Wine Somm Level 2

20 Regions of Italy and 74 Denominazioni di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG)

1) Abruzzo: Colline Teramane Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2) Basilicata: Aglianico del Vulture Superiore 3) Calabria: 4) Campania: Aglianico del Taburno Fiano di Avellino Greco di Tufo Taurasi 5) Emilia Romagna: Colli Bolognesi Pignoletto Romagna Albana 6) Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit Lison* Ramandolo Rosazzo 7) Lazio: Cannellino di Frascati Cesanese del Piglio/Piglio Frascati Superiore 8) Liguria: 9) Lombardia: Franciacorta Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico Scanzo/Moscato di Scanzo Sforzato di Valtellina/Sfursat di Valtellina Valtellina Superiore 10) Marche: Castelli di Jesi Verdicchio Riserva Cònero Offida Verdicchio di Matelica Riserva Vernaccia di Serrapetrona 11) Molise: 12) Piedmonte: Alta Langa Asti Barbaresco Barbera d'Asti Barbera del Monferrato Superiore Barolo Brachetto d'Acqui/Acqui Dogliani Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba/Diano d'Alba Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore/Ovada Erbaluce di Caluso/Caluso Gattinara Gavi/Cortese di Gavi Ghemme Nizza Roero Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato 13) Puglia: Castel del Monte Bombino Nero Castel del Monte Nero di Troia Riserva Castel del Monte Rosso Riserva Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale 14) Sardegna: Vermentino di Gallura 15) Sicilia: Cerasuolo di Vittoria 16) Toscana: Brunello di Montalcino Carmignano Chianti Chianti Classico Elba Aleatico Passito/Aleatico Passito dell'Elba Montecucco Sangiovese Morellino di Scansano Rosso della Val di Cornia/Val di Cornia Rosso Suvereto Vernaccia di San Gimignano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 17) Trentino-Alto Adige: 18) Umbria: Montefalco Sagrantino Torgiano Rosso Riserva 19) Valle d'Aosta: 20) Veneto: Amarone della Valpolicella Asolo Prosecco Bagnoli Friularo/Friularo di Bagnoli Bardolino Superiore Colli di Conegliano Colli Euganei Fior d'Arancio/Fior d'Arancio Colli Euganei Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Lison* Montello Rosso/Montello Piave Malanotte/Malanotte del Piave Recioto della Valpolicella Recioto di Gambellara Recioto di Soave Soave Superiore

Five Sections of Burgundy, France

1) Chablis 2) Cote d'Or a) Cote de Nuits b) Cote de Beaune 3) Cote Chalonnaise 4) Maconnais 5) Beaujolais

DOs of Spain

1) Pago 2) Navarra 3) Campo de Borja 4) Calatayud (Zaragoza) 5) Carinena 6) Somontano 7) Rias Baixas 8) Getariako Txakolina (Chacoli de Guetaria) 9) Bizkaiko Txakolina (Chacoli de Vizcaya) 10) Arabako Txakoli (Chacoli de Alava) 11) Ribiero 12) Valdeorras 13) Bierzo 14) Tierra de Leon 15) Rueda 16) Toro 17) Tierra del Vino de Zamora 18) Cigales 19)Tarragona 20) Terra Alta 21) Conca de Barbera 22) Costers del Segre 23) Montsant 24) Penedes 25) Cava 26) Alella 27) Emporda 28) Catalunya 29) Valencia 30) Alicante 31) Utiel-Requena 32) Requena 33) Jumilla 32) Yecla 33) La Mancha 34) Pago Finca Elez 35) Mentrida 36) Dominio de Valdepusa 37) Guijoso 38) Dehesa del Carrizal 39) Campo de la Guardia 40) Pago Florentino 41) Casa del Blanco 42) Calzadilla 43) Finca Elez 44) Alamansa 45) Manchuela 46) Valdepenas 47) Ucles 48) Ribera del Guadina 49) Montilla-Moriles 50) Almansa 51) Ribera Sacra 52) Ribeiro 53) Islas Canarias 54) Valle de la Orotava 55) Jerez- Xérés- Sherry y Manzanilla de Sanlucar de Marrameda 56) Madrid 57) Ribera del Duero 58) Monterrei 59) Mondejar 60) Bullas 61) Condade de Huelva 62) Málaga and Sierras de Málaga 63) Pla de Bages http://lp.wileypub.com/ExploringWine/ExploringWine_Spain_SC.pdf

Champagne Label and Bottler Codes

1. The Champagne House The name of the Champagne house will appear on the label. In the example above, the Champagne house is Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. 2. The Location The label will contain the location of the Champagne house. Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is located in Reims, France. 3. The Brand Name The brand name of the champagne will appear on the label. Included with the brand name, there may or may not be additional information relating to different types of champagne, for example, the label may include "Prestige Cuvée" indicating the wine is the top champagne for of the Champagne house. "Blanc de blancs" may appear, indicating the champagne is white champagne made from white grapes. The wording "blanc de noirs" would indicate that the champagne is white champagne made from black grapes. If the term "Rosé" is present, it indicates the Champagne will have a pinkish color. Rosé Champagne has either some red wine blended in before the secondary fermentation or it initially allowed some brief contact with the skins of black grapes after crushing. 4. The Word "Champagne" The word "Champagne" will be on the label. This indicates that the wine is from the Champagne region of France. Sometimes people mistakenly call sparkling wine from other places "Champagne". Sparkling wines made in other places are not allowed to be called Champagne. Even sparkling wine made in other areas of France are not permitted to be called Champagne. They are called "Crémant". Examples include Crémant de Loire, from the Loire region or Crémant de Bourgogne from Burgundy. All French wine labels other than Champagne labels of the highest quality level and part of the controlled appellation system must include A.O.C. or appellation d'origine côntrolée terms on the bottle. The word "Champagne" alone is enough to signify the wine is made under the strictest standards and must come from the designated area. 5. Sweetness/Dryness Level The label will include the sweetness (or dryness) level. Brut is the most common level and indicates dry champagne. 6. The Year If a specific year appears on the label it indicates the Champagne is vintage Champagne. All the grapes used to make vintage Champagne must have been harvested in the same year appearing on the label. If a specific year does not appear, or if the letters NV (or non-vintage) appear on the label, it means the Champagne is a blend of wines from grapes that may have been harvested during different years. 7. The Small Letters - Bottler Codes A champagne label will also include two small letters indicating the type of producer usually preceding a small number. This label from Vueve Clicquot Ponsardin has NM. NM stands for Négociant-Manipulant. It is a champagne producer that buys a large amount of the grapes needed for their champagne production from grape growers. They may own quite a bit of vineyard acreage, but need more for production. Most of the large Champagne houses buy most (and occasionally all) of the grapes they use with the exceptions of Louis Roederer and Bollinger. While these two houses are still considered NMs they generally grow well over half of their own needs. Other abbreviations indicating the type of producer that may be present on the label are RM, CM, RC, SR, ND, and MA. RM (Récoltant-Manipulant) refers to grower producers who are supposed to supply 100 percent of grapes from their own vineyards. CM (Coopérative-Manipulant) are groups that pool their grapes and make champagne under various brands they own. RC (Récoltant-Coopérateur) is a grower that sells grapes to a cooperative then receives as partial or full payment, champagne ready to sell under their own brand. SR (Société de Récoltants) is a company of 2 or more growers sharing a common production site. ND (Négociant-Distributeur) is a company that sells champagne someone else has produced to retailers. MA (Marque d'Archeteur) is a brand name owned by a retail seller such as a restaurant or wine store. 8. Bottle Size Champagne labels must indicate the size of the bottle. 750 mL is the standard bottle size. A magnum is the size of 2 bottles and contains 1.5 liters. 9. Percentage of Alcohol The percentage of Alcohol by volume must be indicated on the champagne label. The example above shows 12.5% Alcohol. The Back Label The back label of a Champagne bottle is similar to other wine labels. Some of the information above may be included on the back label instead of (or in addition to) the front. Warnings and precautions will be addressed. The importer information may be included. There may be interesting information about the wine or the winery. Champagne Label Law To distinguish between its numerous different styles, champagne has a range of terms all of its own. Brut The style of champagne depends on the amount of sugar added at dosage and ranges from ultra brut (very dry) and brut (dry), to demi-sec (medium sweet) and doux (extremely sweet). Non-Vintage Non-vintage (NV) is made from a blend of grapes from different years and matured for at least 15 months on its lees. Vintage Vintage champagne must come from a single harvest and requires at least three years of maturation. The best recent vintages across the whole of Champagne are 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1985, 1983, 1982. Rose Champagne is one of the few appellations that allows rose to be made from a blend of red and white wines. Blanc de Blancs Made entirely from white grape varieties (almost always 100 percent Chardonnay), this is the longest lived of all the champagnes. Blanc de Noirs Produced solely from red grapes varieties (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier), blanc de noir tends to have a fruitier flavor than conventional champagne. Grand Marque A term found on many champagne labels, meaning "Great Brand." Although a number of the leading houses use the phrase, it actually has little meaning as a guarantee of quality in isolation. Bottle Sizes Champagne comes in a range of bottle sizes. Magnums (two x regular 75-cl bottles) are considered the best for maturation. Larger sizes include Jeroboam (four x 75-cl) and Methuselah (eight x 75-cl), through to Melchior (24 x 75-cl). Cuvee de Prestige Many houses release top-of-the-line, no-expense-spared bottlings. Often released as single vintage wines, cuvees de prestige are made using the region's finest grapes and matured for lengthy periods before release.

