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WSET D1 Specification > Winemaking options > Flashcards

Winemaking options Flashcards

1
Q

What three factors encourage MLC?

A
  • 18-22 C
  • Moderate pH (3.3-3.5)
  • Low total SO2
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2
Q

What are the requirements for organic winemaking?

A
  • Made with organically-grown grapes
  • Can only use additives and processes on a list
  • SO2 rules vary (allowed in EU, banned in US)
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3
Q

What six factors prevent MLC?

A
  • Temp below 15 C
  • Low pH
  • Moderate SO2
  • The enzyme lysozyme (which kills lactic acid bacteria)
  • Moving any batch of wine undergoing MLC to another part of the winery
  • Filtering out lactic acid bacteria
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4
Q

What are the four outcomes of MLC?

A
  • Reduction in acidity and rise in pH (softer, smoother style of wine)
  • Some color loss in red wines
  • Greater microbial stability
  • Modification of flavor (loss of fruit, addition of buttery notices, increase in VA)
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5
Q

What are two advantages of conducting MLC in barrels rather than larger batches in tanks? A disadvantage?

A

Advantages:
* Ability to stir lees at the same time
* Better integration of aromas

Disadvantage:
* More work because it needs monitoring

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6
Q

What are advantages of encouraging MLC at the same time as fermentation?

A
  • Increase fruity characteristics (or decrease loss of fruit)
  • Shortens production time (saving money)
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7
Q

What is the aim of conventional winemaking?

A

To produce stable wines which reliably show their fruit character and have no faults

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8
Q

Who sets the requirements of biodynamic winemaking, and what are they?

A
  • Detemeter certifiers in each country (different rules)
  • For example, in the UK, organic yeasts (or, if those are unavailable, conventional yeasts) can be used
  • In the US, natural yeasts must be used, but certain classes of conventional yeasts can be used for stuck ferm on a case-by-case basis
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9
Q

What is the overall aim of natural winemaking?

A

“nothing added, nothing removed”

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10
Q

What are typical practices of natural winemaking?

A
  • Ferm by ambient yeasts
  • Absolute minimum SO2 (only at bottling) or none added at all
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11
Q

What is the first nationally recognized natural wine certification body?

A
  • France’s Vin méthode nature
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12
Q

Immediately after harvest, what are grapes vulnerable to?

A
  • Oxidation
  • Microbial spoilage (ambient yeasts and acetic acid bacteria)
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13
Q

What five measures can be taken to reduce the risk of oxidation and microbial spoilage of grapes between harvest and processing?

A
  • Harvest and transport at night when cooler
  • Addition of SO2 at time of harvest
  • Put grapes in cold storage once received at winery
  • Sanitize harvesting equipment/bins
  • Use small crates to minimize crushing (only possible with hand-harvested grapes)
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14
Q

What four processes are common during grape reception?

A
  • Chilling
  • Sorting
  • Destemming
  • Crushing
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15
Q

The level of sorting (or whether it takes place) depends on what four factors?

A
  • Ripeness and health of fruit arriving at winery
  • the intended final wine quality and price
  • whether any sorting has happened in the vineyard (e.g., by pickers)
  • the physical state of the grapes (with large containers, the bottom grapes have already been crushed, so can’t be sorted)
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16
Q

Why is it that the more sorting the higher the cost?

A
  • Labor and time needed
  • Yield inevitably less due to excluded grapes
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17
Q

For quality wines, what are three methods of sorting?

A
  • Before picking or during hand harvesting
  • By hand on a table or belt before or after destemming
  • Optical sorting
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18
Q

What impact does using a combined destemmer-crusher machine have on sorting?

A

It can only be done at the level of whole bunches

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19
Q

What are the four ways to “enrich” must via additions?

A
  • Dry sugar (chaptalization)
  • Grape must
  • Grape concentrate
  • Rectified concentrated grape must (RCGM)
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20
Q

What are three ways to “enrich” must via concentration?

A

Remove water via:
* Reverse osmosis
* Vacuum evaporation
* cryoextraction (freezing, and removing ice) – cheap and therefore used widely

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21
Q

When is must enrichment done for white wines?

A

Generally after must clarification

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22
Q

When is sugar usually added?

A

When ferm is already underway, as the yeast is better able to cope with the additional sugar

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23
Q

When is a must or wine usually acidified?

A

Can happen before, during, or after ferm, but usually happens before.

