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43 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What are the five main factors that determine how a wine will taste? |
V.E.C.H.M. |
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Can factors that affect quality have a cost effect, and influence the final selling price of a bottle of wine? |
Yes
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Name five environmental needs a vine has in order to produce a crop of ripe, healthy grapes. |
1. carbon dioxide (CO2)
2. sunlight 3. water 4. warmth 5. nutrients |
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What does climate describe?
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Climate describes what weather conditions (temperatures, rainfall, sunshine) we may expect in a typical year.
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What are weather conditions?
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Weather conditions vary from year to year. Examples are unusually cool or hot temperatures, late frosts, hail, drought or floods.
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Cabernet Sauvignon needs a lot of heat to ripen fully. |
excessively sour, astringent, bitter and lacking in fruit flavors
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Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc prefer moderate or cool climate. |
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.
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_____ grapes can make interesting wines in hot, moderate and cool climates.
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Chardonnay
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In general, would wines with more alcohol, fuller body, more tannin and less acidity be from a hot climate or a cool climate? |
Hot climate
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In general, would wines with less alcohol, lighter body, less tannin and more acidity be from a hot climate or a cool climate?
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Cool climate
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What part of the grape contains bitter oils?
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Seeds
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Which two parts of the grape contain tannins?
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Stalk and skin
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What part of the grape contains water, sugar and acids?
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Pulp
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What part of the grape contains color and flavoring compounds?
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Skin
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Why would a grower remove bunches of perfectly good grapes from a vine before they have ripened?
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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.
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Why is sunlight crucial to winemaking?
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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.
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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?
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The grapes received too much water, either from rainfall, the ground or irrigation.
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What kind of vineyards are best for growing grapes if you have high rainfall (as in much of Europe)?
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vineyards on slopes, or soils with chalk or gravel which allow water to drain away quickly
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If the weather is too cold or too hot, what happens to sugar production?
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It can slow, or even stop.
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In what temperate zone do we find most of the world's vineyards?
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between 30 and 50 degrees from the equator
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Are dry, stony soils generally warmer or cooler than wet clay soils?
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warmer
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Grapevines need a tiny amount of nutrients from the soil, however poorer soils generally result in better quality grapes. T/F? |
True
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What are the two main grapegrowing factors that affect the quality and style of the grapes?
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Vineyard activities (pruning, limiting number of bunches, sunlight positioning, etc) and yield control.
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What are some pests and diseases that are bad for the production of healthy grapes? |
Birds and insects, and diseases caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses.
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What are the two types of harvesting?
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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.
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What is the most important part of the winemaking process?
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fermentation
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When _____ feed on sugars in the grape juice, they produce alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat, and change the flavors of grape juice into wine. |
yeasts
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What color is the flesh of almost all wine grape varieties? |
white
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Grapes for white wines are usually crushed to break the skins before they are pressed to separate the juice from the skins. T/F?
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True
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Why are white wines usually fermented at low temperatures (typically 15-20C)?
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to preserve delicate fruit aromas
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As opposed to white wine which uses juice only, red wines uses both the juice and the skins in the fermenting vessel. T/F? |
True
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Fermentation for red wine takes place at a higher temperature than for white wine: usually _____ degrees Celsius.
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20-32C
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Wine is kept in contact with the skins for _____ of color, tannin and flavors from the skins. |
extraction
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After fermentation and extraction, _____ goes directly into barrels.
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free run wine
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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. |
press wine
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French oak tends to give _____ and _____ flavors and smoother tannins. |
toast, nutty
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American oak tends to give _____ and _____ flavors and harsher tannins. |
sweet coconut, vanilla
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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?
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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.)
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In bottles, in the absence of oxygen, the fresh fruit aromas of young wines change into _____. |
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. |
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In the vineyard, the factors affecting the cost of a bottle of wine are _____.
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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 |
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In the winery, the factors affecting the cost of a bottle of wine are _____.
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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 |
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One the wine is made, what are the final factors that can affect cost?
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packaging, distribution and sale (including exchange rates, taxes, etc)
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What is the ultimate factor that determines the selling price of a bottle of wine?
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the price a consumer is willing to pay
(If the quality doesn't match the expensive production costs, it will not sell.) |