Bordeaux 1855 Classification

1855 Classification The most famous Bordeaux classification relates to red wines of the Medoc peninsula and the sweet white wines of Sauternes. The system was drawn up at the demand of Emperor Napoleon III for the wines that were being exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855. The Bordeaux Syndicat des Courtiers ranked the wines based on decades of trading statistics. Sixty chateaux from the Medoc and one (Chatueau Haute-Brion) from Graves were ordered in five different grades (premier cru to cinquireme cru or first growth to fifth growth) according to commercial value. Likewise, 26 chateaux in Sauternes and Barsac were ranked as either first or second growths, with Chateaux d'Yquem singled out as premier cru superieur. The list has changed only once: in 1973, Chateaux Mouton-Rothschild was upgraded from second to first growth. The classification is still a fair indication of quality today, although some chateaux are more deserving of their status than others, and this is generally indicated by the price of the wines. The most famous wine classification in the world is that drawn up in 1855 of what became known as the classed growths of the Medoc, and one Graves. In response to a request to Nepolean III's 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, the Bordeaux brokers formalized their own and the market's ranking with a five-class classification of 60 of the leading Medoc chateaux plus the particularly famous and historic Graves, Haut-Brion; and a two-class classification of Sauternes and Barsac. The brokers issued the 1855 classification through the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, and were careful to explain that it was based on a century's experience. Within each of their classes, from first growths, or premier crus, down to fifth growths, or cinquiemes crus, the brokers listed chateaux in descending order of average price fetched. Thus, it is widely believed, Lafite, the 'premier des premiers', headed the list because it commanded priced in excess even of Latour, Margaux, and Haut-Brion (although others have argued that the first growths were simply listed in alphabetical order). In the original classification, the term chateau was rarely used. The 1855 classification has endured remarkably well considering the many and various changes to the management and precise extent of individual properties since it was compiled, with only Chx Mouton Rothschild and Leoville-Barton in the same hands. Ch Dubignon-Talbot has not produced wine since the arrival of phylloxera in the late 19th century. Edmund Penning-Rowsell notes that Palmer's low ranking may have been influenced by the fact that the property was in receivership in 1855, and that Cantemerle, a property relatively new to the Bordeaux market, was added to the bottom of the list in a different hand. The only official revision of this list took place in 1973, when, after much lobbying on the part of Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Ch Mouton-Rothschild made the all important leap from top of the second growths to become a first growth (super second). It could be argued that such a classification contains an element of self preservation in that highly classified properties are thereby able to command prices which sustain the investment needed to maintain their status, although the history of Ch Margaux in the 1960s and 1970s demonstrates that other factors may affect this hypothesis, and in the 1980s and 1990s many Bordeaux proprietors were driven by competition and ambition to invest, and in some cases price, at a level above that suggested by their official rankings.

Noble Rot

Also known as pourriture noble in French, Edelfaule in German, muffa in Italian, and sometimes simply as botrytis, is the benevolent form of botrytis bunch rot, in which the Botrytis cinerea fungus attacks ripe, undamaged white wine grapes and, given the right weather can result in extremely sweet grapes which may look disgusting but have undergone such a complex transformation that they are capable of producing probably the world's finest wines, and certainly the longest-living, sweet white wine in areas specializing in its production is the incidence of noble rot. The malevolent form, which results if the grapes are damages, unripe, or conditions are unfavorable, is known as grey rot. Ideal conditions for the development of noble rot are a temperate climate in which the humidity associated with early morning mists that favor the development of the fungus is followed by warm, sunny autumn afternoons in which the grapes are dried and the progress of the fungus is restrained. In cloudy conditions in which the humidity is unchecked, the fungus may spread so rapidly that the grape skins split and the grapes succumb to grey rot. If, however, the weather is unremittingly hot and dry, then the fungus will not develop at all the grapes will simply accumulate sugar rather than undergoing the chemical transformations associated with noble rot, so the result is less complex sweet wines. In favorable conditions, the botrytis fungus Botrytis cinerea spreads unpredictably from grape to grape and bunch to bunch in different parts of the vineyard, penetrating the skins of whole, ripe grapes with filaments which leave minute brown spots on the skin but leave the skin impenetrable by other, harmful micro-organisms. The grapes turn golden, then pink or purple, and then, when they are in a severely dehydrated state, they turn brown, shrivel to a sort of moist raisin, and may seem to be covered with a fine grey powder that looks like ash (to which the word cinerea refers). It can take anywhere between five and 15 days to reach this stage., known in French as pourri roti, literally "roasted rot." These visible changes are an outward sign of the extraordinary changes that occur inside the grape. More than half of the grape's water content is lost due to either directly to the action of the fungus or to loss by evaporation as the skins eventually deteriorate. Meanwhile, Botrytis cinerea consumes both the sugar in grapes and, especially, acids, so that the overall effect is to increase the sugar concentration, or must weight, considerably in an ever-decreasing quantity of juice. The fungus typically reduces a grape's sugar content by a third or more, but reduces the total acidity by approximately 70%; tartaric acid is generally degraded more than the usually less important malic acid. In botrytized wines, most of any balancing acidity is more often due to the concentration of acidity in the shrivelled but non-botrytized berries that are harvested, and then fermented, at the same time. While it metabolizes these sugars and acids, the fungus forms a wide range of chemical compounds in the grape juice, including glycerol (quite apart from that formed by alcoholic fermentation), acetic acid, gluconic acid, various enzymes especially laccase and pectinase, as well as the yeast-inhibiting glycoprotein dubbed "botryticine", which limits yeast growth and increases the production of acetic acid and glycerol during fermentation. The phenolics in the grape skins are also broken down by the fungus so that the tannin content of the juice is significantly reduced. In sum, botrytized grape juice is very different form regular grape juice, and not just because of its intense levels of sugar. It is unusual for all grapes on a vine, or even on a single bunch, to be affected in exactly the same way, to exactly the same effect, and at exactly the same speed, which is why the harvest of a botrytis-affected vineyard can necessitate several passages, or tries, during which individual bunches, or parts of them, are picked at optimum infection level, and grapes affected by grey rot may have to be eliminated. Weather conditions other than alternating early mists and warm afternoons can result in a satisfactory noble rot infection. In cold, wet weather, noble rot may form at a reasonable rate on fully ripe grapes, and grey rot be kept at bay. Wind can help to dehydrate the grapes and concentrate the sugars.

Champagne Classifications

Although the échelle des crus has been abolished, the terms grand cru and premier cru are still officially used, and these villages continue to enjoy a high level of prestige. Note that in Champagne, the term grand cru indicates a classification by village, and not by vineyard, as in Burgundy. In order to label a wine as grand cru, it must be sourced entirely from vineyards in grand cru villages. In addition, pinot noir and chardonnay are the only two grapes eligible for grand cru status, and while other varieties may be planted in grand cru villages, they are not entitled to the grand cru designation.

The Rhone Rule-Makers: France's First AOC System

At the beginning of hte 20th century, following the devestation of vineyards by phylloxera and mildew, the problem of fraudulent wine imitations was rife. As a means of protection against this commercial plague, Chateauneuf du Pape introduced a set of rules governing the production of wine. Devised by Baron Le Roy de Boiseamarie, owner of Chateau Fortia and a prominent lawyer, these were introduced in 1923. They later became the prototype for the French system of Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC), the first classification of its kind in the world, introduced in 1935. The essential elements included the geographical delimination of the district, permitted grape varieties and methods of cultivation, and the minimum alcohol content. Chateauneud du Pape also insists on a mandatory sorting of the grapes with a rejection of between 5 and 20% of the crop according to the year.

Burgundy Grand Crus

CHABLIS 1) Chablis Grand Cru GEVERY-CHAMBERTIN 2) Chambertin 3) Chambertin-Clos de Beze 4) Chapelle-Chambertin 5) Charmes-Chambertin 6) Griotte-Chambertin 7) Latricieres-Chambertin 8) Mazis-Chambertin 9) Mazoyeres-Chambertin 10) Ruchottes-Chambertin MOREY-SAINT-DENIS 11) Bonnes-Mares 12) Clos de la Roche 13) Clos des Lambrays 14) Clos de Tart 15) Clos Saint-Denis CHAMBOLLE -MUSIGNY 16) Bonnes-Mares 17) Musigny VOUGEOT 18) Clos de Vougeot FLAGEY-ECHEZEAUX 19) Echezeaux 20) Grands Echezeaux VOSNE-ROMANEE 21) La Grande Rue 22) La Romanee 23) La Tache 24) Richebourg 25) Romanee-Conti 26) Romanee-Saint-Vivant PERNARD-VERGELESSES 27) Corton 28) Charlemagne LADOIX-SERRIGNY 29) Corton 30) Corton-Charlemagne ALOXE-CORTON 31) Corton 32) Charlemagne PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 33) Batard-Montrachet 34) Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet 35) Chevalier-Montrachet 36) Montrachet CHASSAGNE-MONTRACHET 37) Criots-Batard-Montrachet

Northern Rhone Regions and Grapes (White)

