging than reds.

35
Q

Where is lees aging used more often?:

  • Cool climates
  • Hot climates

Why?

A

Cool climates

Most cool-climate white grapes have subtle aromas and flavors. Lees contact adds dramatic, expressive aromas and flavors to these more quiet varietals.

36
Q

Define ‘sur lie’ aging.

A

When a wine stays in contact with the lees for an extended period of time (usally several months up to a few years).

37
Q

What is the term for unfermented grape juice?

A

Must

38
Q

Name 2 must adjustments.

A
  1. Chaptalization
  2. Acidification
39
Q

Define chaptalization.

In what climate will chaptalization usually occur?

A

Adding sugar to the must to boost a wine’s final alcohol content.

Usually done in cooler climates because grapes can struggle to ripen (and sugars are lower).

40
Q

Define acidification.

In what climate is acidification most likely to occur?

A

The addition of tartaric acid to wine in order to boost the acidity and improve balance.

Usually warm climates where grapes achieve high ripeness and need acidity to counterbalance all the sugar the grapes accumulated (kind of like lemonade! If there’s too much sugar in lemonade, you need more acid to balance it out).

41
Q

List the order of winemaking steps for white wine.

A
  1. Harvest
  2. Destem if doing; otherwise whole bunch
  3. Crushing
  4. Pressing
    • skin contact, if doing, after pressing
  5. Primary/alcoholic fermentation (and option to do malo)
  6. Storage/maturing/aging
    • lees contact and oak here, if using
  7. Fine and/or filter
  8. Bottling
42
Q

List the order of winemaking steps for rosé wine.

A
  1. Harvest
  2. Destem if doing; otherwise whole bunch
  3. Crushing
  4. Pressing
    • short skin contact, if doing, after pressing
  5. Primary/alcoholic fermentation
  6. Storage/maturing/aging (usually no oak, quick)
  7. Fine and/or filter
  8. Bottling
43
Q

List the order of winemaking steps for red wine

A
  1. Harvest
  2. Destem if doing; otherwise whole bunch;
  3. Crush; Maceration of juice and skins/seeds;
  4. Primary/alcoholic fermentation;
  5. Pressing;
  6. Storage/maturing/aging;
  7. Fine and/or filter;
  8. Bottling.
44
Q

For white and rosé wines, pressing grapes occurs _____ fermentation.

For red wines, pressing occurs _____ fermentation.

A

Pressing occurs before fermentation for white and rosé wines, after fermentation for reds.

45
Q

What is fining?

A

Clarifying the wine (read: making sure it stays clear after it’s been bottled).

One way to clarify a wine is by cold stablization.

46
Q

What is cold stabilization?

A

When a wine’s temperature is brought down very low (25ºF / -4ºC) to encourage tartrates to crystalize and precipitate out of the wine.

It’s these tartrates that can make a wine appear hazy later on if they’re not fined out.

47
Q

What is filtering?

A

Exactly what it sounds like: the wine is passed through filters whose pore sizes range from miniscule to large.

Filtering is done to remove yeasts so the wine doesn’t referment later.

48
Q

List some common packaging options available to winemakers today.

A
  • Glass bottles
  • Kegs
  • Cans
  • Tetra Pak©
49
Q

How are most wines enclosed these days?

A
  • Natural cork
  • Synthetic cork
  • Screw caps (aka Stelvin)
  • Glass t-tops / Vino-Lok©
50
Q

How does a winery create a label for their wine(s)?

A

They use graphic designers to make the label attractive and easy to read, ensuring that what’s in the bottle is identified on the label.

All labels must be approved by a region’s or country’s government, and a winery must follow rules mandating what can and cannot be on the label.

In the U.S., the TTB is the governing body overseeing wine labelling.

51
Q

Define carbonic maceration.

A

Whole grapes and clusters of grapes are placed in tanks with CO2 pumped on top of the grapes, displacing all oxygen. This anaerobic environment causes fermentation to start intracellularly (without yeast) by using enzymes already within the grapes, converting the grapes’ sugars into alcohol.

Berries at the bottom of the tank are crushed under the weight of all the other grapes above it.

Here’s a short video that goes over carbonic maceration.

52
Q

What are some of the distinctive flavors and aromas produced by carbonic maceration?

A
  • Bubble gum
  • Gum drop
  • Kirsch
  • Artificial banana
53
Q

What region is best known for carbonic maceration?

A

Beaujolais, which is in the southern part of Burgundy, France.

CMS Advanced (49 decks)

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