Montilla-Moriles

Five need-to-know facts about Montilla-Moriles:

1. Montilla-Moriles is a D.O. (Denominacion de Origen) in Cordoba, Andalucia. It was created in 1945.

2. The predominant soil is albariza (white Andalucian soil, high limestone content, dries without caking, releases water slowly to vines over growing season); 70% of grapes are Pedro Ximenez (also some Airen and Muscat of Alexandria but NOT Palomino); and vines are low-yielding bush vines.

3. Vinification is similar to sherry. Fino styles are not fortified but get to 15% abv naturally. Oxidised styles (Oloroso styles) can be aged naturally or fortified. The terms Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso etc may be used within Spain but are restricted to Sherry in other EU countries, where they are re-labelled as Pale Dry, Medium Dry, Pale Cream and Cream.

4. A solera system is used, as for sherry.

5. The minimum age for Montillas is 2 years (rather than 3 for Sherry), but the majority are much older.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Flor

1. Flor is a benevolent film-forming yeast which, in a winemaking context, can form on the top of partially-filled barrels of maturing sherry, protecting the wine from oxidising. It is typified by those yeasts native to Jerez.

2. A by-product of the action of flor yeast is the chemical acetaldeyde, which gives fino-style sherries their distinctive "salty" aroma. The presence of acetaldehyde causes the "sherry-like" nose of some unfortified wines which are made using flor or flor-like yeasts.

3. Flor feeds on glycerine, polyphenols, higher alcohols and volatile acidity.

4. It only develops in wine which is between 14.5 and 16.0% abv (and not, as per legend, due to a magical, ineffable quality in the Andalucian air). It forms on all sherry pre-fortification, so even some Oloroso Seco styles may have some flor characteristics.

5. It is used in the production of Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado and Palo Cortado. In the case of Amontillado, the yeast either die away naturally after consuming all the glycerol, gradually exposing the wine to oxygen, or the wine is moved to a different solera mid-process. Palo Cortado makes use of the second technique only and so can be fuller-bodied than Amontillado.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Vins Doux Naturels

Here are 5 essential facts about VDNs.

1. Despite their name, VDNs are not naturally sweet. They are fortified mid-ferment (at about 15-18% abv) to arrest the fermentation process, as is port, a technique known as mutage.

2. VDNs are generally either Muscat- or Grenache-based.

3. The most common Muscat grapes are Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains (used for Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from the Rhone and Muscat de Saint-Jean de Minervois from Languedoc-Rousillon) and Muscat of Alexandria (used in Muscat de Rivesaltes, also from L-R).

4. Grenache (or sometimes Grenache Blanc) is used to make Rasteau from the Rhone and Banyuls and Rivesaltes from L-R.

5. Grenache-based VDNs can be aged oxidatively. The terms Rancio, Ambre and Tuile all indicate oxidatively-aged VDNs. Hors d'age indicates a wine that has been aged for at least 5 years.

A contrasting style is vin de liqueur or mistelles, made by adding grape spirit to grape must (the process known as mutage). Fortification occurs pre-ferment, meaning there are no secondary fermentation products and the final product tastes more sprirt dominated than VDNs. E.g. Pineau des Charentes.

Rivesaltes
(L-R, French Catalonia, near Perpignan)

Banyuls-sur-Mer
(L-R, French Catalonia, near Perpignan)

Beaumes de Venise
(Rhone, near Carpentras)

Vaison la Romaine
(Rhone, near Rasteau)

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Info Mine: The Carbon Cycle

Here is a quick 5-step look at the natural cycle of winemaking (with thanks to David Bird and with distant memories of GCSE science).

1. The leaves of the vine absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The roots absorb water from the soil. These raw materials are converted into sugars by means of photosynthesis. The sugars are stored in the vine's grapes.

2. At this point the grapes are picked. The sugars are then converted into alcohol by the process of fermentation. Fermentation is kick-started by yeast, which is present in the atmoshere, on the skins of grapes and - in a winemaking context - absorbed into the walls, ceilings and surfaces of a winery.