COTE ROTIE The wines are red, made with Syrah grapes and up to 20% Viognier, a white grape used for its aroma. According to appellation rules, Syrah and Viognier must be fermented at the same time, a process known as cofermentation. Because of this combination, Côte-Rôtie wine typically exhibits an almost paradoxical pairing of meat aromas (including bacon) and floral aromas. However, even Côte-Rôtie from 100% Syrah can smell floral. Up to 20% of white Viognier can officially be blended with Syrah in this appellation; the actual percentage used by producers is difficult to ascertain, since the two varieties are often planted together, but it rarely, if ever, attains 20%. CONDRIEU The wines made in this AOC are exclusively white, from the Viognier grape, which may have originated in the region. CHATEAU GRILLET Within Condrieu is the enclave AOC of Château-Grillet, producing wines that are also 100% Viognier. ST-JOSEPH Similar to the Northern Rhône in general, Syrah is the only red grape allowed in St.-Joseph. AOC regulations allow for the addition of up to 10% Marsanne and/or Roussanne, both of which are white varietals. The white wines can be made from any amount of Marsanne and/or Roussanne grapes. CROZES-HERMITAGE As with the northern Rhône in general, Crozes-Hermitage produces primarily red wines, with Syrah the only red grape permitted under appellation rules. The rules allow the addition of up to 15% white grapes, Marsanne and Roussanne. These two grape varieties are also used to make up the white wines that are made in the appellation. The more notable vineyards in Crozes-Hermitage include Les Chassis, Les Sept Chemins and Les Meysonniers. HERMITAGE Syrah is the primary red grape of Hermitage, mostly used on its own although the appellation rules do allow the addition of 15% or less of Marsanne and/or Roussanne grapes. Hermitage reds tend toward being very earthy, with aromas of leather, red berries, earth, and cocoa/coffee. Because of the high levels of tannin they are usually aged longer than American or Australian Syrahs and are often cellared up to 40 years. Rich, dry white wines are also produced from a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne. These wines are also usually left to age, for up to 15 years. Vin de paille or Straw Wine is also produced in this region. CORNAS Along with most wines produced in the northern Rhône, Cornas is a red wine made from the Syrah grape. Unlike other northern Rhône red wines, no addition of white grapes is permitted, and no white wines are produced. Any wines designated Cornas AOC will be made from 100% Syrah by law. Although growers could plant different grape varieties in Cornas, the appellation is planted exclusively with Syrah as any wine made from other grapes would have to be sold under a different label, probably Côtes du Rhône AOC and as a result would fetch a lower price. ST-PERAY There are two allowed grapes in Saint-Péray, Marsanne and Roussanne, with the former covering 90% of the planted area. A third grape "Roussette" is alleged to also be grown, but apparently only the wine growers themselves distinguish this from Roussanne.

13 Grapes of Chateauneuf du Pape

Chateauneuf du Pape unusally offers growers a choice of 13 differnet grape varaities: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsaut, Counoise, Vaccarese, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Roussanne, Picardan, and Picpoul - which probably all existed here pre-phylloxera. In theory, this allows for a huge range of styles, but in reality Grenache accounts for 75%, imposing its big, warm hearted flavors across the board. Plantings of Syrah and Mourvedre have now increased to give, warm hearted flavors across the board. Plantings of Syrah and Mourvedre have now increased to give added complexity and structure, but few producers other than Chateau de Beaucastel grow all 13 varieties. The formula for the ideal blend, devised by the owner of Chateau la Nerthe in the 1990s, involves 10 grapes: Cinsaut and Grenache for mellowness, warmth, and consistency, Mourvedre, Vaccarese, Muscardin, and Syrah for structure, freshness, aging potential, and a thirst quenching taste, Counoise and Picpoul for vinosity, pleasure, freshness, and bouquet, Bourboulenc and Clairette for vigor, finesse, and sparkle.

Cotes du Rhone Villages - Southern Rhone

Cotes du Rhone Villages is a distinct step up from generic Cotes du Rhone, implying limestone and clay or stony soils, stricter rules of production, and wines of greater depth. The percentage of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre, Cinsaut, and Carignan; the 1% of white is soft, round, and floral for early drinking. Rasteau also makes a sweet, fortified vin doux naturel from Grenache, as does Beaumes-de-Venise from Muscat.

Cotes du Rhone - Southern Rhone

Cotes du Rhone, a name sometimes used to refer to the Rhone Valley, is also the label given to a broad base of generic wines. AOC Cotes du Rhone is a huge playing field of production accounting for over 40,000 ha of vines and nearly two million hectorliters of wine in an average year, most of it red. The district extends to areas in the Northern Rhone, but the south takes the lion's share. In such a large district that is naturally a great variety of style, from light and fruity to richer, fuller wines with lovely dark fruit character. Price is often the best indicator of quality. Grenanche is the principal red variety and, in accordance with AOC rules, represents 40% of the total plantings. Other red varieties include Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsaut, and Carignan, with the whites are produced from Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Maranne, and Viognier. Cooperatives account around 70% of production.

Champagne Sweetness Level and Style Categories

From Dry to Sweet: 1) Brut Nature Non Dose - Bone Dry 2) Extra Brut - Very Dry 3) Brut - Dry 4) Extra Dry - Off Dry 5) Sec - Semi Sweet 6) Demi Sec - Sweet 7) Doux - Very Sweet

Anbaugebiet: List of German Wine Regions Figure this:Tafelwein, Landwein, Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) and Prädikatswein.

German wine regions are classified according to the quality category that the wine falls into - Tafelwein, Landwein, Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) and Prädikatswein. The wine regions allowed to produce QbA and Prädikatswein are further subdivided into four categories, in descending order of size - Anbaugebiet (a major wine region), Bereich (a district within the wine region), Großlage (a collection of vineyards within a district) and Einzellage (a single vineyard).[1] A small number Einzellagen do not belong to a Großlage and are called "großlagenfrei", but all belong to a Bereich and Anbaugebiet. The 13 major wine regions (Anbaugebiete) are Ahr, Baden, Franconia, Hessische Bergstraße, Mittelrhein, Mosel, Nahe, Palatinate, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Saale-Unstrut, Saxony, and Württemberg. With the exceptions of Saxony and Saale-Unstrut, most of Germany's major wine regions are located in the western part of the country. As of 2010, there were 41 Bereiche, 160 Großlagen and 2,632 Einzellagen. QUALITATSWEIN Qualitätswein is what pdo wines are called in German. This is Germany's largest wine category and in practice includes all those wines once known as qba (as opposed to qmp wines which have been renamed prädikatswein). The grapes must originate in one of germany's 13 official wine regions and reach minimum must weights specified for each region, and which may vary by grape variety. In the cool Ahr, Mittelrhein, Mosel, and Saale-Unstrut, for example, Riesling need reach only 6% potential alcohol, in other regions 7%, while in Baden QbA must meet a minimum of 8% regardless of grape variety. Wines in this category may still be chaptalized but, thanks to climate change and improved viticultural techniques, chaptalization has become much rarer. Encouraged by vdp protocols, an increasing number of producers are selling all dry (trocken and halbtrocken) wines as Qualitätswein, reserving Prädikatswein designations for noticeably sweet wines. GERMAN WINE LAWS The vineyards and wines of Germany are governed by a monumental set of laws that took effect in 1971 and were aimed at simplifying German wine. The 1971 law established the eleven original German anbaugebiete or wine regions (which, in 1989, with the reunification of Germany, became thirteen) and their subdivisions—the thirty-nine districts known as bereiche and 167 collections of vineyards known as grosslagen. The 1971 law also effectively collapsed the then-existing 30,000 individual named vineyard sites down to some 2,600 individual vineyard sites, or einzellagen. The most basic category of German wine is called, by law, Deutscher wein (formerly this was called tafelwein). Deutscher wein must be made from German grapes in Germany. For Deutscher wein as well as the higher quality category, Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) and higher still, Prädikatswein, Germany's detailed wine laws regulate where the grapes can be grown, the maximum yield of wine per hectare, the minimum alcohol level the wine must attain, whether chaptalization is permissable, what methods of fermentation may be used, and what information must appear on the label. The laws also specify how ripe the grapes must be (measured in Oechsle) in order to be considered a QbA, or a Prädikatswein and its subdivisions of kabinett, spätlese, auslese, and other even greater ripeness levels. Finally, the law requires that each wine be examined, tasted, and found to be true to type.

