Wset Sherry And Port, Spirits

Front 1

Describe Sherry:

Back 1

Dry, med, sweet fortified wine made around town of Jerez de la Fronterra in Southern Spain. Base wine is dry, neutral, low acid white wine made from Palomino grape.

Front 2

Describe Port:

Back 2

Fortified wine made in Duro Portugal. Most is purple, ruby or tawny. Some white.

Front 3

Describe Sherry maturation process:

Back 3

Matured using solera system
Matured in old casks that contain wine but do not impart oak flavors.
Technique blends younger and older wines together continually as they age
Ensure consistent style of mature wine
Most flavors come from aging process
Differences in style due to differences in aging periods and conditions.

Front 4

What are the styles of sherry?

Back 4

Fino
Manzanilla
Amontillado
Oloroso
Oloroso Dulce or Cream
Pedro Ximinez

Front 5

Describe fino sherry:

Back 5

Pale, yeasty aromas, med bodied, dry. Flor yeast protects wine from oxidation during aging.
15-17% ABV
Drink young
Best chilled
Made in Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria

Front 6

Describe manzanilla:

Back 6

Similar style as fino but made in only in Sanlucar de Barrameda
Driest and most pungent of all sherries
sea climate causes flor to grow thicker

Front 7

Describe oloroso:

Back 7

Fortified after ferm to 18%
Oxygen kils flor - oxidation
Brown color
Meaty, nutty, oxidative aromas
full bodied and dry
med or sweet depending on how much they have been sweetened before bottling
18-20% ABV
Room temp
Can keep a few weeks after opening b/c already oxidized in aging

Oloroso Dulce or Creame Sherries sweetened before bottling

Front 8

Describe Pedro Ximenez:

Back 8

Intensely sweet made from sun-dried PX grapes
Almost black, intense dried fruits, full-bodied, syrupy
Used as sweetening component of the finest sweetened Sherries

Front 9

Describe Port production process:

Back 9

Blend of black grapes, sufficient color and tannin vigorously extracted from skins. while high proportion of sugar in must, grape derived spirits is mixed with the partially fermented grape juice. Kills off yeast, stopping ferm, results in wine that is sugary and high in alcohol. Wine aged in large oak vessels before vatting and bottling

Front 10

What are the styles of Port?

Back 10

Ruby
Late Bottled Vintage
Vintage
Tawny

Front 11

Describe Ruby Port:

Back 11

Inexpensive, non-vintage
less than 3 years aging before bottling
Simple, fruity

Reserve Ruby: uses better quality wines with more intense, complex fruit flavors. Longer cask aging (up to 5 yrs) softens and integrates the alcohol

Front 12

Describe LBV Port:

Back 12

Late Bottled Vintage:
Similar to Ruby Reserve
Wines come from single year's harvest
Do not need decanting

Traditional Style LBV needs decanting (not filtered before bottling)

Ready to drink on release
Intense red and black fruit flavors
hint of sweet spice
sweet, high alcohol, little or no tannins
med or low acid

Front 13

Describe Vintage Ports:

Back 13

Long-lived wines
Only made in good years
Bottled unfiltered after short period in oak
Initially have high tannin
intense fruit flavor, sweetness and alcohol
benefit from bottle age
evolve into cooked fruit, animal and vegetal notes

Front 14

Describe Inexpensive Tawny Ports:

Back 14

Inexpensive: lighter style, pink rather than deep red with toffee and caramel flavors
Usually made by mixing paler-colored ruby ports with some inexpensive white port

Front 15

Describe Reserve Tawny Ports:

Back 15

Aged at least 7 years in oak
Breaks down intense fruit, encourages oxidation, kernel flavors
oxygen attacks color - med tawny

Best are Tawny with Indication of Age: 10, 20, 30, 40
Stated age is average, not minimum
Do not need decanting
Best consumed closest to bottling date
Serve slightly chilled

Front 16

What is colheita port?

Back 16

tawny ports from a single year, bottled with the date of the harvest on the label. The law states that colheita ports must be aged in wood for at least seven years, although most are aged for considerably longer. The wines take on all the nuances of an aged tawny but should also express the characteristics of a single year. All colheita ports carry the date of bottling and most wines should be drunk within a year or so of that date

Front 17

What is distillation?

Back 17

Process that takes one component of a liquid and concentrates it. For spirits, aim is to increase the alcohol content of the liquid.

Front 18

Describe distillation process:

Back 18

Ethanol alcohol boils at lower temp that water. Warming alcohol liquid - alcohol boiled off, then collected, cooled and condensed bac into higher alcohol liquid
The water mostly left behind with solids, colors, compounds, unfermented sugars

Front 19

What are the two types of distillation categories?

Back 19

Pot still: oldest, simplest
Pot usually copper, contains base alcohol liquid while heated - vapors flow through neck into condenser, cools, back into stronger alcohol
heads: boil off first (poison)
hearts: spirit
tails: least volatile, boil off last
heads and tails returned to pot to redistill

Continuous (Column) Stills: Single distillation can produce a liquid very close to pure ethanol

Front 20

Describe spirit strength and characteristics:

Back 20

~40% ABV - relatively smooth, bottled and consumed without further maturation

Spirits with lower strength contain more impurities and flavor character of base material - generally need to be matured in oak, or charcoal filtered.

All spirits water-white when come off still and bone dry (sugar is volatile)
Color comes from coloring (caramel) or effect of oak
Sweetness is added or come from breakdown of oak into sugars (Bourbon)

Front 21

How is brandy made?

