D5.C1. Key Choices Affecting Style, Quality and Price in Fortified Wines

Question 1

What are the key choices affecting style, quality and the price in fortified wines?

Answer 1

• Grape variety
• Vineyard site and climate
• Timing of harvest
• Skin contact and extraction
• Timing of fortification
• The fortifying spirit
• Maturation
• Blending
• Finishing

Question 2

Which properties of the grapes can be influential on fortified wines?

Answer 2

• Flavours: Muscat in VDN and even Rutherglen Muscat vs Palomino in Sherry
• Acidity: Sercial and Verdelho in Madeira (high acidity) vs Palomino (low acidity)
• Colour: Touriga Nacional and Sousão for vintage Port
• Tannins: Low tannins required for Ruby Port and Maury Grenat vs high tannins required for long-aged wines

Question 3

How does the vineyard site affect the quality of a fortified wine, give two examples.

Answer 3

• Vintage Ports will often be made from the grapes of certain vineyard plots known for their ability to produce outstanding - quality wines that will age well
• Muscat de Frontignan in the Languedoc produces slightly fuller wines with riper flavours from low altitude vineyards, than the high-altitude sites of Muscat de St-Jean-de-Minervois

Question 4

Which factors determine the time of harvest in fortified wines?

Answer 4

• Botrytis risk: Harvest before rains
• Level of potential alcohol required by law (Palomino).
• Need for avoiding unripe fruit flavours
• Need for concentrating sugars In other styles, for Rutherglen Muscat, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel Sherry

Question 5

For which types of fortified wines, excessive extraction techniques are needed?

Answer 5

The wines that are to undergo long ageing and hence need high concentrations of colour, tannin and flavours (Ruby Port, Vintage Port)

Question 6

For which types of fortified wines, pre-fermentation maceration can be used?

Answer 6

For white fortified wines such as Madeira, Muscat-based VDNs and White Port to increase body, texture and extract additional flavours

Question 7

For which types of fortified wines, maceration is not desirable? Why?

Answer 7

For biologically aged Sherries such as Fino and Manzanilla as the phenolic compounds extracted can restrict the growth of flor yeast

Question 8

When is fortification done in dry and sweet fortified wines?

Answer 8

• Dry: When the fermentation is complete
• Sweet:
  + Mostly by fortifying midway through fermentation to stop the fermentation
  + Some styles of Sherries such as Pale Cream, Medium and Cream are made by fermenting the wine to dryness and then adding a sweetening component

Question 9

The majority of fortified wines are fortified with..

Answer 9

95–96% abv grape spirit

Question 10

What are the advantages of using spirits with high alcohol content to fortify wines?

Answer 10

• They are neutral in aroma and flavour, and hence these spirits do not mask the characteristics of the wine
• The high level of alcohol minimises the volume of spirit needed to bring the fortified wine to the required alcoholic strength

Question 11

Port wines are fortified with..

Answer 11

Grape spirit of 77% abv

Question 12

What is the impact of using grape spirit of 77% abv on the style and quality of Port wine?

Answer 12

Significant volume of spirit is required to bring the partially-fermented must up to its required alcoholic strength of 19–22% abv so the style and quality of the spirit has an important influence of the style and quality of the final wine

Question 13

Why a relatively subtle spirit will be chosen to fortify Rosé Ports?

Answer 13

Not to overpower this more delicate style of wine

Question 14

What are the maturation options for fortified wines?

Answer 14

• Some fortified wines, including a number of VDNs, Ruby and Rosé Ports and some White Ports, are released relatively early from the winery with the intention that they should be drunk soon after release
• Vintage and some LBV Ports are released after a short period of ageing with the intention that they will improve in bottle
• Other fortified wines, such as premium Tawny Ports, Madeiras, Rutherglen Muscats and some styles of VDNs and Sherries, are aged oxidatively, often for extended periods of time
• Another technique is biological ageing; used for Fino and Manzanilla Sherries. These wines are aged under a veil of flor yeast

Question 15

What is maderisation?

Answer 15

The process whereby a wine is heated and oxidised

Question 16

What is rancio?

Answer 16

Rancio is a tasting term used to describe a collection of aromas and flavours that are found in some styles of wines. Aromas are varied but typical descriptors include leather, wood varnish and strong coffee

Question 17

What are the aims of blending in fortified wines?

Answer 17

• Balance
• Consistency
• Style
• Complexity
• Volume
• Price

Question 18

How can balance be achieved for the fortified wines that have undergone long periods of ageing?

Answer 18

Blending some younger wines with the older wines to provide a degree of freshness against the developed flavours (Sherry and Rutherglen Muscat)

Question 19

How can consistency be achieved for the fortified wines?

Answer 19

By blending wines from different vintages
- Static maturation
- Solera system (fractional blending)

Question 20

How can blending affect the style of fortified wines?

Answer 20

• Blending grape varieties to reach level of colour, tannin and flavour concentration (Port wine)
• Blending in of the sweetening component, such as PX wine to transform a dry Sherry to a sweetened Sherry

Question 21

How can complexity be achieved by blending for the fortified wines?

Answer 21

Wines of different ages or that have been treated differently in the winery may be blended to gain a greater range of flavours

Question 22

How blending is helpful in terms of volume for fortified wines?

Answer 22

• In most regions producing fortified wines, vineyard holdings are small and therefore it is necessary to blend grapes from a number of different producers
• A number of fortified wines are matured in small vessels and therefore blending of these vessels is usually needed before bottling to make up a sufficient volume of consistent wine

Question 23

How is blending essential in terms of price of fortified wines?

Answer 23

To obtain the best value product, the producer may decide to add a small amount of older wine to give some complexity to a blend of younger, more simple wines

Question 24

Which styles of fortified wines are not filtered?

Answer 24

• Vintage, Single Quinta, Crusted and some LBVs
• “En rama” Sherries

Question 25

What is the scale for alcohol for fortified wines?

Answer 25

• Low: 15–16.4% abv
• Medium: 16.5–18.4% abv
• High: 18.5% abv and above.