Port

If Portugal is the mother of Port, Britain is certainly its father. The famous Port firms were, for the most part, begun by men with such properly British names as Sandeman, Croft, Graham, Cockburn, Dow, and Warre. British men, in fact, were not only Port's founders but also its most ardent, if exclusionist, advocates. In fact, until recently Port might have been described as a rather sexist beverage. The quintessential man's drink, it was historically brought out (with great celebration and obligatory cigars) only after the women had left the room. Needless to say, women don't leave the room anymore (in fact, in some countries, including the United Kingdom, most Port today is purchased by women). Although the ancient Romans prized the juicy red wines from the steep banks of the Douro River, in northeastern Portugal, centuries passed before the ingenious British transformed these wines from simple, tasty quaffs into Port, Britain's early version of central heating. There is a fable about Port's birth, even though in reality the wine's "invention" was more like a series of discoveries than a single creative act. As the apocryphal story goes, two young English wine merchants were traveling through Portugal in the late 1670s, looking for wines that would be saleable in the British market. (At the time, escalating political rivalry between Britain and France meant that, in Britain, French wines were increasingly met with great disfavor.) The two merchants supposedly found themselves at a monastery outside the town of Lamego, near the Douro River. The abbot there served them a wine that was smoother, sweeter, and more interesting than any they'd tasted. When pressed to explain, the abbot confided that he'd added brandy to the wine as it had fermented. What actually happened was far less fanciful. By the seventeenth century, wine was regularly being fortified with grape spirits simply to make it more stable during the voyage to England. At first the amount of spirits was small, about 3 percent. But then an incredible vintage in the year of 1820 caused Port shippers to rethink their product. That year the wine was remarkably rich, ripe, and naturally sweet. Sales soared. The next year, hoping to recreate their success, Port shippers added more brandy and added it sooner, in order to arrest fermentation earlier and leave more sweetness in the wine. The idea worked. Gradually, over the course of many decades, the amount of grape spirits was incrementally increased, producing a sweet wine that is substantially fortified at the same time. THE LAND, THE GRAPES AND THE VINEYARDS Port comes from only one place in the world, the 70-mile-long demarcated Port region, in the Douro River Valley, a region that is classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The Rio Douro begins near Madrid, in Spain (where it's known as the Duero River), then carves a westward path through the rugged high plains until it finally forges its way across the border. In Portugal, the fjordlike river cuts a deep gorge through the arid, rocky, unforgiving land, ultimately crossing the entire country and washing into the Atlantic at the town of Oporto. The river is so massive that today, it supplies more than 30 percent of all the hydroelectric power in Portugal. That vineyards are planted in the Douro is a testament to human will, for this is one of the most unmerciful environments in which grapes manage to grow. From a distance, the panoramic river valley appears as terraced amphitheaters of vines, stretched out as far as one can see. The terraces—tall, narrow, and all handmade—are cut into the extremely steep banks of schist that is occasionally interspliced by granite. These hardened rock slopes originally contained so little soil that more had to be created by men who, almost inconceivably, over generations and by hand, chipped at the rock with hammers and pointed iron poles to break it down into small particles. (Later, blasting with dynamite became the common method.) The presence of schist and granite is extremely important. Both drain water well, so the vines' roots must tunnel deeply (as far as 65 feet/20 meters down) within the rocky crevices for water. Roots that burrow deep into the earth find a stable environment there and thus become more stable themselves. This is critical in the Douro, where the vines must be hardy and supplied with enough water to survive the blazingly hot daytime temperatures. The Douro's summers ("three months of hell," as they are locally referred to) are infamous. The temperatures can rise so high during the day—often to the hundred-teens Fahrenheit (mid-forties Celsius) for weeks at a time—that the vines temporarily shut down and wait until night to transport nutrients from the leaves to the grapes. The heat, luckily, is dry, thanks to the Serra do Marão mountain range, which separates the Douro from western Portugal's cooler, more humid Atlantic climate. The hot climate, difficult terrain, and lack of paved roads also meant that, in the past—in fact, until the 1950s—young wines (Ports-to-be) were made in the Douro by the growers but then quickly transported down the river on colorful Phoenician-style boats (barcos rabelos) to Oporto and its sister city, Vila Nova de Gaia (villa nova de GUY-a). There, in a warren of warehouses known as lodges, the wines would be blended and matured by the shippers. Today, most Port is still blended, aged, and bottled in the shippers' warehouses, although the wine itself is brought down from the Douro by tanker trucks, a feat that hardly seems possible given the extremely narrow roads, hairpin turns, and general absence of shoulders on roads that, in some places, barely cling to the cliffs. Until the mid-1980s, maturing wines in the lodges was not just standard practice, it was the law. In 1986, new regulations allowed Port to be aged, bottled, and shipped directly from the farm estate (the quinta). As a result, several growers who had formerly sold to large shippers—Quinta do Infantado, for example—began marketing their own Ports. There are more than 135,000 vineyard properties in the Douro. These are owned by the shippers themselves, as well as the region's roughly forty thousand growers, each of whom owns, on average, no more than a scant acre of grapes. The region is divided into three subzones, and vineyards are planted in all three. From the Atlantic heading inland, or west to east, they are Baixo Corgo (Lower Corgo), Cima Corgo (Upper Corgo), and Douro Superior. (The name Corgo is a general designation for the area around the Corgo River, a main tributary of the Douro.) The Lower Corgo, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) upriver from Oporto, is where basic-quality Ports are made. Better-quality Ports, including all vintage Ports, come from either the Upper Corgo or Douro Superior. The latter extends east to the Spanish border. Despite these generalizations, the Douro remains difficult to categorize. Countless mesoclimates, each independent from the next, are created by the twisting and turning of the river, the changes in orientation to the sun, the variations in elevation (between 1,200 and 1,700 feet/370 and 520 meters), and numerous other factors. Vineyards may be close as the crow flies but vastly different in terms of the quality of grapes they produce. MAKING PORT The condensed version would go like this: Add one part grape spirits to four parts fermenting red wine. In truth, however, making Port is quite a bit more involved—and fascinating. First, the red Port grapes are crushed. (Usually, this part of any winemaking story is pretty ho-hum. Not with Port.) Historically, crushing was done exclusively by hand—or rather, by feet—in lagares, shallow stone or cement troughs (about 2 feet/0.6 meters high) large enough to hold about a day's worth of picked grapes. After that exhausting day of picking, male vineyard workers would don shorts, hop into the lagar (yes, they washed their feet first), and tread the soupy, hot, purple mass of grapes for several hours. In the early part of the evening the workers would link arms and march with great solemnity and difficulty (the mass of grapes is very slippery) back and forth in military-style lines, to the clapping beat of a foreman (the capataz), who called out a rhythm. But as the night wore on, the time would come for the liberdade. This was the moment when the women—and musicians—arrived. As the women jumped into the lagar, men chose partners and everyone began to waltz, polka, or folk dance (depending on the music). Amazingly, in the Douro, some grapes are still trodden by human feet—indeed many vintage Ports, in particular. I have fond memories (and pictures I'll never reveal) of dancing recently in the lagar at Quinta do Vesuvio until 2:00 a.m. Here's what no one tells you: Your legs are bright violet-colored for a month afterward. As it happens, the human foot is ideally suited to crushing grapes. Treading breaks the grapes, crushes the skins, and then mixes the skins with the juice for good flavor and color extraction—all without smashing the pips (the seeds), which contain bitter-tasting tannin. But when electricity finally came to the Douro (in the 1970s!), the stage was set for a revolutionary invention: the mechanical, or "robotic," lagar. Invented by the Symington family and first used for the 2000 harvest, the robotic treader is a large stainless-steel trough with mechanical "feet" that plunge up and down through the grape skins, gently crushing them. The mechanical feet are heated to 98.6°F (37°C), which is the natural temperature of the human leg. These robotic lagares have profound advantages. Not only can they run all night, but they can be tipped up and quickly emptied so the grape juice and skins can be run off into a tank precisely when the treading is complete. Historically, it took hours to do this by hand, and all that time the alcohol and tannin in the wine were building. In Portugal recently, I blind tasted the same exact Port, a portion of which had been foot trodden and the other portion trodden by mechanical lagar. Both were excellent, but if I had to vote, I'd say the latter may have had a bit more richness, softness, and density. STYLES OF PORT Depending on how you count them and whether you include the rarest types, there are as many as ten different styles of Port. While each is unique, their similar-sounding names can make it frustrating to tell them apart and remember them all. So in this next section, we'll examine just the top five Port styles; these are the ones I think any wine lover would want (or need) to know. To begin, I want to share with you a tip that Port expert Paul Mugnier taught me. All Ports, he said, fall into one of two major categories: those that are more like crème brûlée and those that are more like chocolate cake. (It's kind of like dividing all meats into those that are more like chicken and those that are more like beef.) The "crème brûlée" Ports are the ones that have been aged in wood a long time and thus have had exposure to air through the staves of the barrel. These Ports have brown sugar, almost crème brûléelike flavors. Tawny Port is the best example. (And, indeed, it tastes delicious with crème brûlée.) The "chocolate" Ports have been aged a long time in bottle, with very little exposure to air. They are darker and denser in flavor and color, retain their red berry characteristics, and have an almost cocoalike or chocolaty flavor. Vintage Port is a perfect example of a bottle-aged Port. (Not surprisingly, it tastes phenomenal with chocolate.) Given the above as a simple metaphor for thinking about the styles of Port in the broadest terms, let's now telescope down to the top five most important specific styles: aged tawny Port, reserve Port, late-bottled vintage Port (aka LBV), vintage Port, and single-quinta vintage Port. IS PORT EVER WHITE? Yes—although white Port represents only a small fraction of the total production of Port. White Port is not expensive and it's not very complex. But it's absolutely delicious drunk in the Portuguese way: mixed with tonic water and a twist of lime, on the rocks. In the Douro in summer, you can count on this refresher appearing every night around five, when everyone needs the Portuguese equivalent of a gin and tonic. White Port is made from the Douro grapes códega, gouveio, malvasia fina, rabigato, and viosinho. AGED TAWNY PORT Aged tawny Port gets my vote for the most sublime style of Port. Its flavors—toasted nuts, brown sugar, and vanilla—are the adult version of cookie dough. And the texture of an aged tawny is pure silk. Aged tawnies are blends of Ports from several years that are then kept for long periods in barrel. They are labeled as either ten, twenty, thirty, or more than forty years old, depending on the average age of the wines by flavor. In other words, a twenty-year-old tawny Port tastes, to an experienced Port maker, like it is made up of wines that are about twenty years old, but in fact aren't necessarily that old. The wines used in the blend for an aged tawny are usually wines of the highest quality. In fact, these wines often go into vintage Port in years when a vintage Port is declared (see page 522). However, aged tawny Port and vintage Port taste nothing alike, since aged tawny Ports are generally kept a minimum of ten years in barrel (until they become tawny/auburn in color) and vintage Port spends only two years in barrel. Thus, aged tawny