3. Eventually - long after most wine would hopefully have been drunk - the wine will be attacked by bacteria and will turn into vinegar.
4. The vinegar will itself decompose, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

5. The cycle starts all over again!

Info Mine - Sherry

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Sherry comes from the area around the Andalucian towns of Jerez and Sanlucar de Barrameda. Its name is an anglicanised version of Jerez (the original Arabic name of which was Sherish).

2. The British love of sherry dates back to Sir Francis Drake's sacking of Cadiz in 1587, following which he brought back nearly 3,000 barrels of sherry which had been waiting to be loaded onto Spanish ships. Many sherry producers were founded by British families and, despite declining popularity in recent years, the UK remains the largest export market for sherry.

3. Palomino is by far the most prevalent grape variety in sherry production and is used in the dry, clear sherries, Fino and Manzanilla. The other two important sherry grapes are Pedro Ximenez (also known as PX) and Moscatel. These latter two varietals can be used to make sweet sherries.

4. Following harvesting and pressing in early September, the Palomino grapes are left to ferment in stainless steel until late November. The resulting dry white wine (about 11% abv) is then fortified using destillado. The destillado is a 50:50 mixture of distilled white wine and older sherry. This fortified wine is then stored in American oak casks and aged in the solera system, which involves moving portions of the wine down through a series of barrels, for at least 3 years (see photo). The age of a sherry is given as the age of the youngest component part in the final blend.

5. In bottle, sherry will not develop further, although it can keep for ages without deteriorating. Once opened however, it will oxidise, especially at the lighter end of the spectrum (Fino and Manzanilla). So drink it quickly!

See the official sherry site here.

See a later - and more complete - post on sherry here.

Info Mine - Yeast

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. The job of yeasts in wine production is to metabolise carbohydrates - that's "turn sugar into alcohol" to you and me. So yeasts are the agents of fermentation.

2. Although the primary purpose of yeasts is fermentation, they can also impart certain flavours to the wine, especially as lees (see 3 below).

3. Once the fermentation gets to about 18% abv, the yeasts die, turning into lees - dead yeast cells. Lees can also be produced (i.e. yeast can die) due to lack of sugar and nutrients. Wines which remain in contact with their lees for a substantial amount of time have a richer, creamier texture and biscuity/bready flavours (they are sometimes called sur lie wines). This is an established technique used in champagne production. Other examples include some white burgundies and some Galician wines.

4. Following lees contact, wines will be cloudy with suspended particles. There are various ways of clarifying the wine, including filtering, racking (allowing the dead yeast cells to sink to the bottom of the tank, then gently pouring the clear wine off) and fining (adding substances which attract solid particles and proteins - traditionally egg whites and ox blood, but also bentonite and synthetic chemicals).

5. In new fermentation vats/wineries, yeasts may have to be added to the must (fermenting grape juice) to kick-start fermentation. In older set-ups there will be enough yeast in the atmosphere for this process to start of its own accord.

(For yeast in sherry making, see post on flor.)

Info Mine - Acidity

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Acidity is necessary to counterbalance the sweetness in wine. Without it, wines may taste cloying and sickly sweet.

2. It can be detected by a sensation of crispness in the mouth, particularly along the sides of the tongue. After spitting/swallowing the wine, if you leave your mouth open, the speed with which it fills with saliva is an indicator of the level of acidity of the wine.

3. Wines from cooler regions (Northern France, England, New Zealand) tend to have higher acidity. By contrast, some Australian wines are so low in natural acid that they have to be artificially acidified.

4. The level of acidity is measured on the pH scale, with most wines having a pH of between 2.9 and 3.9.

5. The most common acids in wine are tartaric, malic and lactic acid. Tartaric acid has the most direct bearing on the structure and taste of the wine. Malic acid is found in green fruits such as apples and is present in higher proportions in cold climate wines. Lactic acid is milder and produces milky textures in wine. It is produced by lactic acid bacteria, which convert malic acid and sugar into lactic acid, a process known as malolactic fermentation.

