Winemaking Flashcards
Arrested Fermentation.
What is it?
How is it done?
Why?
- The fermentation process is stopped before completion.
- Arrested by adding SO2 or Chilling. (It must then be filtered)
- To retain natural sweetness and low alcohol levels. Kabinett and Spätlese are examples.
Asti is another.
Noble Rot grapes will cause fermentation to halt naturally through high sugar levels.
Süssreserve…is what?
Unfermented and filtered grape juice, added to dry wines in Germany prior to bottling.
RCGM
What is it?
Rectified Concentrated Grape Must
Arsey (RC)
Rect(al)ified
Grape Must
The principle yeast used for fermenting wine?
Saccharmyces Cervisiae
Sugar - Sacchar(ine)
Mice - Mices 🙄
Think - Cer(ebral)
Visually - Visi(ae)
“Noble Rot”
What is its full name?
Botrytis
Cinerea - ‘ts in your ear
Describe the micro climate needed for Noble Rot
Misty mornings - to encourage the rot
Sunny afternoons - to dry the grape
Describe typical botrytis notes
Honey, apricot, citrus zest, dried fruit
WSET don’t allow “marmalade” but that’s what it is)
When is Noble Rot not noble
When conditions are too damp for too long, botrytis cinerea is called Grey Rot which splits the grape and encourages infections.
- Drying grapes on the vine is called… (2 names)
2. Describe what notes to expect
- Passerillage. Aka “Late Harvest”
2. Over-ripe fruit (dried, tropical) and a rich textured mouth feel.
- Raisening grapes off the vine in Italy is called what?
- What happens
- Give an example
- Passito
- Harvested grapes are dried on mats for a few months to raisen
- RECIOTO della Valpolicella
What’s a typical low ABV for wines made with grapes with concentrated sugar?
As low as 7%
The yeast struggle to survive when the sugar levels get high.
What is an inert vessel?
Which types of grapes need such a vessel?
Not oak.
Commonly stainless steel.
Sometimes resin lined concrete.
“Aromatics” need to have their natural flavours protected. Reisling, SB, Gerwurts, Muscat, Torrontes for example.
The point is to impart no additional flavours to the wine therein.
Barrique, Pièce and Foudres…
Compare and contrast
Made of oak
Barriques have a 225 litre capacity
Piêce has 228 litres
Foudres vary in size, but are waaaay bigger. Anything between 20 and 120 hectolitres.
Sometimes used in Alsace for fermentation to allow a little oxidation for Reisling to improve complexity and texture.
Note: Not to impart any oak.
Thats from 2,000 litres to 12,000 litres
1 Hectolitre = 100 litres
Barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc is famous where… (2)
California, where it’s called Fumé Blanc (peasants)
Pessac-Léognan (not peasants)
Premium Burgundy areas for Chardonnay? (3)
Notes for each style…
Chablis - green apple, citrus, wet stones, slate. (Large old oak barrels, little oak but allows gentle oxidisation) MLF
Côte d’Or - Stone fruit and cream (New oak barriques). MLF. Lees contact.
Mâconnais - Even riper fruit, toasty oak. MLF. Lees contact.
Premium Chardonnay worldwide? Oz (3) USA (2) NZ (2) Chile (1)
Oz: Adelaide Hills, Geelong, Mornington Peninsular
USA: Russian River Valley, Carneros
NZ: Marlborough, Gisborne
Chile: Casablanca
Two grapes that:
Ripen early and lose acidity (flabby) with ripeness and high sugar levels
Chardonnay
Pinot Gris/Grigio
Other countries using “Pinot Gris” in favour of “Grigio” (4)
NZ (similar to Alsace but more pure fruit and residual sugar)
Note: Fermentation sometimes arrested to achieve the residual sugar
Tasmania, Oz, Oregan - rich and dry style
Attack of the Clones.
- Describe the two common clones of Pinot Grigio/Gris
- Areas in Italy known for decent Pinot Grigio (3)
Quality Pinot Grigio/Gris is made with a
Darker skinned, smaller berried clone
Crap stuff has
lighter skin and larger pulpy berries.
Quality areas: Alto Adige, Trentino, Fruili-Venezia Giulia
Crap area: Veneto Plain
Why might a winemaker want to leave some solid matter in the grape juice after clarification?
It adds complexity and texture, but there is a danger of introducing poor flavours too.
What happens to aromatic grapes over exposed to oxygen during crushing/pressing .
They lose some delicate aromas
- Why might non-aromatic grapes (like Chardonnay) be exposed to oxygen during crushing/pressing
- Describe one way this is achieved
- It is thought to improve the wine’s ability to age
2. Pressing whole bunches
- Name three types of oak barrel used for fermentation
2. What are their sizes
Barrique (225), Pièce (228) and Foudre (between 2,000 and 12,000)
What does MLF achieve for a wine
Softens sharp acidity, rather it decreases the perception of acidity and diminishes the fruity style. (See p.62 of WSET L3)
Also it adds texture, body, balance and microbial stability. (Added by Erica, and NOT in the fucking text book)
What does extending fine lees contact achieve?
