WSET D3 - Burgundy Flashcards
What is the River that Chablis lies in?
River Serein.
What are Chablis wines like?
All wines are dry, most M bodied, M alcohol with General trend is for no or minimal oak flour, though fermentation and aging in oak can be used by some for premiers and grands crus.
mid-priced to premium with a few super-premium examples.
What has caused planting in Chablis shrank in the early 19th century?
- Phylloxera
2.Powdery mildew
3.Building of Paris-Lyons-Marseille railway
After: Rural depopulation after World War I and devastating frost of 1945.
What is the climate in Chablis like?
Continental with cold winters and warm summers. Because of cool northern location there is uncertainty about ripening and considerable vintage variation year to year.
Early ripening Chardonnay is an advantage,
What is the annual rainfall?
670 mm.
Spread throughout year making for moist climate and difficulties in period leading to harvest.
What are the main nature challenge in Chablis?
Spring frosts and hail storms.
What are the types of soils found here?
Limestone and clay soils, some has considerable amount fossilised seashells and is known as Kimmeridgian soils.
What are the options for managing spring frosts in Chablis?
- Smudge pots: smoky, cause air pollution, requires staff in vineyard.
- Sprinklers (aspersion), most popular. Installation and maintenance mean it is only a realistic option for vineyards with a good return on investment (premiers crus, grand cru) or for well-funded companies.
- Pruning choisis: later pruning promotes later bud-burst, reducing chance of damage to new buds from early spring frosts.
What rootstock is widely used in Chablis?
41B (vinifera × berlandieri) . Highly tolerant of limestone soils with a high PH.
420A (Riparia × berlandieri) popular for its low vigour and tolerance to high PH soils.
What is the most popular training system?
Double Guyot replacement cane training system. If one cane fails, the other may survive frost.
Is machine picking used in Chablis?
Yes. Although grand cru vineyards mostly too steep for mechanisation and generally picked by hand.
What are the location and soil types in Petit Chablis?
Higher, cooler vineyards, predominantly with Portlandian soils (hard limestone with less clay).
Mainly on flatland or gentle slopes
What are the location and soil types in Chablis?
Kimmeridgian soil and mixed aspects. Mainly on flatland or gentle slopes, varies aspect with many north-facing sites. Leads to light bodied wines, notable for high acidity, with light (Petit Chablis) to M (Chablis) intensity and green apple and lemon fruit.
What are the location and soil types in Chablis Premier Cru?
40 Premier Cru vineyards predominantly on south and south-east facing slopes of kimmeridgian soil. Some larger vineyards have specified named plots (lieux-dits) within them which can be labelled under their specific site (like Chablis Premier Cru Troêsmes) or under large climat they fall within (like Chablis Premier Cru Beauroy)
What is climat?
A climat is a named vineyard fixed in AOC legislation.
What is Lieu-dit?
A lieu-dit is a named piece of land in centralised land register.
What are the location and soil types in Chablis Grand Cru?
There is a single grand cru with 7 named vineyards (climat, including Les Clos and Vaudesir), face southwest, on right bank of river Serein, and is on Kimmeridgian soils. Mixture of crumbly marl with good drainage and high clay content for water retention contributes to higher quality.
What is the percentage of Chablis Grand cru production in terms of the region’s total production?
1%
The grand cru vineyards are benefited from shelter from?
Winds coming from north due to a belt of trees between it and adjacent Petit Chablis vineyards.
Is Chaptalisation used in Chablis?
Used regularly in all but warmest year.
Does it go through Malo and lees aging ?
Malo is common to soften acidity and wines may also spend some months on lees. to enhance texture.
Give an example of a producer who use old oak and a n example of new oak and an example of stainless steel or concrete.
Old oak: Dauvissat or Raveneau
New oak: William Fèvre
Stainless steel or concrete: Jean-Marc Brocard
What are the maximum yields for all the appellations in Chablis?