Info Mine - Carmenère

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Nowadays, Carmenère is grown almost exclusively in Chile, although pockets can also be found in northeastern Italy and California.

2. Carmenère in France was decimated by the phylloxera epidemic of 1867. The French never re-introduced it due to its susceptibility to pests and relatively low yields. In contrast, Chile has remained phylloxera-free due to its geographical isolation (it is sealed off by the Atacama Desert, the Andes and the Pacific).

3. Carmenère in Chile was for many years incorrectly identified as Merlot, until genetic analysis in the 1990s revealed it to be the distinct Bordeaux varietal, originally planted in the Medoc. Chilean winemakers appear to have suspected that the would-be-Merlot was not the real McCoy, referring to it as rather apologetically as Merlot Chileno.

4. Carmenère needs more time on the vine than Merlot. It requires a fairly warm climate and does not respond well to high levels of rainfall.

5. Carmenère is one of the original six native Bordeaux varietals (the other five being Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot).

Info Mine - Tannins

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Tannins occur naturally throughout the plant kingdom. In wines, they come from grapes' skins, pips and stalks. They can also come from the oak in which wines are matured.

2. They are a natural preservative and so are vital to wines which are intended to age, particularly red wines. (The name tannin comes from its use to tan animal hides into leather.)

3. They give a wine body, structure and 'grip', so are important for wines which are intended to be drunk young too.

4. The way to detect tannins in a wine is that they make your mouth and gums pucker, as if they are drying out. This sensation is caused by tannins' astringency. It is similar to that from strong black tea or an unripe banana.

5. Tannins fade over time, meaning that in young wines which are intended to be kept for many years they can appear overpowering. With time, the fruit characteristics will develop and the tannins will diminish, although not so much that their preservative and structural qualities are lost.

Info Mine - Biodynamic Wine

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. So what's all this about biodynamic wine then? It's a bit presumptious of me to think it can be covered in 5 paragraphs, but I'll give it a go. The theoretical roots of biodynamic agriculture lie in eight lectures given in 1924 by Austrian philosopher/scientist Rudolf Steiner. The lectures were entitled Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture and drew on Steiner's lifetime mission to reconcile the spiritual and physical worlds.

2. In practice, biodynamic viticulture is not that dissimilar to organic - think of it as "organic +". The most important difference is the biodynamic preparations used instead of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. For example, cow manure fermented in a cow horn, stinging nettle tea and oak bark fermented in the skull of a domestic animal.

3. Each biodynamic producer seems to follow a slightly customised system which, while anchored to the wide Steiner principles, tends to vary in the particulars from winegrower to winegrower. Something they all agree on is the importance of soil health and the central role of compost in achieving this. Pinning the vineyard's annual cycle to planetary movements appears less common.

Rudolf Steiner

4. The international organisation Demeter (www.demeter.net) is the principal certifying body. To become certified you first need to have organic certification (from the Soil Association or other equivalent body). You must also have used the full gamut of biodynamic preparations (sprays and compost) for two years. Keeping animals (chickens, sheep) among the vines is recommended, although not mandatory. Some biodynamic producers, such as Michel Chapoutier, have complained that the Demeter certification process is not rigorous enough.

5. Lastly, it is sometimes said that biodynamics is cultish and anti-scientific. The fact that it has been invested in and is practiced by large, profitable producers such as Chapoutier in the Rhone Valley, Pontet Canet in Bordeaux, Matetic in Chile and Milton and Seresin in New Zealand suggests there must be something to it. Limited proper research is so far available, although, a 21 year comparison of traditional and organic/biodynamic farming was published in 2002 in the scientific journal Science. It concluded that although biodynamic yields were lower, it outperformed traditional agriculture on counts such as biodiversity, resource utilisation and soil microbes.