Reasons:
* Benefit of lower pH
* Acidity may be better integrated into the wine

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24
Q

Besides tartaric acid, what are three other acids that can be used for acidification?

A
  • citric (not permitted in EU)
  • malic (but can be subject to MLC)
  • lactic (after MLC; can taste less harsh)
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25
Q

What are two general methods of deacidification?

A
  • Adding calcium carbonate (chalk) or potassium carbonate, which forms a precipitate of tartrates
  • Ion exchange
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26
Q

What are two general ways to macerate red wines before ferm?

A
  • Cold soaking
  • Macerations using heat (flash
    détente and thermovinification)
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27
Q

What is cold soaking? How long does it last? Why is it done? What are its cost components?

A
  • Red wine must cooled to 4-10 C
  • Usually lasts 3-7 days, with some pumping down and/or pumping over
  • Very common with Pinot Noir, or other varieties to extract color without tannins
  • Cost in energy for chilling and time spent
28
Q

What is thermovinification?

A

Heating the must to around 50–60°C and sometimes higher. The time spent macerating at this heat can range from a number of minutes to several hours; generally, the higher the temperature, the shorter the maceration.

29
Q

What is flash détente?

A

Destemmed grapes are quickly heated to 85–90°C and then rapidly cooled under a vacuum. This takes place in as little as two minutes. The process bursts the cells in the grape skins, allowing a very rapid extraction of anthocyanins and flavours. The short time at high temperatures limits the risk of ‘cooked’ flavours developing

30
Q

Why is flash détente only used at high-volume wineries?

A

Equipment is expensive

31
Q

What are other reasons to use heated macerations?

A
  • Both flash détente and thermovinification can be used for botrytis-affected grapes, as they denature an oxidative enzyme (laccase)
  • Flash détente can be used for smoke taint
32
Q

Why would heated maceration and then pressing off skins before fermentation be used, and what drawbacks are there?

A
  • Used to create fruity, low-tannin style
  • Issues with color stability because of lack of anthocyanins, so best suited to inexpensive or mid-price wines for early consumption
33
Q

What are the three ways of making rose wines?

A
  • Direct pressing
  • Short maceration
  • Blending
34
Q

Describe direct pressing to make rose wines and what is a name for wines made in this way?

A

Description:
* Grapes of a black variety are either whole bunch pressed or destemmed (possibly crushed) and immediately pressed to minimize maceration
* Pneumatic presses typically used and flushed with inert gas
* Ferm like white wine

Also called vin gris

35
Q

What four factors influence the intensity of color of rose wines made from direct pressing?

A
  • Pressure used when pressing
  • Duration of pressing time
  • How much press juice is used
  • Whether white grapes are co-pressed (if permitted by local law)
36
Q

Describe making rose wine via short maceration

A
  • Black grapes crushed, left to macerate for a couple hours to a few days (protected by inert gas)
  • Juice drained and grape skins may be gently pressed
  • Ferm like white wine
37
Q

What is “saignée” and how does it relate to rose wines?

A
  • Some juice from a red wine maceration bled off
  • Produces (i) a short maceration rose wine and (ii) a more concentrated red wine
38
Q

What is the advantage and potential disadvantage of making rose wine via the saignée method?

A

Advantage: Cheap

Disadvantage: Grapes typically grown to suit red wine, not rose

39
Q

How do rose wines made via direct pressing typically compare with those made via short maceration?

A

Direct pressing wines are typically (though not always) lighter in color because there is less skin contact

40
Q

What happens to the color of rose wines during ferm?

A

It decreases, so the color of the must has to be darker than the intended color of the wine

41
Q

What are five ways of limiting effect of oxygen on must or wine?

A
  • Avoid ullage (headspace of air), e.g., by topping off wine in wood vessels
  • Flush with inert gas (like nitrogen, CO2, argon)
  • SO2 use
  • Impermeable containers
  • Cool, constant temps
42
Q

What are five years of increasing oxygen exposure?

A
  • Cap management techniques that spray or splash must or wine
  • Small wooden barrels
  • Increase rackings or lees stirring during ageing (requires opening bung or lid)
  • Allow ullage without use of inert gases
  • Use methods of pumping O2 (e.g., hyperoxidation in must or micro-oxygenation in wine)
43
Q

What do wines exposed to O2 need to be monitored for, and why?

