Winemaking Flashcards
Name the components of a grape
Skin, Pulp, Stems, Seeds
Describe Photosynthesis and the result?
- Sunlight + Carbon Dioxide + water -> Sugar (glucose) + oxygen
- Glucose combined with nutrients from soil stored in grape
- More sunlight, more photosynthesis
What are the steps of the grape ripening
Flowering -> Fruit Set (grape formation) -> Véraison (ripening, change of colour) -> Ripe Grapes -> Extra ripening
What are the different climate types?
- Cool <= 16.5 (average growing season temp)
- Moderate 16.5-18.5
- Warm 18.5-21
- Hot >21
In which region is wine grown?
Between 30-50degrees latitude
What is the difference between weather and climate?
weather - day to day changes during a season, climate - long term weather profile
What influences climate?
Rivers/Sea/Lake, Slope, Aspect, Cloud, Fog, Mist, Mountains, Soil, Air, Altitude, Latitude
What influences weather?
Temperature, Sunlight, Drought, Rain, Hail, Frost
What are typical vineyard activities?
Training/Pruning, Irrigation, Spraying, Yield Management, Harvesting
What harvesting methods exist?
Machine, Hand
Why yield management?
By cutting away grapes the concentration in the remaining grapes is increased leading to a more complex wine
Why is spraying used?
Fungicides, Pesticides, Herbicides
What is training/pruning done for?
To manage the growth of the vine in a certain way for optimal exposure / canopy management
Describe alcoholic fermentation
Sugar in graps + yeast = Alcohol + Carbon Dioxide (produces heat and results in flavors)
What are the steps in the production of red wine?
Crushing -> Alcoholic Fermentation -> Pressing -> Storage / Maturation -> Packaging
What are vessels used in the production of wine and for what purpose?
Inert (Stainless Steel/Concrete): can be airtight, used for fermentation/maturation, no flavours added to wine
Oak: Flavour, Oxygen, Softer tannin
What is blending?
Blending together a selection of grapes (assemblage) / vintages to achieve a certain style, maintain consistency across vintages or to enhance complexity
What does a wine need to allow aging?
Flavour concentration, Flavours that can develop in a positive way, High acid, tannin and/or sugar
What is véraison?
the ripening of the grapes, colour turn from green to golden/Black, sugar increases, acid lowers
What is fruit set?
vine flowers become grapes
What happens during extra ripening?
Earlier stages - riper aromas, higher sugar
Later stages - Raisining, dried-fruit aromas
What are the necessary conditions for botrytis/noble rot?
Damp/misty mornings, dry/warm afternoons
Ripe grapes
How do you make icewine?
Grapes freeze on vine during winter
Picked and pressed while frozen (water remains in ice leaving highly concentrated juice)
Icewine/Eiswein as result
What are the steps in the production of white wine?
Crushing -> Pressing -> Alcoholic Fermentation -> Storage / Maturation -> Packaging
What are potential adjustment options during winemaking?
Adding Sugar
Adding Acid
What are the different types of oak vessels?
Level of toast
Type of oak
New vs old
Size of vessel (Barrique vs Fuder)
What are oak alternatives?
Oak chips
Oak staves
What is malolactic conversion?
Secondary fermentation - conversion of malic acid (tart-tasting) into lactic acid (softens acidity adds secondary flavors of butter,cream)
Common for red wines (but hard to detect) and for some white wines (esp. chardonnay)
Can occur naturally but usually triggered by adding bacteria
Wine gets cloudy if not filtered
Can be prevented/stopped by pressing/sulfur addition/ lowPh/low temp/filtration
What are lees?
Dead yeast cells that remain in the wine
Add more body and secondary flavors (bread, pastry)
What is batonage?
Stirring up lees in the wine to increase contact and impact of lees
How to make sweet wine?
- Grapes with generally high concentration of grape sugars
- Stopping the fermentation (Remove/kill yeast)
- Adding sweetness
What are the steps in the production of rose wine?
Crushing -> Alcoholic Fermentation (Short) -> Draining -> Storage -> Packaging
What is carbonic maceration?
Fermentation process whereby the undamaged grapes are encapsuled in a tank and start to ferment on their own and burst as a result. Requires thin skin grapes and leads to fruity, low tannin wine (banana, tropical tone -> bonbon tone
what the most important wine species?
Vitis vinifera (european) - make the wine American vines (for rootstock)
what does a vinewgrower look for when selecting a grape variety?
