Wset Level 2 - Factors Affecting Wine Style, Quality And Price

Front 1

What are the five main factors that determine how a wine will taste?

Back 1

V.E.C.H.M.
1. the grape Variety used
2. the Environment in which it is grown (climate and weather, soil and slope)
3. the Care with which the grapes are grown and harvested
4. How the wine is made
5. how wine is Matured (including bottle-age)

Front 2

Can factors that affect quality have a cost effect, and influence the final selling price of a bottle of wine?

Back 2

Yes

Front 3

Name five environmental needs a vine has in order to produce a crop of ripe, healthy grapes.

Back 3

1. carbon dioxide (CO2)
2. sunlight
3. water
4. warmth
5. nutrients

Front 4

What does climate describe?

Back 4

Climate describes what weather conditions (temperatures, rainfall, sunshine) we may expect in a typical year.

Front 5

What are weather conditions?

Back 5

Weather conditions vary from year to year. Examples are unusually cool or hot temperatures, late frosts, hail, drought or floods.

Front 6

Cabernet Sauvignon needs a lot of heat to ripen fully.
What will wine from under-ripened grapes taste like?

Back 6

excessively sour, astringent, bitter and lacking in fruit flavors

Front 7

Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc prefer moderate or cool climate.
What will wine from over-ripened grapes taste like?

Back 7

Refreshing fruit character and acidity is lost, and the wine is dominated by unpleasant jammy or raisiny cooked flavors. Or, the wine may simply taste bland.

Front 8

_____ grapes can make interesting wines in hot, moderate and cool climates.

Back 8

Chardonnay

Front 9

In general, would wines with more alcohol, fuller body, more tannin and less acidity be from a hot climate or a cool climate?

Back 9

Hot climate

Front 10

In general, would wines with less alcohol, lighter body, less tannin and more acidity be from a hot climate or a cool climate?

Back 10

Cool climate

Front 11

What part of the grape contains bitter oils?

Back 11

Seeds

Front 12

Which two parts of the grape contain tannins?

Back 12

Stalk and skin

Front 13

What part of the grape contains water, sugar and acids?

Back 13

Pulp

Front 14

What part of the grape contains color and flavoring compounds?

Back 14

Skin

Front 15

Why would a grower remove bunches of perfectly good grapes from a vine before they have ripened?

Back 15

This reduces yields, but ensures that the remaining bunches have a better chance of ripening fully and evenly. The quality of grapes and resulting wine is improved, but such activities increase production costs.

Front 16

Why is sunlight crucial to winemaking?

Back 16

Sunlight allows the grape to combine carbon dioxide and water into sugar. These fermented sugars become alcohol. Without sunlight, there's no grape sugars; without grape sugars, there's no wine.

Front 17

What causes grapes to become bloated, with big crops, but the flavors and sugars are diluted, resulting in wine with less alcohol, body and flavor?

Back 17

The grapes received too much water, either from rainfall, the ground or irrigation.

Front 18

What kind of vineyards are best for growing grapes if you have high rainfall (as in much of Europe)?

Back 18

vineyards on slopes, or soils with chalk or gravel which allow water to drain away quickly

Front 19

If the weather is too cold or too hot, what happens to sugar production?

Back 19

It can slow, or even stop.

Front 20

In what temperate zone do we find most of the world's vineyards?

Back 20

between 30 and 50 degrees from the equator

Front 21

Are dry, stony soils generally warmer or cooler than wet clay soils?

Back 21

warmer

Front 22

Grapevines need a tiny amount of nutrients from the soil, however poorer soils generally result in better quality grapes. T/F?

Back 22

True

Front 23

What are the two main grapegrowing factors that affect the quality and style of the grapes?

Back 23

Vineyard activities (pruning, limiting number of bunches, sunlight positioning, etc) and yield control.

Front 24

What are some pests and diseases that are bad for the production of healthy grapes?

Back 24

Birds and insects, and diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses.

Front 25

What are the two types of harvesting?

Back 25

Machine-harvesting (shakes grapes off their stems; requires flat sites) and hand-harvesting (must be done in steep sites, and when whole bunches are needed.

Front 26

What is the most important part of the winemaking process?

Back 26

fermentation

Front 27

When _____ feed on sugars in the grape juice, they produce alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat, and change the flavors of grape juice into wine.

Back 27

yeasts

Front 28

What color is the flesh of almost all wine grape varieties?

Back 28

white

Front 29

Grapes for white wines are usually crushed to break the skins before they are pressed to separate the juice from the skins. T/F?

Back 29

True

Front 30

Why are white wines usually fermented at low temperatures (typically 15-20C)?

Back 30

to preserve delicate fruit aromas

Front 31

As opposed to white wine which uses juice only, red wines uses both the juice and the skins in the fermenting vessel. T/F?

Back 31

True

Front 32

Fermentation for red wine takes place at a higher temperature than for white wine: usually _____ degrees Celsius.

Back 32

20-32C

Front 33

Wine is kept in contact with the skins for _____ of color, tannin and flavors from the skins.

Back 33

extraction

Front 34

After fermentation and extraction, _____ goes directly into barrels.

Back 34

free run wine

Front 35

After extraction, free run wine is drawn off, and the skins are pressed to yield a further quality of wine called _____, which has higher levels of tannin.

Back 35

press wine

Front 36

French oak tends to give _____ and _____ flavors and smoother tannins.

Back 36

toast, nutty

Front 37

American oak tends to give _____ and _____ flavors and harsher tannins.

Back 37

sweet coconut, vanilla

Front 38

Maturation can take place with oxygen (in oak), or without oxygen (in cement or stainless steel vats, or in bottles). What is the purpose of maturation?

Back 38

Maturation allows flavors to develop though chemical reactions. (For example, maturation in oak softens tannins in red wine and can cause flavors such as toffee, fig, hazelnut.)

Front 39

In bottles, in the absence of oxygen, the fresh fruit aromas of young wines change into _____.

Back 39

cooked fruit, vegetal and animal notes (wet leaves, mushroom, leather)
In non-ageworthy wines, the fruit flavors fade away and animal and vegetal notes that develop can be unpleasant.

Front 40

In the vineyard, the factors affecting the cost of a bottle of wine are _____.

Back 40

1. the cost of vineyard land itself
2. the degree to which the vineyard work is mechanized
3. the cost and availability of labor/equipment
4. yield size and grape selection

Front 41

In the winery, the factors affecting the cost of a bottle of wine are _____.

Back 41

1. winery equipment and efficiency of equipment use
2. cost of barrels or other oak flavoring
3. aging, which requires expensive storage and ties up capital

Front 42

One the wine is made, what are the final factors that can affect cost?

Back 42

packaging, distribution and sale (including exchange rates, taxes, etc)

Front 43

What is the ultimate factor that determines the selling price of a bottle of wine?

Back 43

the price a consumer is willing to pay
(If the quality doesn't match the expensive production costs, it will not sell.)