Ports are often about finesse, while vintage Port is about power. Aged tawny Ports are among the best-loved Ports in Portugal, France, and Britain, where they are often drunk both as an aperitif and at the close of a meal. A quick word about a sister style called young tawny Port (as opposed to aged tawny Port, described above). Basic and uncomplicated, young tawny is less than three years old (which is almost oxymoronic, since the word tawny implies the wine has been aged long enough for the color to brown). In the case of a young tawny, the grapes yield a lighter-colored wine. The wine may then be made even lighter by minimizing the time the juice stays on the skins during fermentation. Young tawnies, as a result, have a pale, onionskin color. In Europe, they are often drunk straight up, or on the rocks as an aperitif, although we don't see them much in the New World. RESERVE PORT Reserve Port is an easily affordable, good-quality, "every-night" Port. (Up until 2002, this was called "vintage character," but the term was subsequently determined to be confusing.) Reserve Ports have bold, red berry flavors that make them popular in the United States and Britain. Many have proprietary names. For example: Dow's AJS, Fonseca's Bin 27, Graham's Six Grapes, Sandeman's Founder's Reserve, and Warre's Warrior, are all reserve Ports. Reserve Ports are blends of good—but not great—quality wines that, on average, have spent four to six years aging in barrels before they are bottled and released. LATE-BOTTLED VINTAGE PORT Late-bottled vintage Ports—often called LBVs—are moderately priced Ports that are made every year and, yes, come from a single vintage. But the grapes don't come from the crème de la crème of grapes (in great years, those grapes go into vintage Port, the sine qua non). LBVs have been aged in the barrel for four to six years and then bottled. (So, they spend more time in barrel than vintage Port, but less time in bottle; see Vintage Port, below.) LBVs, importantly, are what most good restaurants serve. They are ready to drink when the shipper releases them, and require no decanting. LBVs are satisfying, luscious wines, to be sure, but tasted side by side with a vintage Port, it would be clear to anyone that vintage possesses more richness, complexity, and sophistication. A small subset of LBV is called "traditional late-bottled vintage Port" or "bottle-matured late-bottled vintage Port." (I know; it can seem confusing to have so many names.) Unlike regular LBVs, these are not filtered and will therefore throw a sediment and need to be decanted. VINTAGE PORT Here it is: the style of Port that every wine lover hopes to experience (more than once!). No Port is more sought after—or expensive. Vintage Port represents only about 3 percent of the total production of Port. It is made only in exceptional years when Port shippers "declare" a vintage. All of the grapes in the blend will come only from that vintage, and only from the very top vineyards. Vintage Ports are first aged just two years in barrel, to round off their powerful edges. Then—and this is the key—they are aged reductively (without oxygen) for a long time in the bottle. During bottle aging, the vintage Port matures slowly, becoming progressively more refined and integrated. A decade's worth of aging is standard, and several decades used to be fairly common. Indeed, Ports from the 1950s are still amazingly lively on the palate (the 1955 Cockburn's is one of the most hauntingly luscious wines I have ever tasted or felt . . . it was sheer silk). But the concept of aging vintage Port is also changing. Thanks to highly improved viticultural and winemaking practices in the Douro, even very bold, young vintage Ports can be lip-smackingly delicious. In recent trips to the Douro, I have been astounded by the elegance of young vintage Port—its exuberance and power being, of course, givens. To maintain the intensity, balance, and richness of vintage Port, it is neither fined nor filtered. This, coupled with the fact that Port grapes have thick skins and a lot of tannin, means that vintage Port throws a great deal of sediment, and always needs to be decanted (see Sediment and Tartrates, page 114). Finally, in the years a shipper chooses not to declare as vintage quality, they take the grapes they might have used for vintage Port and, if they came from a great single quinta (vineyard estate), bottle them under the name of that quinta. SINGLE-QUINTA VINTAGE PORT The word quinta means farm, but in the Douro most quintas would be more accurately described as renowned vineyard estates. They range in size from a dozen to several hundred acres and usually include a house and sometimes gardens, in the manner of a French château. The grapes for a single-quinta vintage Port come, as the name implies, from a given quinta in a single year. The idea behind these Ports is that the very best vineyard estates are often located in special mesoclimates that allow exceptional wines to be made even in years when the vintage as a whole may not be declared. Single quintas may be owned by small shipper-firms, such as Quinta do Infantado, which makes a single-quinta vintage Port by the same name. Or the quinta might be owned by a large shipper. The famous Quinta do Vesuvio, for example, is owned by the Symington family, which also owns the firms Graham's, Warre's, and Dow's. But in all cases, a single-quinta vintage Port will always be made exclusively from the grapes grown at that quinta. (Remember that, by contrast, a vintage Port may come from grapes from several quintas, as well as grapes grown by dozens of small, individual grape growers.) It's important to note that shippers may decide not to make a single-quinta vintage Port in the same year they make a vintage Port. In years declared for vintage Port, the quinta's grapes may be blended into the vintage Port and thus cannot be made into a wine of their own. Apart from blending, single-quinta vintage Ports are made in the same manner as vintage Ports. They are not filtered, require significant bottle aging, and throw a sediment, so that the wine must eventually be decanted. Single-quinta vintage Ports are usually released after two years, just like vintage Ports. The wines are then aged a decade or more by the buyer. Single-quinta vintage Ports are generally slightly less expensive than vintage Ports. PORT A fortified wine made by adding brandy to arrest fermenting grape must which results in a wine, red and sometimes white, that is both sweet and high in alcohol. Port derives its name from oporto (Porto), the second largest city in portugal, whence the wine has been shipped for over 300 years, notably by English merchants. Port production varies considerably from year to year, partly because of the conditions of each growing season but also reflecting the benefício, the amount of wine that may be fortified each year, officially calculated according to stocks and sales. The average annual production during the first decade of the 21st century was 157,000 pipes (86 million l). The production of unfortified douro wine averaged 56 million l between 2008 and 2011. Fortified wines are made in the image of port in places as far apart as south africa, australia, and california but, within the eu, EU law restricts the use of the term port to wines from a closely defined area in the douro Valley of northern Portugal (one of the first examples of geographical delimitation). See map under portugal. HISTORY Port originates from 17th-century trade wars between the English and the French. For a time, imports of French wines into England were prohibited, and then, in 1693, William III imposed punitive levels of taxation which drove English wine merchants to Portugal, a country with whom the English had always shared good relations. At first they settled on the northern coast but, finding the wines too thin and astringent (see vinho verde), they travelled inland along the river Douro. Here merchants found wines that were the opposite of those they had left behind on the coast. Fast and furious fermentation at high temperatures produced dark, astringent red wines that quickly earned them the name 'blackstrap' in London. In a determined effort to make sure that these wines arrived in good condition, merchants would add a measure of brandy to stabilize them before shipment. The English merchants are supposed to have discovered the winemaking technique which results in port in 1678 when a Liverpool wine merchant sent his sons to Portugal in search of wine. At Lamego, a town in the mountains high above the Douro, they found one of the important Cistercian vine-growing monasteries there where brandy was added to the wine during rather than after fermentation, killing off the active yeasts and so producing the sort of sweet, alcoholic red wine that port was to become. British trade with France ceased altogether in the early 18th century with the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession. By this time, a number of port shippers were already well established and in 1703 England and Portugal signed the methuen treaty, which laid down further tariff advantages for Portuguese wines. By the 1730s, however, the fledgling port industry was blighted by scandal. Sugar was being added and elderberry juice being used to give colour to poor, overstretched wines. Unprincipled over-production brought about a sharp fall in prices and a slump in trade. Prompted by complaints from British wine merchants, the port shippers contacted the Portuguese prime minister of the day, the marquis of Pombal. Partly to create a lucrative Portuguese monopoly on port production, in 1756 he instituted a series of measures to regulate sales of port. A boundary was drawn around the Douro restricting the production of port to those vineyards within it. Vineyards outside the official wine region, in bairrada for instance, were summarily grubbed up by the authorities. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Pombal's demarcation, modified a number of times since 1756 (see douro), corresponds closely to an area of pre-Cambrian schist surrounded by granite. From the village of Barqueiros about 70 km/40 miles upstream from Oporto, the region fans out either side of the river stretching as far as the frontier with Spain. It is referred to by the port shippers as 'the Douro', or by those in charge of the UNESCO World Heritage sites as Alto Douro Wine Country. The vineyards are shielded from the influence of the Atlantic by the Serra do Marão, a range of mountains rising to an elevation of 1,400 m/4,600 ft. Inland, the climate becomes progressively more extreme. Annual rainfall, which averages 1,200 mm/47 in on the coast, rises to over 1,500 mm on the mountains and then diminishes sharply, falling to as little as 400 mm at Barca d'Alva on the Spanish border. Summer temperatures in the vineyards frequently exceed 35 °C/95 °F. It is hard to imagine a more inhospitable place to grow grapes. The topsoils in this mountainous region of Portugal are shallow, stony, and low in nutrients. Over a period of 300 years, however, the land has been worked to great advantage. The valley sides are very steep but terraces hacked from the schist, often with little more than a shovel and crowbar support, give vines a metre or two of soil in which to establish a root system. The bedrock fractures vertically, however, and, once established, vines root deeply in search of water and nutrients. The Douro region divides into three officially recognized subzones. The Baixo (Lower) Corgo is the most westerly of the three and covers the portion of the region downstream from the river Corgo, which flows into the Douro just above the small city of Régua. This is the coolest and wettest of the three zones and tends to produce the lightest wines suitable for making inexpensive ruby and tawny ports (see Styles of port below). Upstream from the river Corgo, the Cima (Higher) Corgo is the heart of the demarcated region centred on the town of Pinhão. Rainfall is significantly lower here (700 mm as opposed to 900 mm or more west of Régua) and summer temperatures are, on average, a few degrees higher. All the well-known shippers own vineyards or quintas here and this is where most of the high-quality tawny, Late Bottled Vintage, and vintage port is made. Much of the Douro Superior, the most easterly of the three subregions, is still pioneer country. Although it has long been a part of the demarcated zone, the country is remote and sparsely populated and in past centuries little headway was made in planting vineyards due to the impossibility of navigating upriver beyond the former rapids of Cachão da Valeira. The Douro Superior is also the most arid part of the region with average temperatures at least 3 °C higher than at Régua 50 km downstream. But rising labour costs are forcing producers to consider planting the flatter land close to the Spanish border which is more suitable for mechanization and has considerable potential for high-quality port. VITICULTRE Viticulture in the Douro altered radically in the 1970s and 1980s, perhaps more than at any time since phylloxera swept through the region at the end of the 19th century, leaving many hillsides abandoned. The most noticeable change is the river itself, which was progressively dammed in the 1960s to form a string of narrow lakes. Methods of cultivation have also changed the Douro landscape. Faced with an acute shortage of labour