Colour
Flavour
Budding and ripening times
Resistance to certain diseases
What is cutting and layering
cutting - cut a section of a vine shoot and bury it in ground (or on rootstock)
layering - stick a vine shoot in the ground with tip pointing upwards and cut of connection after took root (not used commonly due to phylloxera)
what is a clone
a certain variation of a grape variety (due to mutation, still genetically identical). Differences often small but can be larger like for Pinot Gris/Blanc which are only mutations of Pinot Noir
what is a crossing / hybrid
crossing - new variety from two parents of the same species
hybrid - new variety from two parents of different species
what is pyhlloxera
insect leading to desease of vine; v. vinifera cannot protect itself, only solution american rootstock
nearly all wine regions affected
what is grafting
technique used to join a rootstock to a v. vinifera variety
bench crafting - in nursery vines joined together until fused
head grafting - cut back existing vine and attach new variety
the anatomy of a vine
Leaves
Buds
Flowers & Berries
Tendrils
What a vine needs and where it comes from
- heat (Sun, reflected from soil)
- sunlight (Sun, reflected from water)
- carbon dioxide (atmosphere)
- water (Rainfall, irrigation, water stored in soil)
- nutrients (Soil particles, humus, fertiliser)
When is it too cold for vines to grow?
Below 10°C (amount of heat differs per varietal)
Factors affecting heat
- Latitude (between 30-50° latitude)
- Altitude
- Ocean currents (warming or cooling effect)
- Fog (cooling)
- Soil (dark, high stone/rock content absorb and reradiate)
- Aspect (steep, equator facing lead to most heat exposure)
What is continentality
temperature difference between coldest and hottest months (High - large difference)
Inlands typically high due to less water impact
what is diurnal range
- difference between day and nighttime temperatures
- Rivers, Clouds have moderating effect
- Large range can benefit freshness, armotaic
Typical temperature hazards
- cold winter below -20°C (can kill vine) - cover up/earthing up
- too warm winter - no dormant period for vine
- spring frosts (can kill burst buds/young shoots)
- growing season (cold temperatures can delay/shorten growing cycle - grapes won´t get ripe)
how to protect against spring frost
- Heaters
- Wind machines
- Sprinklers
- Thoughtful vineyard design (cold air sinks to lowest point on slope)
Factors affecting sunlight
- Latitude (Further north longer day during summer)
- Seas/lakes (Generally more cloud cover, Reflect sunlight)
- Aspect (More steep, more sunlight exposure)
Sunlight hazards
- Not enough sunlight can negatively impact grape growth
- Intense sunlight can lead to sunburn (bitter flavors)
- Canopy mgmt important
What is transpiration?
Water drawn up to the leaves for photosynthesis
Irrigation methods
Drip irrigation
Sprinklers
Flood irrigation
Water hazards
- Drought can lead to water stress
- too much water - vine focuses on growth not on grape growing -> drainage / slope
- Heavy rainfall (disrupt growing, encourage fungal diseases, berry swelling -> dilution)
- Hail can damage grapes and vines -> netting as protection / typically localised
When is the growing season
North A to O; South O to A (like car tyres)
What characterises continental climate
- high continentality
- short dry summer, rapid temp drop in autumn
- in cool region often spring frost risk (Chablis, Champagne)
What characterises maritime climate
- cool to moderate
- low continentality
- evenly spread rainfall
- extended growing season
- example bordeaux
What characterises mediterraneanclimate
- low continentality
- warm, dry summer
- fuller body, riper tannin, higher alc, lower acid
- example mediterranean, coastal california, chile, SA, South Eastern Australia
Soil composition
Stones
Sand
Clay
Humus
Explain the relationship between soil and water
- Ideally vine needs more water at beginning of growing season
- Then mild water stress after veraison
- Water stored in soil by binding to clay particles or humus (therefore if soil is high in those could store too much)
- Sand, Stones do not hold water well and facilitate drainage
What is loam (lehm) made of?
Mixture of sand and clay
Different soil types
- Chalk (Kalk/Kreide (Sub-form of limestone with only calcium)
- Limestone (Kalkstein)
- Slate (Schiefer)
- Volcanic (Vulkangestein)
- Clay (Ton)
- Loam (Lehm)
- Sand
- Gravel (Kies)
What to consider regarding vineyard site selection?
- Environmental conditions (avg. temp, rainfall, sunlight, soil fertility, drainage) influence selection of grape variety and vine planting/training approach
- Business considerations (utility infrastructure, workforce, accessibility for machines, cost of land)
- Grape variety (must suit site plus be legally allowed)
What elements to consider in vineyard management?
- Site selection
- Planting/Replanting
- Managing the vine (training, pruning, trellising, canopy mgmt
- Managing pest and diseases
- Viticultural practises
- Harvest
