Viticulture & Vinification Flashcards
What are the allowable ppm of SO2 in EU wines?
160 mg/L (aka ppm) for dry red wines; 300 mg/L for sweet whites; 400 mg/L for botrytized wines.
What two countries are the largest supporters of micro-oxygenation?
Chile and USA
True or False: larger fermentation vessels (providing no temperature control) promote slow, cool fermentations
False; larger fermentation vessels promote fast, hot fermentations
What is Eutypa Dieback? What is it also known as?
Eutypa dieback is a disease caused by a fungus (Eutypa lata) which grows slowly through the wood of infected grapevines and other woody host plants. It is unlikely that the disease can be spread through cuttings as it appears the fungus itself is isolated to woody parts of the vine. DEAD ARM!
What is another name for a pneumatic press?
Bladder press.
Where is it common to see singly staked vines?
On very steep slopes, where any sort of trellising is impractical (Mosel, N. Rhone)
What are the common claims for not using SO2 in winemaking, and name 5 producers who experiment with “sans soufre” wines.
A common claim is that wines have a greater purity of fruit and are more aromatically interesting; Overnoy (Jura), Lapierre (Beaujolais), Catherine and Pierre Breton (Loire), Thierry Allemand (Rhone), Foillard (Beaujolais), Pierre Frick (Alsace), Cornelissen (Sicily), Radikon (Friuli), Coturri (US), Frey (US)
Name three trellising systems typically used to control vigorous vines?
VSP, Smart-Dyson, Scott-Henry
What kinds of vineyards is the Guyot system particularly suited to?
Old World, low-vigour vineyards
What are the two main types of pruning that head-trained vines usually encounter?
Spur-pruning and cane-pruning
What are some of the aims of micro-oxygenation?
Build optimum structure, reduce herbaceous or vegetal character, provide color stability, stabilize reductive qualities, and increase the suppleness/roundness of the wine – basically mimic the slow, controlled oxidation of barrel ageing in wines that are kept in stainless steel.
How exactly does phylloxera do damage?
Three potential mechanisms: removal of photosynthesis, physical disruption of the roots, and secondary fungal infections from damaged roots. The last is the most likely to occur.
Who is Jacques Néauport?
A consultant for non-sulphited winemaking, inspired by Jules Chauvet. Consulted for Pierre Overnoy and Marcel Lapierre.
Where are split canopy systems primarily used?
Sites with high vigour.
What is vin de goutte?
Free run juice
Name two methods of must concentration. What is the difference in result.
Reverse osmosis and chaptalization. Chaptalization only corrects for diminished alcohol, not dilution of flavor. Vacuum distillation is another method, but disfavored because the must has to be heated.
Approximately how many berries on a vine actually set during fruit set?
30%
Are you more likely to have a slower, cooler ferment with spontaneous fermentation or inoculation for S. Cerevisiae?
Spontaneous ferment
What is the Spanish word for terroir?
Terruño
The Gobelet System is a system of _____-pruning/_____- training
spur; head
What is the parentage of Merlot?
Cabernet Franc x Magdeleine Noire des Charentes
What is the EU minimum TA in a wine?
4.5 g/L
Name two Italian grapes known for having a rotundone character.
Schioppetino and Vespolina
Why might cold soaking be employed? Where did it originate?
To extract tannin and color from skins prior to fermentation; in Burgundy in the 1970s
What are the most common fixed (non-volatile) acids in grapes. Which account for 90% of a grape’s acidity? Which is the most important?
Tartaric, Malic, & Citric; Tartaric & Malic account for 90%; Tartaric is the most important
What affect do potassium rich soils have on acidity in finished wine?
Potassium rich soils tend to reduce acidity
What is a merrandier? What is a dovelle/douve?
A merrandier is a stave-maker. A finished stave is a dovelle or douve, and is made after the merrains (staves) have aged.
What is another name for Peronospora, and what has famously been used to prevent outbreaks?
Downey mildew; Bordeaux mixture
What kind of oak is primarily found in the Vosges forest?
Quercus petraea (sessiliflora)
Name three techniques for making high-quality non-sulphited wines:
- good quality fruit
- spotless hygiene
- employing an oxidative style of winemaking
- cool temp at every point in the supply chain
- carbonic maceration under very cold conditions
What are the rules regarding must concentration by reverse osmosis or vacuum distillation in the EU?