Richer, rounder mouthfeel, using lees stirring techniques: an actual stirrer or barrel rotation.
- With red wine, post crushing, pre-fermentation extraction achieves what?
- What other names is it known by?
- It is chilled maceration to extract colour and flavour whilst not extracting much tannin - given the absence of alcohol which readily dissolves tannin.
- Cold Soaking or Cold Maceration
- What is the temperature range for red wine fermentation?
2. At which upper temperature does yeast tend to die?
- 20c to 32c
2. 35c
How might a wine maker control the tannin extraction during fermentation. (2)
- Because tannins are more soluble as alcohol levels rise, lowering the temperature towards the end of fermentation can manage this.
- Cap management techniques can be used to manage tannin (well, extraction generally) too - from gentle punching down to aggressive rack and return.
Name the four cap management techniques
Punching Down
Pumping Over
Rack and Return
Rotary Fermenters
Describe Punching Down
Paddles push the cap down into the wine.
Vigour and frequency determine levels of extraction.
Describe Rack and Return.
The fermenting juice is drained from the cap into another vessel and then poured back over.
- Highly extractive
- Dissipates heat effectively.
Describe Pumping Over
Juice is drawn from the bottom of the vessel and pumped back over the cap.
- oxygenates the juice
- dissipates heat
Describe a Rotary Fermenter
Fermentation takes place in rotating horizontal tanks, meaning that the juice is in constant contact with the cap.
Why might a winemaker have very long post-fermentation maceration?
Many claim that it delivers a smoother tannin structure.
What is a “press fraction” and why have them?
The bulk of skins left over from drawing off the free-run wine gets pressed multiple times.
Each time the wine comes out darker and more tannic.
Each pressing is a fraction.
Often the fractions are kept separate to aid blending.
Whole bunch fermentation… what must a winemaker beware of?
The bunches need to have only riper berries to avoid tannins from the stem leaving a bitter taste.
- What is Intracellular Fermentation?
2. What is the objective?
- To enable the berries to start fermenting inside themselves without any yeast interaction.
- It yields a range of distinctive fruity aromas that give wine unique qualities.
Name three types fermentation that use whole bunches of grapes.
- Carbonic maceration
- Semi carbonic maceration
- Whole bunches immersed with crushed berries
Carbonic Maceration.
- What is the target ABV for the grape juice?
- What type of yeast is used?
- What happens to the grapes after CM is complete?
- 2%ABV
- If yeast is involved, it is “ambient” yeast. It is not added.
- The grapes’ skin having split under CM and released juice, the whole lot needs to be Pressed to separate the skins etc.
Describe typical wine notes expected from carbonic maceration
The point of CM is to extract colour and flavour from the grapes and minimal amounts of tannin.
Wines typically (Beaujolais being a prime example) are full of fruit with notes of Kirsh, banana, bubblebum and cinnamon type spice.
Where does the CO2 used in semi-carbonic maceration come from?
The grapes that got crushed under the weight of those above have ambient yeasts ferment the juice and create the CO2 required to have those berries higher up start carbonic maceration.
How might a premium Pinot Noir adapt the semi-carbonic maceration?
Standard Semi-CM.
But… punching the unbroken broken grapes down over a couple of days, decreases the amount of CM taking place.
Post CM, the mash is not pressed, but fermentation continues and may be followed by post-fermentation maceration.
What style of wine might one expect from semi-carbonic maceration?
Better integrated aromas from the intracellular fermentation.
Fresher fruit character.
Carbonic maceration enables what in grape berries?
Intracellular fermentation
How is CO2 free carbonic maceration achieved?
Oxygen is precluded from interacting with the grapes by virtue of submerging the whole bunches in the must. Intracellular fermentation can then occur.
Regular punching down breaks the whole berries and brings the process to an end.
The more whole berries used, the more ‘carbonic’ characteristics are achieved.
What is Intracellular Fermentation?
When whole berries are left to their own devices in the absence of oxygen, they release enzymes which create some alcohol within themselves without any yeast interaction.
Malic acid is broken down and ends up as ethanol.
The ethanol creates esters responsible for raspberry and strawberry aromas, and others create esters for cherry and kirsch.
Acidity falls.
Typically half the Malic Acid is broken down.
At about 2%. ABV the berries’ skins break down and the juice is released.
What are ‘carbonic’ characteristics?
Silkier texture.
Lower tannin.
Brighter, fresher fruit
Three generic blending options
Press fractions with the Free-run
Oaked (various toasting levels) wine with unoaked
Different variatels
Cheap and cheerful red wine.
- Typical climate?
- Typical variatels (4)
- Warm, dry, sunny
2. Cabernet Sauv, Grenach, Shiraz, Merlot
Compared to premium wines, how does cheap and cheerful compare?
Less colour Lighter tannins Less intensity Uncomplicated aromas Often labelled “Fruity” or “Dry” or “Good with Chips”