at the end of the 1960s, along with escalating costs, growers began to look for alternatives to the tiny, step-like terraces built with high retaining walls in the 19th century. The first bulldozers arrived in the late 1970s to gouge out a new system of terraces called patamares. Inclined ramps bound together by seasonal vegetation replaced the costly retaining walls and, with wider spacing between the vines (resulting in a vine density of 3,500 vines per ha (1,420 per acre) as opposed to 6,000 on some traditional terraces), small caterpillar tractors can circulate in the vineyards. At much the same time, some growers pioneered a system of planting vines in vertical lines running up and down the natural slope. This 'up and down' planting has been a qualified success, although access and soil erosion are problems where the gradient exceeds 30 degrees. In the 1980s, there was a flurry of new planting under a World Bank scheme which provided farmers with low-interest loans. The traditional, labour-intensive terraces, still impeccably maintained by some growers, now stand alongside the newer patamares and vine rows planted vertically up the hillside, both of which allow limited mechanization. Most of the Douro's vineyards used to be pruned according to the French guyot system and were trained on wires supported by stakes hewn from local stone, but now all but the very old vines are spur pruned and vsp-trained on wires supported by wooden stakes. Most vines used to be grafted in situ but now most are bench grafted. irrigation is essential for young vines. July and August are generally dry and spraying against fungal diseases is necessary only in the early summer or in exceptionally wet years. Aside from the usual vineyard pests, most of which can be controlled by spraying, wild boar eat grapes and may occasionally damage new vineyards. The Douro harvest usually starts in August in the Douro Superior and continues until early October. The steeply terraced vineyards, eerily quiet for most of the year, come alive as gangs of pickers descend from outlying villages for the duration of the harvest (see also harvest traditions). Yields in the Douro are among the lowest in any wine region in the world, with 500 to 750 g per vine from old vines the norm. From younger plantings, those up to 20 years old, 1.5 kg is the average production per vine in the best vineyards. VINE VARIETIES More than 80 different grape varieties are authorized for the production of port but until the 1990s few growers had detailed knowledge of the identity of the vines growing in their vineyards. All old vineyards contain a mixture of grapes, often with as many as 20 or 30 different varieties intermingled in the same plot. But research conducted in the 1970s (mostly by Cockburn and Ramos Pinto), identified the best varieties and all new plantings since then have been more orderly. touriga nacional, tinta barroca, touriga franca (often still referred to by its old name Touriga Francesa), Tinta Roriz (Spain's tempranillo), and tinto cão are the favoured five black-skinned varieties, although varieties such as sousão, tinta amarela, and mourisco find favour with certain growers. gouveio, malvasia Fina, and viosinho are generally considered among the best varieties for white port. PORT WINEMAKING Rapid extraction of colour and tannins is the crux of the various vinification methods used to produce red port. Because fermentation is curtailed by fortifying spirit after just two or three days, the grape juice or must spends a much shorter time in contact with the skins than in normal red winemaking. The maceration process should therefore be as vigorous as possible. Until the early 1960s, all port was vinified in much the same way. Every farm had a winery equipped with lagares, low stone troughs, usually built from granite, in which the grapes were trodden and fermented. Some are still in use, mainly at the small, privately owned quintas, and some of the finest ports destined for vintage or aged tawny blends continue to be trodden in lagares. The human foot, for all its many unpleasant associations, is ideal for pressing grapes as it breaks up the fruit without crushing the pips that would otherwise release bitter-tasting phenolics into the wine. Lagares would be progressively filled over the course of a day, and trodden by the pickers themselves, thigh high in purple pulp, in the evening. Most lagares hold 10 to 15 pipes (about 5,500 to 8,250 l (2,180 gal) ) although a number of the larger quintas have lagares with a capacity of up to 30 pipes. As a rule of thumb, between one and two people per pipe are needed to tread a lagar. Fermentation begins as a result of the action of ambient yeasts on the grapes' sugar. The alcohol produced, and the increasing temperature of the mass of purple skins, juice, and stems, encourages the extraction of the phenolics vital for the character of port. After about two or three hours of hard, methodical treading, the cap of skins and stalks starts to float to the surface. Regular punching down of the cap was traditionally performed with long, spiked sticks from planks run across the top of the lagares which ideally need some form of cooling. After 24 to 36 hours, the level of the grape sugar in the fermenting must declines from 12 or 13 °baumé to between 6 and 8 °Baumé. Depending on the intended sweetness of the wine, the wine would be run off the lagar into a vat, already about one-fifth full with grape spirit whose alcoholic strength is 77%. As the spirit is mixed with the wine, the yeasts are killed and the fermentation is arrested. At this stage the must becomes young, sweet, fiery port with an alcohol content of 19 or 20%. In the 1960s and 1970s, treading grapes in lagares became much less widespread. The Douro valley and the remote trás-os-montes region which traditionally supplied labour at harvest time have suffered from marked emigration and the port shippers were forced to look for other, less labour-intensive, ways to make wine. Most port producers abandoned lagares altogether. Many isolated properties were without electricity then and shippers set about building central wineries to which grapes from outlying farms could be delivered. Most of these were equipped with autovinification tanks, which required no external power source and have proved to be a successful alternative to treading in lagares. The resulting wine is fortified just like foot-trodden young wines were. In the late 1990s, however, a new generation of winemakers started to experiment with more novel ways of making port as the labour shortages in the region continued and production costs increased considerably. Two key types have emerged: cap plungers as introduced by the fladgate partnership and automated treading machines or 'robotic lagares' as designed by the symington family. Both systems have become widely used for the making of premium quality ports, although they are too expensive to be used to make the large volumes of standard-quality ports. All wineries are now equipped with presses and the mass of grape skins and stems that remains after treading or crushing is forked into a press to extract the last of the juice. This deeply coloured, astringent wine is run off and fortified separately. It may be blended back at a later stage or used to bolster a lighter wine. White port is made in much the same way (see Styles of port below). The fortifying grape spirit for port used to be distilled from wine made in Portugal, mainly from the estremadura region north of Lisbon, although in recent years most of the spirit has been imported, and is distilled from the Europe's wine lake. Until 1992, this spirit had to be purchased from the Casa do Douro (see Organization of the industry, below), which set a fixed price and controlled distribution. This monopoly was broken by the EU and producers have since been free to purchase any spirit they choose provided that it complies with the 77% norm of alcoholic strength and is approved by the Port and Douro Wine Institute (IVDP). Since 2000 there has been a marked improvement in the quality and purity of the fortifying spirit used for premium ports. See vin doux naturel for a comparison of port winemaking techniques with those in the production of French counterparts such as Banyuls. ORGANIZATION OF THE INDUSTRY By the mid 2010s, thanks to considerable new plantings in the Douro Superior, mostly eu-subsidized, the total number of grape growers in the Douro had grown to 34,000. They farmed a total of 45,000 ha/111,000 acres of vines in the Douro, mostly in the Baixo Corgo, nearly a third of which is under vine. In common with most of the north of Portugal, the region is fragmented into tiny holdings of which 142,000 were registered with the Casa do Douro, the official body set up in 1932 to represent the growers. Over 80% of these holdings are less than 0.5 ha/1.2 acres in size and a mere 0.01% have an area greater than 30 ha/74 acres. The development of the Douro Superior has caused a serious imbalance and brought a dramatic reduction in the price of grapes for Douro wine. Many growers, especially in the steeper Baixo Corgo region, have been producing grapes at below cost. Port grapes are better protected by the benefício, which someargue creates a false market. Vineyards in the Douro are graded according to a complicated points system and classified into nine different categories rated A to I. Twelve different physical factors including site, aspect, exposure, and gradient are taken into consideration, each of which is allocated a numerical score. In theory, a vineyard could score a maximum of 2,031 points or a minimum of minus 400 points. A property with more than 1,200 points is awarded an A grade. On this basis, the annual beneficio authorization (the total amount of port that may be made that year) is distributed to individual farmers. This is calculated annually by the port industry's regulating authority, the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (Douro Port Wine Institute, or IVDP). Permits are then distributed to farmers detailing the amount of grape must that they may fortify to make port. The amount varies according to the year but, typically, A and B grade properties may make 550 to 600 l of port per thousand vines, while properties with a grade of F or below are unlikely to be allowed to make port at all. The surplus is usually made into unfortified wine with its own denomination (see douro) but most of this sells for a much lower price than port. This quality control system, instituted in 1947, served the port industry well for four decades, but pressure for its reform intensified when in 1990 the independence of the Casa do Douro was severely compromised by its purchase of shares in Royal Oporto, then one of the largest port shippers. After a period of instability, in the mid 1990s the Casa do Douro had most of its regulatory powers withdrawn and these were transferred to an independent interprofessional body representing both growers and shippers, the CIRDD, Commissão Interprofessional da Região Demarcada do Douro. This in turn was absorbed by the IVDP. The Casa do Douro continues to represent the farmers and to hold the register of vineyards. After vinification, the bulk of the new wine traditionally stayed at the quinta or farm until the spring after the harvest when it was transported downstream to the shippers' lodges in vila nova de gaia across the river Douro from Oporto, where the shippers have traditionally been based. The cooler climate and markedly high humidity near the coast are thought to be beneficial for slow cask ageing but a number of shippers now have built temperature- and humidity-controlled lodges in the Douro which are being used successfully for ageing premium ports, especially aged tawnies. See douro bake for the traditonal effect on port of maturing it upstream in the Douro Valley. Both growers and shippers have to submit to the authority of the IVDP. This government-run body employs inspectors to check the movement of stock. It ensures that shippers adhere to the so-called lei do terço (law of the third), which restricts shippers from selling more than a third of their stock in any one year. The IVDP is also empowered to analyse and taste a sample from each port shipment before issuing the guarantee seal which is stuck to the neck of every bottle of port leaving the region. The market for port has altered dramatically since the Second World War. The so-called 'Englishman's wine' that used to be drunk everywhere from gentlemen's clubs to street corner pubs became the Frenchman's wine when France's imports of le porto (largely inexpensive wood ports; see Styles of port below) overtook those of the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. The British market is still highly coveted by port shippers, however, especially those of British descent, notably the symingtons who control shippers such as Cockburn, Dow, Graham, and Warre and the fladgate partnership (Croft, Fonseca, and Taylor). In the late 1990s, the United States became another important market for vintage port. STYLES OF PORT There are two broad categories of port, fortified wines whose style is shaped by either cask ageing or bottle ageing. Wood-matured ports, often called simply wood ports, are aged either in wooden casks or, sometimes, cement tanks, and are ready to drink straight after fining, filtration, and bottling. Ports designed to mature in