It is allowed, but is limited to a 20% maximum volume decrease and a two degree potential alcohol increase. It is illegal to chaptalize and concentrate the same batch.
Name three practices that can increase redox potential.
Racking, topping up, filtering, battonage.
What are the two main types of training that vines are split up into?
Cordon-trained and head-trained
At what point do US wines have to be labeled “contains sulfites”?
With 10ppm (which can be achieved without any additional SO2).
How does SO2 combat oxidation?
It binds aldehydes, which present as oxidation in finished wine.
How does toasting of a barrel affect vanillin levels in wine?
Vanillin levels are INCREASED by toasting, but can decrease at the very highest levels of toasting.
Name three synonyms for the pergola system.
Tendone, arbour, and enforcado
How does acidity and pH correlate?
The lower the pH, the more acidic the wine.
The Cordon de Royat system is a system of ______ -pruning/________-training. Name two other such systems.
spur; cordon; Geneva & Lyre (Lyre can be cane-pruned, but this is more rare)
What was the last region of France to be affected by phylloxera and when?
Champagne; 1890
What is the training/pruning on basket vines?
Head-trained, cane-pruned
What are perennial plants?
Plants whose structures last more than one season – grapevines!
Approximately when (in both hemispheres) does bud break occur?
March/April in Northern Hemisphere; September/October in Southern
Where is Brettanomyces Bruxellensis native to?
The Senne Valley of Belgium
What is Chenin Blanc’s one known parent grape?
Savagnin
Describe the relationship of oak tannins and color?
Oak tannins – plentiful in new barrels, but not in neutral – stabilize and augment color.
What is brettanomyces?
Brettanomyces is a yeast (unicellular type of fungus) that can be a spoilage organism in wine.
What is the parentage of Chardonnay?
Gouais Blanc x Pinot Noir
What are some of the benefits of seasoning oak?
It allows the humidity levels of the oak to be brought in line with the environment it will be used in; aromatic compounds are increased; bitter compounds are reduced.
Do red or white wines require more SO2?
White wines; red wines are richer in polyphenolic compounds, which protect them against oxidation. White wines are also typically treated more reductively, which makes them more susceptible to oxidation.
What is the name of the main yeast used to produce wine?
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
How does SO2 relate to Brettanomyces?
The most effective way of preventing Brett is to maintain an adequate concentration of free SO2.
What soil type acts as a natural deterrent of phylloxera?
Sand
What is collage?
Fining
Distinguish training and pruning.
Training determines the form and direction of the trunk and arms and the position of the shoots that develop from the buds retained at pruning.
What is the name for the group of pigments responsible for giving red grapes their color?
Anthocyanins
What is the leafroll virus? How does it manifest?
It manifests as a downward rolling of the leaf late in the growing system. It doesn’t kill the vine (most viruses don’t), but instead delays ripening and reduces wine quality.
Why are grapevines not propagated via seeds?
Grapevines are typically propagated vegetatively (through cuttings that produce genetic clones, rather than sexually (from seed) because the genetic reassortment that occurs from seed usually means the loss of positive features.
What is the minimum age and size of a French oak tree before it is cut to make a barrel?
120 years old; 25 inches in diameter
What is a pergola?
A form of overhead vine training used in Italy
Define turbidity.
Clarity, or lack thereof, caused by suspended particles or sediment
What are the pros/cons of spontaneous (wild yeast/no inoculation) fermentation?
Pros: “terroir” argument
Cons: lack of control, it takes a while for the fermentation to start, risk of spoilage
What level of toasting would promote the most extraction of wood tannin?
Light toasting
What is a pied de cuve?
Basically, a yeast starter. A small amount of must derived from previously used grapes, used to get the fermentation started in spontaneous ferments.
What is Quercus Alba?
American oak
With what grapes does Pinot Noir have a parent/off-spring relationship, though it is not known which is which?
Savagnin, Traminer
What training/pruning is applied to Doppelbogen?
Cane-pruned, head-trained
What is sussreserve?
The German name for sterilized grape juice that is added back into the wine after fermentation to increase sweetness.
