Fortified Wine Production Swe

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Study Guide Review

FortifiedWine Production

Fortified Wines

• Sherry

• Port and Port-Style Wines

• Madeira

• Marsala

• Málaga

• Montilla-Moriles

• Vin doux Naturels

Sherry

The Making of Sherry• Pressing – Historically men wore

Zapatos de pisar

• Now more modern techniquesare used

• The base grape: Palomino

• Fermentation can be in stainlesssteel or oak casks

• Classification - the wine will go to one of two programs:

– Fino Program: Fino, Manzanilla and Amontadillo

– Oloroso Program: Oloroso and Rayas

The Production

Process

1. Pressing

2. Acidification

3. Débourbage (racking

4. Fermentation

5. Classification

6. Fortification

7. Aging

8. Flor development in Fino/Aging Oloroso

9. The Solera

10. Working the Scales

11. Blending

12. Finishing

The Palomino Grape of Jerez

two different types of ageing:

The The AgeingAgeing of Sherry of Sherry

at 17º alcohol

the wine loses the flor

biological ageing

the flor protects the wine from oxidation

oxidative ageing

without the flor, the wine is exposed to oxidation

at 15º alcohol

the wine keeps the flor

The Making of Sherry• Fortification:

– Finos: 15 to 15.5%– Oloroso: 18%

• Aging:

– Finos: “Biological aging” – Flor Yeast

– Oloroso: “Physiochemical or Oxidative aging”

• No Flor YeastVOS – 20 yearsVORS – 30 years

The Making of Sherry

• Flor Yeast– After fermentation Fino type Sherries are fortified

to no more than 15.5%

– Spontaneous development of Flor (film) yeast.

– Flor feeds on acidity and alcohol – Sherry has a high pH

– Seasoned oak barrels must be used

– Cellar must be warm and humid

The Solera System

• Solera System– Fractional blending

system– Bottom tier called

Solera (oldest),– Top tier is called

Anada (youngest).– Two tiers between

called Criaderas or nursery (scales)

– Soleras can be 4 to 14 scales

– Working the scales: 5 to 33% is taken from the Solera and replaced in the Anada

consejo regulador de las DDOO jerez-xérès-sherry y manzanilla

Sherry Solera System

the solera - how the system worksthe solera - how the system works

solerasolera

1st criadera1st criadera

2nd criadera2nd criadera

key factorskey factors• number of scales number of scales • percentage of “saca” percentage of “saca” • frequency of the “saca”frequency of the “saca”

sobretablas

The Making of Sherry• Blending

– Addition of Vino Dulce (PX) or Vino de Color (Moscatel)• Types

– Fino– Manzanilla (Sanlucar de Barrameda)– Amontadillo (aged Fino)– Palo Cortado (Flor dies: aroma of Amontadillo;

palate of Oloroso)– Oloroso– Cream and other sweet sherries (milk, brown and

pajarete): Addition of PX or Moscatel

Port and Port-Style Wines

• Port: Sweet fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley of Portugal

• Crafted by adding grape spirit to fermenting must while juice retains considerable sugar

• Porto method used in most areas of wine world

Oporto– Douro

• 3 sub-districts:– Cima Corgo– Baixo Corgo– Douro Superior

• Soils– Schist (best); Granite

(worst)• Grading System

– A (best) to F (worst)– Criteria:

» Soils (highest amount of schist)

» Location» Aspect» Grapes used» Vine Density» Yield» Overall maintenance

Instituto da Vinha e Vinho (IVV) & Instituto do Vinho do Porto (IVP)

control Port Production

Port Grape VarietiesRed Port Grapes• Touriga Nacional• Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo)• Tinta Barroca• Tinto Cao• Touriga Francesa

White Port Grapes:• Gouveio• Malvasia Fina• Rabigato• Viosinho• Codega

Touriga Nacional

The Port Wine Scoring System

Fermentation Methods

Modern lagares

•Traditionally grapes were transported to lagares (shallowgranite troughs) and crushed by foot treading•Foot treading done only by top producers for best grapes because of high costs•Piston tanks used since 1800s fro pressing•Autovinificator

•continually circulates juice and skins so capstays broken and submerged•Carbon Dioxide pushes must down inside tank•Must rises and sprays out on top of juice/skins

•Pump-Over fermenters pump and spray must in sealed tank•Rotary fermenters rotate on schedule to integrate skins

Fermentation Methods•Port fermentation always relies on ambient yeasts

•Port House determines sweetness and arrests fermentationthrough addition of grape spirit (aguardiente)

•Fortification brings alcohol level to 20% and kills yeasts

•House sweetness generally ranges between 8—12%

•Legally Port may be•Very sweet –130g/l or 13% RS, or more•Sweet•Semi-Dry•Extra-Dry -40 g/l or 4% RS, or less

How Port Is Matured

• Traditionally, 1-2 winters in wineries in large wooden casks or vats

• Transported to Vila Nova de Gaia (or other legal area in demarcated Douro region)

• Tawnies: smaller barrels, oxidative aging

• Rubies/LBV/Vintage: aged in large vats to preserve color and fruit

• Port barrel is called a ‘pipe’ (usually 550 l or more)

Blending

• Most ports reflect a blend of various– Grape varieties– Vineyard lots– Vintages