Sources: wineanorak.com, Demeter, quaffersoffers.co.uk

Info Mine - Grape Ripeness

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Starting with the basics - the purpose of grapes is to entice birds to eat them and disperse the seeds, thereby propagating the grape vine. But they don't want to be eaten too early, which is why when unripe they are green (camouflage) and have high levels of tannins and acids (not tasty), turning an appetising red/purple-black when ripe. This colour-change process is known as veraison and is an indicator of chemical ripening within the grape. (Before you ask "what about yellow grapes", these have been shown to be the result of a mutation in the gene regulating pigment.)

2. Without wanting to get too technical, there are two separate, although related, types of ripeness in grapes - phenolic (or physiological) ripeness and sugar ripeness.

3. In a nutshell, phenolic ripeness has to do with changes in the tannins in the seeds, skins and stems and is influenced primarily by "hang time", the amount of time the grape is left on the vine. Sugar ripeness involves the breakdown of acids and the increase in sugar levels and has more to do with the amount of sunlight and warmth which the grape has experienced (which obviously varies from vintage to vintage).

4. Depending on climate, growers will harvest according to phenolic or sugar ripeness (depending on which tends to occur first). In warm regions, phenolic ripeness occurs after sugar ripeness, meaning it is farily easy to produce wines with high levels of sugar (and therefore potential alcohol), but the challenge is to ensure phenolic ripeness is not delayed so long that the wines become seriously alcoholic. By the same token, picking before phenolic ripeness is achieved to avoid excessive alcohol will leave a bitter green taste.

5. Some new world producers tend to err on the side of over-ripeness ("excessive hang-time"), rather than risk green, under-developed wines. This can produce sweet, sugary wines which are easy on the undemanding palate but have undesirable side effects such as high levels of alcohol and the so-called "dead fruit" phenomenon.

Info Mine - Malbec

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Malbec is one of the 6 grape varieties permitted in red Bordeaux. Its primary function in Bordeaux is in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

2. It is a thin-skinned grape, is darker in colour than Cabernet and has an earthiness on the palate, with touches of spice.

3. Originally from Cahors, Malbec is becoming increasingly identified as the signature Argentinan varietal. Most of the Argentinian plantings of Malbec are in Mendoza, which has the requisite high levels of heat and sun (partly due to its high altitude).

4. Synonyms for Malbec include Auxerrois and Cot Noir (in Cahors) and Pressac.

5. For a good entry-level Malbec check out the offering from Argentinian winery Terrazas de los Andes, retailing at around £7.25.

Info Mine - Pétrus

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Pétrus is a red wine made principally from the Merlot grape in the Pomerol appelation in Bordeaux.

2. The vines on the Pétrus estate are only replanted after they reach 70 years of age. The grapes are hand-harvested only in the afternoon, once the morning dew has evaporated, to avoid absolutely any dilution of the grape juice.

3. Demand for Pétrus far outstrips supply. UK agents Corney & Barrow rigourously control primary allocations on the basis of how much dosh customers have spent in the previous year. Secondary market trading then tends to see prices shoot through the roof - for a bottle of the 2005 vintage today don't expect much change out of £3,000.

4. Photographic records are now kept of every bottle stored at the 11.4 hectare property to combat the growing phenomenon of wine fraud.

5. The company refused to allow the makers of cult wine film Sideways to use Pétrus as the wine which protagonist Miles can never find a special enough occasion to drink. Bah pourquoi?

Info Mine - Phylloxera

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Phylloxera is a louse which feeds on the roots of grapevines.

2. In the late 19th century, Phylloxera destroyed the majority of Europe's vineyards, hitting France especially hard.

3. North American grapevine roots are tolerant of Phylloxera, whereas European roots are not.

4. The best way to evade the ills of Phylloxera is therefore to "graft" North American rootstock onto your vine (i.e. physically stick the roots and the upper part of the vine together).

5. The only countries in the world not to have been affected by Phylloxera are Cyprus and Chile - both of which are geographically isolated (the former is obviously an island and the latter is hemmed in by the Andes, the Pacific and the Atacama desert).