Caps Old World Fortified Wines

Front 1

What distinguishes fortified wines from regular wines?

Back 1

Fortified wines are manipulated through the addition of neutral grape spirit, in order to strengthen the base wines for the purpose of added body, warmth, durability or ageworthiness.

Front 2

Vermouth and quinquinas, fortified wines flavored by maceration with additional herbs and spices (cinchona bark is essential to the flavor of quinquinas) are properly considered as what?

Back 2

Aromatized wines.

Front 3

Name the three general methods of fortification.

Back 3

1. A wine’s fermentation may be arrested through the addition of spirit while sugars remain (Port).
2. The wine may be fortified after the fermentation has concluded (Sherry). This produces a dry fortified wine, although the winemaker may restore sweetness by the addition of sweetened wine or grape syrup.
3. The grape must is fortified prior to fermentation, producing a mistelle rather than a fortified wine. This category was once exclusively known as vins de liqueur (liqueur wines), but the EU has extended its definition to include all fortified wines.

Front 4

Name the most well-know vin de liqueur from Champagne.

Back 4

Ratafia.

Front 5

Name the most well-know vin de liqueur from Cognac.

Back 5

Pineau des Charentes.

Front 6

Name the most well-know vin de liqueur from Armagnac.

Back 6

Floc de Gascogne.

Front 7

Name the most well-know vin de liqueur from Jura.

Back 7

Macvin du Jura.

Front 8

When was the Douro first demarcated?

Back 8

1756.

Front 9

What is the "lei do tergo" (“law of the third”).

Back 9

A decree set out by the the government-run IVDP, restricting sales of Port to one-third of a house’s total inventory annually.

Front 10

Describe the "Beneficio" system of classification.

Back 10

The Quinta classification of Port vineyards in the Douro is a system that grades the terroir and quality potential of vineyards in the Douro wine region to produce grapes suitable for the production of Port wine. In Portuguese, a quinta is a wine producing estate, which can be a winery or a vineyard. While other wine classification systems may classify the winery (such as the 1855 Bordeaux classification), the Douro quinta classification is based upon the physical characteristics of the vineyard. The IVDP grants each grower’s beneficio authorization—the maximum amount of wine that may be fortified in a given year—based on a matrix of twelve factors.

Front 11

Name the preferred grapes for Port. What percentage of the blend must they constitute?

Back 11

For Porto, the preferred red grapes are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cão, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Francisca, Bastardo and Mourisco Tinto. They must constitute a minimum 60% of the blend.

Front 12

Name three preferred white port grapes.

Back 12

Preferred white Port grapes include Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Rabigato, Esgana Cão, and Folgasão.

Front 13

How were port grapes traditionally macerated and fermented?

Back 13

Traditionally, grapes were foot-crushed and fermented in low, open granite troughs called lagares.

Front 14

When in the port winemaking process does the fortification of wine with spirit occur?

Back 14

Beneficio—the fortification of wine with spirit—occurs when approximately one-third of the sugar content has been converted to alcohol.

Front 15

What is used to fortify port and to what %abv is it fortified?

Back 15

The wine is fortified to 19-22% abv by the addition of aguardente—“burning water”—a 77% abv neutral grape spirit.

Front 16

Does aguardente add character to port?

Back 16

The spirit is raw and uncomplicated; it is a young, fiery alcohol that contributes nothing to the character of the wine, rather it imparts the robustness necessary for the new Port to reach a proper maturity.

Front 17

What is the traditional barrel used for both aging and shipping Port wine called?

Back 17

A pipe.

Front 18

Distinguish the terms "Vinhos ao Roda" and "Vinhos Canteiro", as they pertain to Madeira.

Back 18

Vinhos ao Roda—wines that had undergone the round trip across the Atlantic—sold for much higher prices than Vinhos Canteiro - those aged on the island.

Front 19

In which region is the Porto DOP?

Back 19

Douro

Front 20

What are the two styles of port?

Back 20

Licoroso Branco
Licoroso Tinto

Front 21

What is the minimum alcohol of Porto DOP?

Back 21

19-22%
Except for Porto Branco Leve Seco which has a min. of 16.5%

Front 22

What are the preferred grapes of Porto?

