Fortified winemaking Flashcards
(25 cards)
Briefly explain the differences between high strength fortifying spirit (S.V.R.) and brandy
spirit. Give an example of when you might use each one in fortified winemaking.
- Svr spirit is clear in colour, bright and sweet, earthy and buttery. With slightly more heads and fusels than a neutral spirit. Used where there is delicate character that shouldn’t be masked by a strongly flavoured spirit or a wine that will go to market quickly. Liquer muscat, white aperitif etc.
Brandy spirit is darker in colour and contains more heads and fusels again. Lots of complexity. Used in styles such as tawny port that full flavoured and are aged extensively.
Describe how you would assess spirit quality?
Tasting of the spirit neat, diluted to 20%, and then with the diluted spirit with 1 g/l citric acid. Assessing for suitability for style due to presence of heads and fusels. Also, can be assessed for these components using gas chromatography.
What is obscuration with regard to fortified wine? What value is used for calculations?
Obscuration it the change in density that results from the ethanol being produced from fermentation. It will make the measured Be appear less than what we would expect if we were just considering sugar concentration alone. 1% of ethanol will obscure a Be reading by 0.262 (make the hydrometer reading less by this amount for each % of ethanol).
Describe how one would fortify an active ferment?
- Calculate the amount of fortification spirit needed, when target baume is reached add fortification spirit and ensure it is mixed in (pump over with venturi, submersible pump, impellor etc). Add so2. Decrease temperature.
Describe a Solero. How is it used?
Fraction blending system of ageing wine. Several tiers of barrels with increasing age from top to bottom of stack. A portion of each of the oldest barrels are drained for bottling and the ullage replaced from the second oldest barrels. This continues until a portion of the newest barrels are drained and this ullage replaced with wine from the current vintage.
What are the preferred juice attributes for pale dry apera?
Pale and light golden free run juice. 15-16 Be, clean and delicate, pH 3.1-3.4, TA <7 g/l. no varietal fruit character, low phenolics.
What Australian fortified wine style would suit the following description:
◦ Colour, a deep amber
◦ Bouquet is highly complex, with grilled walnuts, candied fruits, orange rind and obvious
old oak maturation
◦ The palate is soft and round, with rich nutty flavours, a suggestion of sweetness and firm
oak astringency to dry the finish.
Australian Tawny
What is Mistelle?
Fortified white grape juice (18-20% alcohol). Results in sweet white desert wine. Encompasses muscat and topaque wines.
Describe the Australian Ruby style
Wine made in the vintage style but usually of lesser quality and does not receive extended barrel ageing-from 2-5 years (not enough to turn it into a tawny). 3-4 Be residual sugar and fortified to 20-21.5%.
Bright and fruity, Brandy spirit showing through.
List three traditional port grape varieties.
Australian
Shiraz, grenache, Mataro, Durif, Cabernet sauvignon
Portugese Tinta Roriz (tempranillo), Tinta Cao, Touriga Nacional, Sousao.
Why might one use specific gravity (SG) rather than
Baume
Because we are looking at the density of the wine and with obscuration this does not correlate with potential alcohol which we think of as Be. Baume can also be negative which confuses some fuckwits.
What are the main differences between a vintage, ruby and tawny port style? What are the similarities?
All begin as a similar wine - Red, 3-4 Baume RS, 20% alcohol.
- Ruby port receives minimal wood ageing (2-5 yrs), lesser quality, sometimes blended with white port. fresh and fruity. Sweet soft palate. like a vintage port but lower quality and slightly more wood age.
- Vintage style- Designed for bottle ageing and released with often 10-15 years bottle aged. Wood for 2-3 years High quality. Full and soft palate, firm astringent finish.
- Tawny Port- similar to ruby and vintage but aged in oak for an extended period, sometimes over 30 years. ‘Rancio’ bouquet associated with very old wines-emphasis on complexity.
Explain the sensory properties of fino sherry or pale dry apera.
- Pale light gold
- fresh apple and almond
- flor character -acetaldehyde.
- wood age character from well-seasoned oak
- 15-18% Alcohol.
Explain the sensory properties of Amontillado sherry (medium dry apera)
- Fino sherry that has started to show broader, nutty characters and is therefore reclassified.
- Dry, Deep golden colour.
- Clean Nutty flavour, less apple, Flor Character.
- up to 20% alcohol.
What was the benefit of using Grenache and mataro in a fortified?
Not much midpalate in these varieties so when diluted with spirit it will mature faster to get a tawny character in wood.
Why is Shiraz a good variety for fortified winemaking?
Midpalate dominant wine- lots of flavour so it handles dilution with spirit well.
Describe a base wine for a fino sherry/apera
Neutral but fresh. Low pH. Fine bright acidity.
MLF to aid bacterial stability under flor.
Bright clarity-filtered off lees.
Will usually be fortified to 15% alcohol before going to wood.
Describe the character of a fino under flor. How does the wine age under flor?
Aldehyde character is of Waldorf salad, apple and nuttiness.
Aldehyde is often lost but then returns.
As the fino ages there will be a cheesy/creaminess that appears.
Submerging flor yeast is a technique to increase Aldehyde.
Develops a salty tang.
Explain biological and oxidative ageing in a fino sherry
Biological- under flor.
Oxidative-in oak in topped barrels.
When does a fino apera have sulphur added? How much?
After the flor yeast biological ageing. Up to 120 total. This is why it is important to get flor yeast growing across the wine surface for the purpose of protection.
So2 will all be bound up to acetaldehyde but will still help with microbial stability and mousiness
Olroso sherry- what is the usual source of these wines? Are they sweet?
Often a failed fino. Once the flor doesn’t take and grow the wine will be fortified further and oxidatively aged in oak.
Spanish style is not sweet. Sweetness came about for the English market.
What’s the difference in wood ageing for an Australian vintage fortified and a vintage port?
Australian vintage fortified- portion must be in oak for at least 4 months.
Vintage port- whole volume in oak for 2 years. Works with these Portuguese wines as they are more tannic and will go into old oak.
What are the classic Portuguese port varieties
Tinta roriz, tinta cao and touriga nationale
How long does a classic tawny have to be in oak for? What about grand and rare?
5 years for classic, 10 years for grand, 15 years for rare.