A
  • Microbes
  • Brett, acetic acid bacteria, and others love oxygen
44
Q

What are the seven components of wine?

A
  • Water
  • Alcohol
  • Acids
  • Wine aromatics
  • Residual sugar
  • Glycerol
  • Phenolics
45
Q
  • What is the effect of alcohol at and above 14.5%?
  • What must be true about these wines to be in balance?
A
  • Reduces volatility of wine aromas and increase sense of bitterness
  • Wines with high alc must have sufficient fruit concentration to balance
46
Q

How much do tartaric and malic acids make up of the total acidity of a wine?

A

About two-thirds

47
Q

What is the most common measure of acidity in wines and how is it measured?

A
  • Total acidity: Sum of all acids
  • Usually equivalent g/L of tartaric acid (in France, sulfuric acid)
48
Q

What is the typical total acidity and pH of wine?

A
  • TA: 5.5-8.5 g/L
  • pH: 3-4
49
Q

What are four impacts of a low pH in wine?

A
  • Increases microbiological stability
  • Increases effectiveness of SO2
  • Gives red wines a brighter red color
  • Enhances ageability
50
Q

What are four categories of wine aromatics?

A
  • Aromas from the grapes
  • Aromas created by ferm due to presence of aroma precursors in grape must
  • Aromas originating from ferm and its by-products
  • Aromas from other sources
51
Q

What are two examples of aromas from grapes and wines in which they are present?

A
  1. Methoxypyrazines (Sauvignon Blanc: grassy, green bell pepper)
  2. Rotundone (Syrah and Grüner Veltliner: pepper)
52
Q

What are two categories of aroma precursors, what are examples, and in what wine are they found?

A
  • Thiols, like 4MMP (Sauvignon Blanc: box tree)
  • Terpenes, like linalool and geraniol (Muscat: grapey)
53
Q

How to aroma precursors often become aromatic?

A

Often bound to sugars and become aromatic during fermentation (e.g., due to hydrolysis)

54
Q

What are four examples of aromas from ferm and by-products?

A
  • Esters
  • Acetaldehyde
  • Diacetyl
  • Reductive sulfur compounds
55
Q

How are esters formed, what aromas do they give, and in what wines are they important?

A
  • Formed by reaction of certain acids and alcohols, most created as part of fermentation process. Most break down a few months after fermentation.
  • Fresh, fruity aromas
  • Especially important in young white wines
56
Q

What are two examples of esters?

A
  • Isoamyl acetate (when high, banana in Beaujolais Nouveau; otherwise, apple, pineapple, many other aromas) – most common
  • Ethyl acetate (nail varnish remover), from acetic acid and alcohol
57
Q

How is acetaldehyde formed? What does it do and smell like?

A
  • oxidation of ethanol
  • masks fresh fruit aromas and has a stale smell
58
Q

What are two examples of aromas from other sources, and where do they come from?

A
  • Vanillin (from new oak)
  • Eucalyptol (from neighboring trees)
59
Q

In the EU, what level of RS is “dry” and what are two other names that can be used?

A
  • 4 g/L RS, or no more than 9 g/L as long as TA is no more than 2 g below RS
  • Sec, Trocken
60
Q

In the EU, what level of RS is “medium dry” and what are two other names that can be used?

A
  • more than 4 g/L and no more than 12 g/L, or up to 18 g/L if TA is no more than 10 g below RS
  • Demi-sec, Halbtrocken
61
Q

In the EU, what level of RS is “medium sweet” and what are two other names that can be used?

A
  • more than 12 g/L and not exceeding 45 g/L
  • Moelleux, Lieblich
62
Q

In the EU, what level of RS is “sweet” and what are two other names that can be used?

A
  • at least 45 g/L
  • Doux, Süss
63
Q

What does glycerol contribute to a wine?

A
  • Contributes smooth texture and fullness of body.
  • Slightly sweet.
64
Q

In what styles of wine is glycerol higher?

A

In order of higher glycerol:
* Wines from botrytis-affected grapes
* Higher in wines made from carb mac

65
Q

What are two major categories of phenolics in wine?

A
  • Anthocyanins
  • Tannins
66
Q

What do anthocyanins do in a wine?

A

color pigment that gives red and sometimes blue

67
Q

What are two examples where other wine components can change the sensation of tannins?

A
  • A little RS: softer
  • Dry wine with high acid: more astringent

WSET D1 Specification (4 decks)

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