WINE LABELLING TERMS Flashcards
How much of a liquid must come from a GI for it to be labelled with that GI?
Typically 85%
cru classés
Bordeaux (Médoc)
Best Chateaux – listed in the 1855 classification
Bordeaux (Graves and Pessac-Leognan)
All listed wines
cru bourgeois
Bordeaux (Médoc)
Awarded to specific wines in a specific vintage (rather than to the chateaux)
Saint-émillion Grand Cru classé
Bordeaux
Lower step in the classification system
Saint-émillion Premier Grand Cru classé
Bordeaux
Top step in classification (split into A - the best - and B)
Reclassifications happen once every ten years
Burgundy grand cru
Applies to vineyards.
Top of the hierarchy
Burgundy premier cru
Applies to vineyards.
If all grapes come from one vineyard, the name of the vineyard can also be on the label
Beaujolais cru
Top hierarchy
Applies to villages
There are ten
Alsace Grand Cru
Over 50 vineyards
Must be produced from a single noble grape variety (Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris)
Vendanges Tardives (VT)
‘Late Harvest’
Can only be made from a single noble grape variety (Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris)
Must have a specific minimum sugar ripeness
Dry to medium sweet styles
Best will have undergone passerillage and maybe noble rot
Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN)
Can only be made from a single noble grape variety (Riesling, Muscat, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris)
Always sweet.
Must have a specific minimum sugar ripeness (higher than VT)
Usually achieved with noble rot
Not produced every year and only in small quantities
What is the maximum alcoholic strength for Muscadet?
12%
Landwein
German PGI wine
Deutscher Wein
German wine without a GI
Qualitätswein
Dry to medium sweet German wine
minimum must weight at harvest
Prädikatswein
Dry to medium sweet German wine
Subdivided into six Prädikat categories
Kabinett
Dry to medium sweet German wine
First of the six Prädikat categories
Spätlese
Dry to medium sweet German wine
Second of the six Prädikat categories
More concentrated, riper, and have a little more body, alcohol and (where relevant) sweetness.
Auslese
Dry to sweet German wine
Third of the six Prädikat categories
Made from individually selected extra-ripe bunches of grapes.
Richer and riper.
Noble rot can play an important part in flavour (regardless of sweetness levels)
Beerenauslese (BA)
Sweet German wine
Fourth of the six Prädikat categories
Nobel rot is not necessary to reach minimum must weight, but typical
Sweet, low alcohol with flavours of dried stone fruit, candied peel and flowers
Eiswein
Sweet German wine
Fifth of the six Prädikat categories
No noble rot
Focus on varietal purity
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA)
Sweet German wine
Sixth of the six Prädikat categories
Nobel rot is essential to achieve the must weights necessary for TBA
Sweet, low alcohol with flavours of dried stone fruit, candied peel and flowers
Trocken
Dry German wine
halbtrocken
Off-dry and medium German wine
Feinherb
Off-dry and medium German wine
unofficial term
Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP)
Independent group of wine producers who have classified their vineyards
Wines labelled as GG or Grosses Gewächs
Grosses Gewächs (GG)
Qualitätswein wines made by Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP)
Trademark and not law
Ausbruch
Austrian sweet wine
Between BA and TBA
Strohwein/Schilfwein
Austria
Bunches of grapes are laid out on beds of straw or reeds during the winter to concentrate sugars
Weinviertel DAC Klassik
Austrian wine made from Grüner Veltliner in a light, fresh and fruity style ( no oak)
Weinviertel DAC Reserve
Austrian wine made from Grüner Veltliner with a higher minimum alcohol and allowed to mature in oak
Tokaji Szamorodni
‘as it comes’
bunches that are partially affect by noble rot
Can be made dry (száraz) or sweet (édes)
Aged in cask for a minimum of one year and must be two years old before release
Tokaji Aszú
‘rotten’
Minimum residual sugar 120g/l
Minimum 18 months in oak
Wines can be released in the January of the third year after harvest
Tokaji Eszencia
‘nectar’
Made using just the free-run juice of the aszú berries
Minimum residual sugar 450g/l
So sweet it can take years to ferment
Naoussa PDO
Greek wine made exclusively from Xinomavro
Nemea PDO
Greek wine made exclusively from Agiorgitiko
Classico
Italian wines that have been made only with original classified land
Riserva
Italian wines with higher alcohol levels and longer ageing