bottle, however, are aged for a short time in wood and are bottled without filtration. It may then take up to 20 or 30 years before such a wine is ready to drink. Within these two general categories there are many different styles of port. The official legislation governing the different categories of port was tightened up considerably in 2002 and the following are now permitted. Ruby: This is one of the simplest and least expensive styles of port. Aged in bulk for two or three years, it is bottled young while the wine retains a deep ruby colour and a strong, fiery personality. Young wines from more than one vintage are aged in all sorts of vessels (wood, cement, and occasionally stainless steel) before being blended, filtered, and bottled. pasteurization is sometimes applied to stabilize such wines and can result in 'stewed' flavours, but good ruby with its uncomplicated berry fruit aromas and flavours is often a good, warming drink. When the British fashion for ruby port and lemonade faded in the 1960s, many shippers dropped the name ruby on the labels of such ports in favour of their own, self-styled brands. Reserve/Reserva is the term now used to designate a premium ruby, a wine with more colour, character, and depth than a standard ruby. This category has supplanted 'vintage character', a misleading term which was largely used in English-speaking markets. Tawny: The word tawny is applied to a confusingly wide range of very different styles of port. In theory, tawny implies a wine which has been aged in wood for so much longer than a ruby that it loses colour and the wine takes on an amber-brown or tawny hue (see ageing). In practice, however, much of the tawny port sold today is no older than the average ruby and may therefore be found at the same price. The difference between a commercial ruby and its counterpart labelled 'tawny' is that, whereas ruby is made from a blend of big, deep-coloured wines, tawny is often produced from lighter wines grown in the cooler Baixo Corgo vineyards where grapes rarely ripen to give much depth or intensity of fruit. Vinification methods may also be adapted to produce paler coloured wines, and the colour of the final blend may be adjusted further by adding a proportion of white port so that the wine ends up with a pale pink hue rather than tawny brown. Many bulk tawnies are left upriver for longer than other wines for the heat to speed up the maturation (see douro bake). The resulting wines often display a slight brown tinge on the rim but tend to lack the freshness and primary fruit character normally associated with young port. The French typically drink inexpensive, light, tawny-style wines as an aperitif and supplying this market has become the major commercial activity for many of the larger port shippers. Aged Tawny: Port that has been left to age in wooden casks for six or more years begins to take on a tawny color and a soft, silky character as the phenolics are polymerized (see aging). Most of these tawnies are bottled with an indication of age on the label, although a new category of Tawny Reserve or Tawny Reserva may be applied to wines that have spent at least seven years in wood. The terms 10, 20, 30, or Over 40 years old seen on labels are, however, approximations as tawny ports are blended from a number of years' production. Most aged tawnies are blended according to house style and must be tasted and approved by the IVDP as conforming to the character expected from the age claimed on the label. Aged tawnies are made from wines of the very highest quality: wines set aside in undeclared years that might have otherwise ended up as vintage port (see below). They mature in cask in the cool of the lodges at Gaia until the shipper considers that they are ready to blend and bottle. Labels on these wines must state that the wine has matured in wood and give the date of bottling, which is important since aged tawny port may deteriorate if it spends too long in bottle. Once the bottle has been opened, younger aged tawnies may be subject to quite rapid oxidation, losing their delicacy of fruit if left on ullage for more than a few days. (Very old tawnies and colheita ports are usually more robust.) Port shippers themselves often drink a good aged tawny, chilled in summer, in preference to any other. The delicate, nutty character of a well-aged tawny suits the climate and temperament of the Douro better than the hefty, spicy character of vintage port, which is better adapted to cooler climes. Colheita Meaning 'harvest' or 'crop' and therefore by extension 'vintage' in Portuguese, colheita ports are in fact very different from vintage ports (below). Colheitas are best understood as 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. Colheita ports, once the speciality of the Portuguese-owned houses, have, in the 21st century, been taken up enthusiastically by the British shippers who sometimes use the word 'Harvest' on the label. (madeira may also use the word 'colheita'.) Vintage Port: The most expensive style of port is one of the world's simplest of wines to make. Vintage port accounts for hardly 1% of all port sold, yet it is the wine which receives the most attention. British shippers, in particular, have built vintage port into a flagship wine, 'declared' in an atmosphere of speculation when the quality of the wine, the quantity available, and the market are judged fit. Wines from a single year, or vintage, are blended and bottled after spending between two and three years in wood. Thereafter, most of the wine is sold and the consumer takes over the nurturing for up to 30 or more years, although an increasing proportion is being drunk much earlier, especially in the US. Vintage port is distinguished from other ports by the quality of the grapes from which the wine is made. Only grapes grown in the best, usually Cima Corgo, vineyards, picked at optimum ripeness following an outstanding summer, are made into vintage port. Even then, nothing is certain until at least a year after the harvest when shippers have had time to reflect on the characteristics of the wine and the market. The vintage may be declared only after the IVDP has approved samples and proposed quantities in the second year after the harvest. With the steady improvement in vinification methods since the mid 1980s, some wine of vintage port potential is now made at the best quintas in most years. But a shipper will declare a vintage only if there is sufficient quantity and if it is felt that the market is ready to support another vintage (1931 being a classic example of a qualitatively superb vintage undeclared by most shippers for entirely commercial reasons). Vintage declarations may be very irregular but very roughly three vintages have been declared in each decade. Because they should be bottle aged for longer than almost any other style of wine, vintage port bottles are particularly thick, dark, and sturdy. The wines, extremely high in phenolics in their youth, throw a heavy deposit and need especial care when decanting and serving. Single-Quinta Vintage: Just as wine-producing châteaux evolved in France in the 18th and 19th centuries, the cult of the single, winemaking quinta has developed in Portugal, and many of the better-known Douro quintas belong to a particular port shipper. Single-quinta ports are made in much the same way as vintage port, aged in wood for two or three years and bottled without filtration so that they throw a sediment (and should therefore be decanted before serving). Although some independent quintas produce a vintage port nearly every year, a number of significant differences distinguish single-quinta vintages from declared vintage ports. First of all, shippers' single-quinta ports tend to be made in good (but not outstanding) years which are not declared. In years which are declared for vintage port, many of these wines will be the lots that make up the backbone of the vintage blend and are not therefore available for release as wines in their own right. Secondly many single-quinta ports are kept back by shippers and sold only when the wine is considered to be ready to drink, perhaps eight or ten years after the harvest. Single quintas or individual vineyards in the Douro were given a fillip in 1986 when the law requiring all port to be exported via Vila Nova de Gaia was relaxed, opening the way for a number of small vineyard owners who, before, had been restricted to selling their wines to large firms. LBV: Late Bottled Vintage port is a wine from a single year, bottled between the fourth and sixth years after the harvest. Three different styles of LBV wines have evolved, however. First there are LBVs bottled without any filtration or treatment so that, like a vintage port, they need to be decanted before serving. These wines, once designated with the word 'traditional' tend to be made in good but undeclared years and are ready to drink earlier than vintage port, four to six years after bottling. Since the revision of the legislation in 2002, unfiltered LBV may also be sold as Envelhecido em Garrafa or 'bottle matured', provided the wine in question has been aged in bottle for a minimum of three years prior to release on the market. Many of the wines in this second style share much of the depth of a true vintage port. A third style of LBV is the most common. These are wines which have been fined and sometimes filtered and cold stabilized before bottling to prevent the formation of sediment. These wines are made in large volumes and are popular with restaurateurs (obviating the need to decant) but do not have the intensity or depth of an unfiltered LBV. Crusted Port: This port is so called because of the 'crust' or deposit that it throws in bottle. In spite of its rather crusty, establishment name, it is the fairly recent creation of British shippers, notably the symington group. It is designed to appeal to vintage port enthusiasts, even though the coveted word 'vintage' does not appear on the label (because crusted ports are not wines from a single year or vintage but blends from a number of years bottled young with little or no filtration). Like vintage port, the wines continue to develop in the bottle, throwing a sediment or crust, so that the wine needs to be decanted before it is served. Rather like traditional LBVs, many crusted or crusting ports offer an excellent alternative to vintage port, providing the port enthusiast with a dark, full-bodied wine at a much lower price. It may be exported from Oporto three years after bottling. Garrafeira: The word garrafeira, meaning 'private cellar' or 'reserve', is more commonly associated with Portuguese table wines than with port. Until 2002 it did not form part of the IVDP's officially authorized lexicon but was a style produced by a single shipper, Niepoort. Now a port may be designated as a garrafeira if it comes from a single year and is aged for a minimum of seven years in glass demi-john before bottling (like some madeira). In practice the wines age in 5- or 10-l demi-johns for considerably longer than the minimum. After 20, 30, or even 40 years in glass, the wine is decanted off its sediment and rebottled in conventional 75-cl bottles. The wines combine depth of fruit with the delicate, silky texture associated with tawny port. Three dates appear on the label: date of harvest, date of bottling (i.e. when the wine was transferred to demi-john), and date of decanting (i.e. decanted from the sediment that has formed in the demi-john and transferred to a 75 cl bottle). White Port: Ernest Cockburn remarked in the early 20th century that 'the first duty of port is to be red'. Nevertheless a significant proportion of white grapes grow in vineyards in the Douro and all shippers produce a small amount of white port, even if very few give it serious attention. White port is made in much the same way as red except that maceration during fermentation is much shorter, or non-existent. Most white ports have a certain amount of residual sugar, even those labelled 'dry' or 'extra dry'. Intensely sweet wines, made mainly for the domestic market, are labelled lagrima (tears) because of their viscosity (see also málaga). Another, drier style of white port, described as leve seco (light dry) is made by some shippers. These are wines with an alcoholic strength of around 16.5 or 17%, rather than the usual 19 to 20%. Most commercial white ports are aged for no more than 18 months, generally in tanks made of cement or stainless steel. Wood ageing lends character to white port, turning it gold in colour and giving the wine an incisive, dry, nutty tang. Superior white ports may also be bottled with a designation of age: 10, 20, 30, 40 Years Old. White port is sometimes used by shippers for blending cheaper tawnies. Rosé: This style was initiated by croft in 2008 and was initially classified by the IVDP as 'light ruby'. Made from red grapes with minimal skin contact, it was subsequently introduced by many shippers, albeit with a huge variation in the style and colour of the wine, from pale salmon to light ruby. Not without controversy when it was launched, it is said by some to have a new, younger group of port drinkers. Moscatel: One of over 30 different grape varieties used for making white port, Moscatel is occasionally used on its own to make a sweet fortified varietal white wine with the grape aroma characteristic of muscat. The village of Favaios on the north bank of the Douro makes a speciality of Moscatel.

