Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
10 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Describe the properties of the Gamay grape. Which vines would better wines come from? |
Early budding and ripening Red fruit flavours - raspberry and red cherry Low/medium tannins Light/medium body
It is a high yielding variety so the better wines come from vines grown in granite soil which have less nutrients. This limits the yield and the grapes become more concentrated. |
|
|
How are the vines pruned in Beaujolais? |
Traditionally the vines are gobelet pruned which means that they are head trained, spur pruned and the shoots are tied together vertically upwards. Some vineyards have now started to put their vines along trellises in order to allow for mechanisation |
|
|
What types of fermentation do Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau wines typically go through? What style of wine does this make? |
Carbonic maceration - this gives flavours of kirsch, banana and cinnamon. It also extracts colour from the grapes but no tannins which allows for soft, fruity wines |
|
|
Beaujolais Nouveau is meant for early drinking. What rules of release must it follow? |
It can only be released from 3rd Thursday in November after the vintage and cannot be sold after 31st August |
|
|
How many villages make up the Beaujolais Villages? |
39 villages - individual village names rarely appear on the label. Beaujolais Villages tend to be made from blending wines from different villages. |
|
|
Which four villages have the greatest production from the Beaujolais crus? |
Brouilly - lighter, more perfumed Fleurie - same as above Morgon - more structured, suitable for bottle-ageing due to fruit concentration and higher tannin levels Moulin-á-Vent - same as above |
|
|
Many Beaujolais wines are made using semi-carbonic maceration or carbonic maceration. Describe the technique of semi-carbonic maceration. |
- vat is filled with whole bunches of grapes and closed at the top - grapes at the top crush grapes at the bottom and release some juice - the ambient yeast on the skins begins conventional alcoholic fermentation, converting the sugars in the juice to alcohol - this process will release CO2 into vat, pushing out all the oxygen - this CO2 will have an effect on the whole bunches of grapes at the top of the vat. The grapes will absorb the CO2 through their skins and begin an oxygen-free and yeast-free fermentation, that breaks down the sugars in the grapes to create alcohol and lowers acidity of grape juice - while this intracellular fermentation is happening the colour compounds from the skin make their way into the grape pulp. Less tannins make their way in. The resulting juice will be brightly coloured with low tannins - finally when the alcohol level for each grape reaches its maximum the intracellular fermentation will stop - at this point the grapes can be pressed and the juice can then undergo a second alcoholic fermentation to bring the alcohol up to the level of a standard wine |
|
|
What are the benefits of semi-carbonic maceration? |
It is a quick style to produce It is a money maker as wines dont benefit from ageing and can be sold straight away Produces fresh, fruity, easy to drink, vibrant wines with low tannins They have unique flavours of kirsch, banana, bubble gum, as well as red fruit flavours |
|
|
How does carbonic fermentation differ from semi-carbonic fermentation? |
- with carbonic fermentation, the vat is filled with CO2 before the whole bunches of grapes are carefully put into it (so that their skins dont break) - all of these grapes will begin intracellular fermentation until they reach the maximum alcoholic limit - then the grapes will be pressed and the yeast driven alcoholic fermentation will happen on the pressed juice The resulting wine will have even lower tannins, paler colour and more vibrant carbonic aromas then semi-carbonic maceration |
|
|
What is one key benefit of carbonic maceration? |
Natural wine - the grapes are kept away from oxygen during the winemaking process and so the need to add sulphur dioxide pre-fermintation is eliminated |