– Sweet port may be ‘toned down’ with dry port

– Extra-sweet port called geropiga can be blended in to increase sugar levels

Types of Port• Bottle-Aged Ports (mainly reductive aging)

– Vintage

• Shipper may declare vintage at their discretion

• 2 winters in cask before bottle, but most aging is in bottle, not wood

• Horizontal blend of grapes and vineyard lots

• Not fined or filtered

– Single-Quinta

• Houses have discretion of bottling the product of a single quinta (farm)

• Blend of many varieties from one property and one vintage year

Wood-Aged Ports

• Ruby– aged in large oak casks for minimum 3 years– Lacks complexity of Vintage/Quinta ports

• Tawny– Simple Tawny bottled 3 years after harvest– Aged Tawnies can be bottled in multiples of 10 years

(10, 20, 30 Year Old)---but age is an average, not a minimum

• Late Bottle Vintage (LBV)– Bottled 4—6 years after harvest (versus 2 for Vintage)– Matured in large oak vats– Most LBVs intended for drinking when released

Wood-Aged Ports• Vintage Character

– No Longer Permitted; now designated “Reserve”– Blend of ruby ports bottled 4—6 years after harvest– Variable quality; do not resemble Vintage Ports

• Colheita– Rare, representing 1% or less of all Port made– Single Vintage Tawny Port– Must remain in cask at least 7 years, but no limit– Some Colheitas are 10, 15, even 50 years old

• White Port– Malvasia Fina, Gouveio, Rabigato and other grapes– Varies, but customarily aged 3-4 years in vat– “Light White Port”: minimum 16.5% alcohol

MADEIRA

Madeira• The volcanic Island of Madeira lies in the mid-Atlantic,

400 miles west of Morocco. • Extremely steep with regular rainfall, the island is green,

lush and prone to fungus.• Instituto do Vinho da Madiera (IVM) controls• Five basic grape varieties-

Sercial, Verdelho, Bual. Malvasia, Tinta Negra Mole• Fortified and ‘cooked’ in very hot rooms or estufas or

amazens de calor (hot rooms)to ‘maderize’ or the wine.

• Average estufa temperature ranges are85-105 F (30-40 C)

• The most ageworthy of wines. • Can age for hundreds of years!

Styles of Madeira• Sercial – Driest RS: 0.5 to 1.5%• Verdelho – RS: 1.5 to 2.5%

– Not fermented on skins– Fermented dry, then fortified– Similar to Oloroso Sherry stylistically

• Bual – RS: 2.5 to 3.5%• Malmsey – Sweetest RS: 3.5 to 6.5%

– Fermented on skins– Fortified when sugar levels reach 7%

• Fortified by grape spirit to 17-18 %

• Top quality often stored in lodge pipes (600 liter containers)that bake in the sun for up to twenty years

The noble varieties are usually pressed and fermented separately from Tinta Negra Mole, often in lodge pipes.

Malvasia and Bual are traditionally fermented on their skins.

Sercial and Verdelho musts are separated from the grape skins before fermentation.

MadeiraQuality Designations

• Granel or Bulk: spends 18 months in estufagem and bulk storage

• Finest: 3 years

• Reserve: 5 years

• Special Reserve: 10 years of noble grapes (so labeled)

• Extra Reserve: 15 years of noble grapes (so labeled)

• Vintage: 20 years (minimum) + 2 years in bottle and from one vintage of noble grapes.

Marsala• Sicily DOC• Fortified wine produced in dry or sweet styles• Catarratto, Grillo, Inzolia and other grapes used• Three methods

– Fortified with grape spirits– Addition of concentrated must

(mosto cotto —must boiled down to concentrate)

– Addition of sifone —late-picked overripe must with added alcohol

Types of Marsala• Oro (golden)• Ambra (amber)• Rubino (ruby)• Each can be made secco (dry, max. 4% RS),

semisecco (semidry, 4—10% RS) or dolce (10%+ RS)

• Marsala Fino: aged minimum of 1 year• Marsala Superiore: aged at least 2 years• Marsala Superiore Riserva: aged 3 years or more• Marsala Vergine/Marsala Solera:

aged in cask min. 5 years in solera system• Marsala Vergine Stravecchio Riserva:

dry, minimum of 10 years aging in cask

Málaga

• Port city of Malaga, Andalucia

• Four growing zones around city

• Pedro Ximénez and Airen

• Moscatel de Alexandria in mountains and two coastal zones

• Two methods of production– Fortified by grape spirits to arrest fermentation– Arrope—grape juice boiled down to 30% of volume,

added before or after fermentation

Montilla-Moriles

• Andalusia, Spain

• Similar in taste and style to Sherry

• Primary grape Pedro Ximénez

• Reaches extraordinarily high sugars(16% naturally not uncommon)

• Airen and Moscatel de Alexandria also planted here

Vins Doux Naturels

• French Term: Naturally sweet wine• Fermentation arrested through addition of grape spirits,

leaving residual sugars• Traditionally fermented to 14% or higher• Grapes vary:

Muscat of Alexandria Grape• Muscat de Rivesaltes

Grenache-Based • Banyuls• Maury• Rasteau

Muscat à Petits Grain Grape• Muscat de Frontignan• Muscat de Lunel• Muscat de Mireval• Muscat de St.-Jean-de-

Minervois• Muscat de Beaumes-de-

Venise