What is debourbage and for what type of fermentation would it occur?
Pre-fermentation racking; used in white wine fermentation to remove solids
In what month does flowering normally occur?
May in the northern hemisphere and November in the southern.
When and where were screw cap closures invented?
1959, the French company La Bouchage Mecanique introduced the Stelcap-vin.
What is Dekkera?
The spore-forming type of the Brettanomyces yeast
What is VSP? Where is it used? How is it pruned?
Vertical Shoot Positioning – a common trellising system whereby shoots are trained vertically upwards, held in place by foliage wires. Leads to tall canopies that are suitable for mechanisation. Widely used – can be seen in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace, Germany, and the New World. Can be cane or spur pruned.
When in relation to bud break does flowering occur?
6-13 weeks after, depending on climate
In what form of pruning would you find a renewal spur?
Cane-pruning; a renewal spur is left for generating next year’s canes.
Describe Vertical Shoot Positioning?
Shoots are trained vertically and held in place by foliage wires; suitable for mechanization
Define a cordon.
The permanent woody framework of the vine extending from the top of the trunk.
Name three methods of cap management.
Pigeage – punching down
Remontage – pumping over
Delestage – racking and removing, then adding back in
How do lees relate to oxidation?
Lees eat up oxygen and help prevent oxidation.
What is the parentage of Chardonnay?
Gouais Blanc x Pinot
Why is Muscat typically not a good candidate for botrytis-infected styles?
Monoterpene content is reduced by botrytis
What does IPM stand for?
Integrated Pest Management – a more holistic approach. What lutte raisonee is based on.
Why is cap management so important? How does a cap form?
A cap forms as red wine ferments and grape solids are pushed to the top by the action of the CO2. The cap will dry out, solidify, and prevent extraction without intervention.
What is oenococcus?
Lactic-acid bacterium
What is reverse osmosis used for? What two parts is the wine separated into? Define each.
Reverse osmosis is a method of dealcoholization (though can be used for must concentration, as well). The wine is split into the permeate (water and ethanol) and retentate (aromatic compounds). The permeate is distilled to a proper level and recombined with the retentate.
Name three agents used to precipitate solids in fining?
Egg whites, isinglass (sturgeon bladder), bentonite, casein, gelatin
What is the difference between the Scott-Henry trellising system and the Smart-Dyson?
Scott Henry is typically cane-prune, with seperate canes trained up and down. Smart-Dyson is cordon-trained and spur-pruned, with just one cordon from which shoots go up and down.
What is the preferred training method for Pinot Noir in Champagne?
Cordon de Royat (spur-pruned/cordon-trained)
Name three split canopy systems.
Scott Henry, Smart-Dyson, Geneva double curtain, lyre
How is vanillin expressed in barrel-fermented vs. tank-fermented wines that are then transferred to barrel?
If wine is fermented in oak barrels, yeast metabolism reduces the vanillin concentration - thus, barrel fermented wines have less overt vanilla-notes than those fermented in steel and transferred. (Red wine is almost always fermented in steel and transferred because they are fermented on their skins).
What is the genetic ancestor grape of Zinfandel and where is it from?
Crljenak Kastelanski (also known as Tribidrag), from Croatia
What is Eventail?
A trellising system popular in Chablis and Champagne. Cordon-trained/cane pruned.
What are mercaptans?
Also known as thiols – a group of sulfur containing molecules that manifest as different aromas in wine, generally cooked cabbage, burnt match, sewage, etc. Can also manifest as “varietal character”, especially in Sauvignon blanc – blackcurrant, passion fruit, cat pee, etc. A product of reductive winemaking, often.
True or False: Cordon-trained vines are always cane-pruned.
False, they are always spur-pruned
Why is SO2 so important to winemaking?
It acts as an antioxidant and a microbicide, preventing oxidation, and the growth of harmful bacteria and rogue yeasts at different stages of winemaking.
What are the three most common points in winemaking for wines to be exposed to oxygen stress?
- at crushing
- at the end of malolactic fermentation
- at bottling
What acids are typically used for acidification? Which is preferred?
Malic and tartaric; Tartaric is preferred
What is MYTIK?
The brand of Diam closure for sparkling wine
What was Cinsault originally known as in South Africa?
Hermitage