Back 21

Wine made by fermenting whole, fresh grapes and if distilled = brandy. most aged in oak and colored with caramel before bottling - brown/amber in color

Front 22

Describe Cognac:

Back 22

Oak-aged grape brandy from delimited region north of Bordeaux
Must be made using copper still
Distinctly fruity-floral aromas
Med-light body with smooth alcohol
Must be aged in oak before bottling

Front 23

Describe Armagnac:

Back 23

Oak-aged grape brandy from South of Bordeaux
Most made from column still
Low strength spirit quite harsh full of character
Dried fruit aromas
med/full bodied
Must be aged in oak before bottling

Front 24

What are the aging levels for Cognac and Armagnac?

Back 24

VS: Very special
VSOP: very special old pale
XO: Extra Old (Napolean)

Front 25

Name Spanish Brandies:

Back 25

Generally deep color, full bodied, med sweetness (added sugar), dried fruit and sweet spice
Brandy de Jerez major area

Front 26

What is Marc or Grappa?

Back 26

Spirits made by distilling grapeskins or residue left over from fermentation.

Front 27

Describe Whiskey character and production process:

Back 27

Oak aged spirits made from grains (barley, maize, and rye)
Grains contain starch rather than sugar
Conversion of starch into fermentable sugars takes place after starch has been extracted from the ground grains using hot water. Same process as beer. Whisky = distilled beer but contains no hops

Front 28

Describe Scotch Whisky

Back 28

Must be distilled in Scotland and aged oak casks in Scotland for at least 3 years. Age statement on bottle indicates age of youngest component.

Front 29

What is Malt Whisky?

Back 29

Made using only malted barley - allowed to germinate to begin conversion of starch into sugar. germ interuppted by drying barley in kiln. peat used as fuel. Distillation must take place in copper pot stills.

Front 30

What is single malt whisky?

Back 30

Malt whisky from single distillery. Styles vary depending on amt of peat, water used, type of cask and length of maturation

Front 31

What is blended Scotch Whisky?

Back 31

Blend of malt and grain whisky
Grain whisky made in column still using combination of malted barley and other grains.
Best have smooth spirit flavor and well balance
Compared to single malt, spirit less harsh off still, less flavor, less need to age

Front 32

What is Irish Whisky?

Back 32

Generally made from mixture of malted and unmalted barley

Usually unpeated
Combo of pot and column still
Smooth, soft, mellow with fruity, honey, floral, woody flavors

Front 33

Describe American Whiskies:

Back 33

Bourbon: Made using mix of grains (usually maize), combo pot and column still. character comes from charred barrels
Tennessee Whisky: similar to Bourbon process but filtered through maple wood charcoal before bottling
Canadian: mostly large volume inexpensive

Front 34

Describe types of Rum:

Back 34

Base material is molasses, diluted with water - ferm - distilled (most in columns)
White:
Golden: Oak aging
Dark: Color comes from caramel

Front 35

Describe Tequila:

Back 35

Made from Blue Agave - succulent not cactus must come from Mexico

Plata (Silver/White): most pure
Golden: unaged, color with caramel
Reposado/Anejo: softened by oak aging

Front 36

Describe Vodka:

Back 36

Any fermentable material can be used as base but mostly grapes, potatoes, barley, wheat, rye
Spirit distilled to such a high strength that little of base character left (column still)
Filtered through charcoal to remove flavor and impurities
40% ABV

Front 37

Describe Gin:

Back 37

Dry white spirit flavored with range of botanicals - mostly juniper but coriander, angelica and citrus peel
Cold compounding is addition of flavor essensces
Distilled Gin or London Dry Gin means superior method used to add flavor

Front 38

What is Pastis?

Back 38

Spirit flavored with combo of herbs and spices with anise dominating - Absinthe, Ouzo, Bitters

Front 39

What is a liquer?

Back 39

Sweetened liquid that contains a portion of distilled spirit
Real fruits vs. flavorings will be dry and higher in alcohol
Fruit:
Blackcurrant: Creme de Cassis
Cherry: Heering
Orange: Curacao
Peach: Southern Comfort

Herbs:
Multi herb: Galliano, Benedictine, Chartreuse, Drambuie
Seed: Kummel

Dairy
Egg: Advocaat

Front 40

What are guidelines for storing wine?

Back 40

10-15 celcius
on side
away from strong light
away from vibrations

Front 41

What are service temperatures of wines based on style?

Back 41

Med/full bodied oaked white: lightly chilled 12 c
Lt/med bodied white: 10c
Sweet wines: 6-8c
Sparkling: 6-8c
Light bodied red: 12c
Med/full bodied red: 17-18c

Ice bucket 3/4 full with equal ice and water

Front 42

How many glasses can you get from a standard 75cl bottle?

Back 42

6 standard: 125ml
4 generous: 175ml
3 large: 250ml

Front 43

What is the BAC limit in US?

Back 43

.8mg/ml

Front 44

What is the amount of pure ethanol alcohol in a standard drink?

Back 44

8-14g (14g in USA)

Front 45

What are the WHO general guidelines for drinks per day:

Back 45

women: 2
men: 3
not more than 4 per occassion

Front 46

What is the marketing regulatory body in the US?

Back 46

Beer Institure and DISCUS Code
Federal Alcohol Administration Act: athletes can't be used

Front 47

What are health benefits of moderate drinking?

Back 47

cardio vasc disease reduced by 30%
thins blood
HDL - good cholesterol