Quick Study Flashcards
Quickly study and compare the aging requirements, residual sugars, ABVs, and easily-confused styles of fortified wines.
5 Fortified wines aged oxidatively
- Tawny Ports
- Madeira
- Rutherglen Muscat
- Some Sherries (e.g. Oloroso)
- Some VDNs
2 Fortified wines that will improve in the bottle
- Vintage Port
- some LBVs
4 Fortified wines that show primary fruit flavors and are meant to be drunk upon release
- Some VDNs
- Ruby Port
- Rosé Port
- Some White Ports
3 Fortified wines whose grapes were left on the vine to concentrate sugars
- Rutherglen Muscat
- PX
- Moscatel Sherry
Alcohol levels for Fortified Wines
- Low
- Medium
- High ABV
- Low: 15 - 16.4%
- Medium - 16.5 - 18.4%
- High ABV - 18.5% and above
Rutherglen Muscat is fortified to ___% ABV once the fermenting juice has reached ___ to ___% alcohol
17.5% ABV
1-2% alcohol
Sweetness, Body, Acidity, Alcohol
Rutherglen Muscat
- Sweet
- Full body
- M+ acidity
- Medium alcohol for a fortified wine
Madeiras are fortified to ___- ___% ABV.
17-18% ABV
WHEN it’s fortified depends on the grape (Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malmsey) - sweeter styles fortified earlier, drier styles fortified later.
Sweetness, Body, Tannin, Alcohol
Basic Ruby Port
- Sweet
- Medium body
- Medium tannin
- High alcohol
Maximum yields for:
- Port
- Sherry
- Madeira
- Most VDNs
- Port: 55 hL/ha (though usually comes in ~30 hL/ha)
- Sherry: 80 hL/ha (usually closer to 60-70 hL/ha)
- Madeira: 150 hL/ha
- Most VDNs: 30 hL/ha
Port is fortified to ___ to ___% ABV when the fermenting must reaches ___ to ___% alcohol.
19-22% ABV when it reaches 5-7% alcohol
Fino and Manzanilla Sherries are fortified to ___%
15-15.5%
Amontillado Sherries are first fortified to ___% then to ___%
First to 15-15.5%, then when reclassified fortified to 17% ABV
Oloroso Sherries are fortified to ___%.
17% ABV
Naturally sweet Sherries are fortified to ___ - ___% ABV when the fermenting must reaches ___ - ___% alcohol.
15-16% ABV when reaches 4-6% alcohol (their fermentation stops naturally; once that happens then it’s fortified)
Range/minimum residual sugars in:
- Dry Sherry
- PX
- Moscatel Sherry
- Port
- Muscat VDN
- Grenache VDN
- Rutherglen Muscat
- Classic Rutherglen Muscat
- Grand Rutherglen Muscat
- Rare Rutherglen Muscat
- Dry Sherry: MAX 5 g/L
- PX: min. 212 g/L, can reach 450-550 g/L
- Moscatel Sherry: min. 160 g/L, can reach 325-375 g/L
- Port: 80-120 g/L
- Muscat VDN: 100-125 g/L
- Grenache VDN: 45 g/L (most around 100 g/L)
- Rutherglen Muscat: 180-240 g/L
- Classic Rutherglen Muscat: 200-280 g/L
- Grand Rutherglen Muscat: 270-400 g/L
- Rare Rutherglen Muscat: 270-400 g/L
Most VDNs are fortified to ___-___% ABV when the must reaches ___ to ___ % alcohol.
15-18% ABV when must reaches 5-8% alcohol
A Colheita Madeira is aged a minimum of ___ years in wood.
A Colheita Port is aged a minimum of ___ years in wood.
Colheita Madeira - 5 years in wood
Colheita Port - 7 years in wood
Rootstocks used in Port:
Rootstocks used in Sherry:
Port: 110R and 1103P
Sherry: 333EM, 41-B, 13-5 EVEX