Back 22

Touriga Nacional
Touriga Francesa
Tinta Roriz
Tinta Cao
Tinta Barroca
Tinta Amarela
Tinta Francisca
Bastardo
Mourisco Tinto

They must constitute 60% of the blend

Front 23

What is the name of the traditional barrel used for aging port?

Back 23

A Pipe

Front 24

Describe Ruby Port.

Back 24

Ruby port is often aged in bulk (wood, cement or stainless steel) for 2-3 years prior to bottling.

The wine is uncomplicated, deeply coloured and inexpensive. There is no vintage date.

Front 25

Describe Ruby Reserve Port.

Back 25

Ruby Reserve, or Premium Ruby, replaced the term "Vintage Character" and offers more complexity and character than a basic Ruby Port.

Front 26

Describe Vintage Port.

Back 26

Vintage Port is the most expensive style of Port to purchase and constitutes approximately 1-3% of production. A Port house will usually declare a vintage year only in exceptional harvests—often a given house will, on average, declare a vintage three years out of every decade. Vintage Port must be authorized by the IVDP, and is aged in cask before being bottled by July 30 of the third year after harvest. Vintage Port will continue to develop in the bottle for decades, shedding brash fruit in favor of more complex attributes. Mature Vintage Port requires decanting, as it will develop a significant deposit in the bottle. Quality is a chief factor in determining a vintage year, and a house will utilize the best vineyards available to it when creating a vintage blend.

Front 27

What is a Single Quinta Vintage Port?

Back 27

It is the product of one estate's harvest.

Often, if a Port house cannot confidently declare a vintage, it may choose to showcase the fruit of one of its better estates as a vintage wine.

Front 28

What is a Late-Bottled Vintage Port?

Back 28

It spends 4-6 years in cask prior to bottling. It obtains some of the mellowed tones of a tawny port while retaining the youthful fruit of a ruby port.

Front 29

What are the four styles of Tawny Port?

Back 29

Tawny Port
Reserve Tawny
Tawny with Indication of Age
Colheita Tawny

Front 30

What is a Tawny Port?

Back 30

They do not undergo the extensive cask aging that is critical to the syle, but are simply paler wines - due to the provenance of grapes, a less thorough extraction, or the addition of white Port to the blend.

Front 31

What is a Reserve Tawny Port?

Back 31

Must age for at least 7 years prior to bottling. Reserve Tawny wines are blended from several vintages. It will not improve with additional bottle aging.

Front 32

What is a Tawny with Indication of Age?

Back 32

These wines show a progressively more concentrated and developed character. Labelled as 10, 20, 30 or 40 years old. Matured in seasoned wood.

They are racked once a year, and often freshened with additional spirit or wine.

Front 33

What is Colheita Tawny?

Back 33

It is a vintage-dated Port that spends a minimum of seven years in cask- many stay in cask for decades.

Front 34

What are the four noble white grapes of Madeira?

Back 34

Sercial (Esgana Cao)
Verdelho (Gouveio)
Boal (Bual, Malvasia Fina)
Malmsey (Malvasia Candida)

Front 35

Which crossing accounts for 80-85% of Madeira's production?

Back 35

Tinta Negra Mole - a crossing of Pinot Noir and Grenache

Front 36

In order of sweetness, list the four grape varietals of Madeira.

Back 36

Malmsey
Bual
Verdelho
Sercial - piercingly acidic dry wine

Front 37

What is the minimum alcohol level of Madeira?

Back 37

17%

Front 38

What are the two modern heating methods that lend Madeira its distinctive character?

Back 38

Estufagem or Canteiro

Front 39

What region is Sherry from?

Back 39

Andalucia on the southern coast of Spain.

Front 40

What are the three towns at the centre of Sherry production?

Back 40

Jerez de la Frontera
El Puerto de Santa Maria
Sanlucar de Barrameda

Front 41

What are the two DO zones of Sherry?

Back 41

Jerez-Xeres-Sherry
Manzanilla-Sanlucar de Barrameda

Front 42

What are the three white grapes authorized for the production of Sherry?

Back 42

Palomino (Listan)
Pedro Ximinez (PX)
Moscatel (Muscat of Alexandria)