Petit Chablis AOC: 60hl/ha
Chablis AOC: 60hl/ha
Chablis Premier Cru AOC: 58hl/ha
Chablis Grand Cru AOC: 54hl/ha
What are the associations of wine producers in Chablis and what are the aims.
- William Fèvre - Le Syndicat de Défense de l’Appellation de Chablis (1993 )
Aim: Combating fraud and addressing environmental issues. - L’Union des Grands Crus de Chablis
Aim: To promote the quality of Chablis Grand Cru and therefore limited to those who own grand cru sites.
(Members must practice sustainable viticulture and harvest by hand.
Name 2 highly regarded producers who sell their wine at extremely high prices.
Francois Raveneau and Vincent Dauvissat.
What are the top 5 export countries?
- UK
- USA
- Japan
- Sweden
- Canada
In Côte d’Or what has provide protection from rainfall?
Morvan hills to west.
What’s the climate in Côte d’Or , Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais?
Moderate continental.
Whats the average rainfall here ?
700mm.
Climate of Mâconnais typically slightly drier and warmer than Côte d’Or.
What’s the priority for growers in the region?
Promoting ripeness of skins and seeds is priority here.
What is the main nature challenge here and what has exacerbated it?
1.Spring frost. Particularly acute as both PN and Chardonnay are early budding. Exacerbated by recent warmer than usual winters encourage earlier growth , making vine more vulnerable to frost.
2. Hail: April-May: damage to early growth of vine can reduce yields or even loss of crop. Later in season: Fruit damage, can lead to grey rot tainting wine. ( sorting table , anti-hail netting or seed thunderclouds with silver iodide to induce precipitation some distance from vineyards)
3. Rain: Flowering and Fruit set - Lowering yields and uneven ripening, threat of fungal diseases, dilution , increase chance of rot.
4. Drought-stress: berries shrivel or even vines shutdown . Irrigation not permitted, high clay content cope better.
What’s the elevation in Côte d’Or ?
200m - 400m.
What are the soil types here?
Côte de Nuits more dominated by limestone in mixture.
Côte de Beaune has more clay and soils are deeper.
Soil in Côte Chalonnainse and Mâconnais are mixed with range of limestones and clay,
What is the continuing problem about soils?
Even in gently sloping vineyards such as walled Clos de Vougeot. There are thinner soils at higher elevations and deeper ones at bottom of slopes. At top there is too little soil for vines to thrive. At bottom, drainage is poorer, soil is deeper with more clay, resulting greater fertility leads to more vigour with increased danger of shading, a factor contributes to less ripe grapes in these areas.
Describe Chardonnay.
A versatile variety , buds early (spring frosts), ripens early (cool region). high yields without loss of quality.
Grey rot, powdery mildew, millerandage and grapevine yellows. Can be grown in wide range soils and climates resulting range of styles. (top-quality grown on limestone/clay)
Cool climates: apple, pear, lemon and lime with wet stone notes, light to M body and high acidity.
Moderate climates: ripe citrus, melon and stone fruit, M to M+ body with M+ to high acidity.
Describe Pinot Noir.
Buds early (spring frost) , ripens early ( suitable in cool regions), yields must limited to produce quality wines. Delicate variety, prone to millerandage, downy and powdery mildew, botrytis bunch rot and fanleaf and leaf roll viruses.
In warm climates, tends to ripen too fast (reducing intensity of aromas) berries can shrivel and suffer from sunburn.
In Burgundy: strawberry, raspberry and red cherry with village wines and above having light, oak-derived flavours (smoke, clove), low to M tannins, M alcohol and high acidity. Can develop earth, game and mushroom notes with time in bottle.
What is the pruning and training methods commonly used here?
Cordon systems including Cordon de Royat. ( limits vigour and yields although high proportion old wood can harbour disease.
Guyot system - replacement-cane pruned with VSP
- Poussard-Guyot: Maintains same sap route from one year to next with pruning wounds only on upper part of cordon, reduce number of pruning wounds and decrease incidence of Esca and other trunk diseases. ( require skilled labour)