Champagne Grand Cru

In Champagne, a term referring to villages classified at 100-percent on the old and now non-existent échelle des crus, which was a classification used to determine the pricing of grapes. There are 17 grand cru villages in Champagne: 1) Ambonnay 2) Avize 3) Aÿ 4) Beaumont-sur-Vesle 5) Bouzy 6) Chouilly 7) Cramant 8) Louvois 9) Mailly-Champagne 10) Le Mesnil-sur-Oger 11) Oger 12) Oiry 13) Puisieulx 14) Sillery 15) Tours-sur-Marne 16) Verzenay 17) Verzy

Nobel Grapes - Generally

It is generally accepted (with some argument) that there are only 7 noble grape varieties. For white wines, they are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling. Red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah. Funny how they are all French! In France, they are referred to as "cépage noble". As the new world expands vineyard plantings, we are seeing a growth in experimentation, and the list of grapes is growing. Consumer recognition has grown beyond those original 7 noble varieties. So, I would suggest that the following grapes should be added to that list: Whites: Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris (or Grigio), and Semillon. Reds: Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel, Gamay, Grenache, Mourvedre Tempranillo, Sangiovese, and Nebbiolo. That would bring our total to 20 noble grape varieties that consumers recognize around the world, as making top quality wines.

Loire Valley Regions and Appellations

MUSCADET REGION Fiefs-Vendéens-Brem Fiefs-Vendéens Chantonnay Fiefs-Vendéens-Mareuils Fiefs-Vendéens-Pissotte Fiefs-Vendéens-Vix Gros-plant du Pays Nantais Muscadet Muscadet-Coteaux-de-la-Loire Muscadet-Côtes-de-Grandlieu Muscadet-Sèvre-et-Maine ANGERS REGION Anjou Anjou Mousseux Anjou Pétillant Anjou-Coteaux-de-la-Loire Anjou-Gamay Anjou-Villages Anjou-Villages Brissac Bonnezeaux Cabernet-d'Anjou Chaume Coteaux-d'Ancenis Coteaux-de-l'Aubance Coteaux-du-Layon Coteaux-du-Loir Jasnières Quarts-de-Chaume Rosé d'Anjou Rosé d'Anjou pétillant Savennières Savennières-Coulée-de-Serrant Savennières-Roche-aux-Moines Vin-du-Thouarsais SAUMUR REGION Cabernet-de-Saumur Coteaux-de-Saumur Saumur Saumur Mousseux Saumur Pétillant Saumur Puy-Notre-Dame Saumur-Champigny TOURAINE REGION Bourgueil Cheverny Chinon Coteaux-du-Vendômois Cour-Cheverny Haut-Poitou Montlouis-sur-Loire Montlouis-sur-Loire Mousseux Montlouis-sur-Loire Pétillant Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil Touraine Touraine Mousseux Touraine Pétillant Touraine-Amboise Touraine-Azay-le-Rideau Touraine Chenonceaux Touraine-Mesland Touraine-Noble-Joué Touraine Oisly Valençay Vouvray Vouvray Mousseux Vouvray Pétillant ORLEANS REGION Orléans Orléans-Cléry Centre region Blanc Fumé de Pouilly Châteaumeillant Côte-Roannaise Coteaux-du-Giennois Côtes-d'Auvergne Côtes-d'Auvergne-Boudes Côtes-d'Auvergne-Chanturgue Côtes-d'Auvergne-Châteaugay Côtes-d'Auvergne-Corent Côtes-d'Auvergne-Madargues Côtes-du-Forez Menetou-Salon Pouilly-Fumé Pouilly-sur-Loire Quincy Reuilly Saint-Pourçain Sancerre VINS DE PAYS Crémant-de-Loire Rosé-de-Loire Vin de Pays d'Indre-et-Loire Vin de Pays d'Urfé Vin de Pays de Creuse Vin de Pays de Haute-Vienne Vin de Pays de l'Allier Vin de Pays de l'Indre Vin de Pays de la Sarthe Vin de Pays de la Vienne Vin de Pays de Loire-Atlantique Vin de Pays de Vendée Vin de Pays des Coteaux Charitois V.D.P. des Coteaux de Tannay Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Cher et de l'Arnon Vin de Pays des Deux-Sèvres Vin de Pays du Bourbonnais Vin de Pays du Cher V.D.P. du Jardin de la France Vin de Pays du Loir et Cher Vin de Pays du Loiret Vin de Pays du Maine et Loire Vin de Pays du Puy de Dôme

Botrytis Cinerea

Noble rot (porriture noble), Botrytis cinerea, or botrytis is a fungal spore common in Sauternes. It reduces the water content of the grape, effectively increasing its sugar levels, acidity, viscosity, and flavor to give sweet, unctuous, and succulently aromatic wines. The humidity born of misty autumnal mornings followed by sunshine is ideal for the development of botrytis, enabling it to perforate the fruit's skin but leave the pulp untouched. The rot first appears as a brown spot, which then extends to cover the grape until it eventually shrivels. Since the onset of noble rot is always irregular, the grapes are harvested selectively, often with several passages, or tris, through the vines. This explains the relatively small quantities of wine and the high production costs. The requisite nature of the climate means that a good Sauternes vintage does not necessarily correspond with a good vintage for red bordeaux.

Loire Valley Muscadet

One of France's dry white commodity wines currently undergoing revolution while trying to survive. The Muscadet region extends mainly south east of Nantes near the month of the Loire on a shrinking total vineyard area of about 12,000 ha / 29,600 acres of gently rolling, Atlantic-dominated countryside where hundreds of wine farmers maintain family vine holdings, increasingly consolidated and devoted to one grape variety. The white Melon de Bourgogne, a reliable but relatively neutral variety, was introduced to the region in the 17th century by the Dutch wine trade, who were in need of distilling material for their brandwijn and had the means to transport it. The terrible winter of 1709 killed in high proportion of the red wine grapes previously grown here and transformed it into a predominantly white wine region The most significant, and varied, appellation by far, representing more than two-thirds of production, is Muscadet-Sevre et Maine, named after two small rivers which flow through this, the most monocultural part of the Pays Nantais south and east of Nantes.. Indeed, more Muscadet-Sevre et Maine is produced every year than in any other Loire appellation. Particularly ambitious wines are made on the clay soils of Vallet, while those from the schist and granite slopes around St-Fiacre are also much admired. The appellation known as Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire is in the north and Muscadet-Cotes de Grandlieu is in the south west of the region. Muscadet is the basic appellation, not made in great quantity and usually less exciting. According to stricter regulations drawn up in the late 1990s, basic Muscadet is excluded from that substantial proportion of the wines that are matured sur lie, their flavor at least theoretically enriched by lees contact which must be bottled between March and November in the year following the harvest. So neutral is the Melon grape that Muscadet producers have long been able to store their own wines over the winter without racking them off the lees, and without the risk of picking up off-flavors. This leaves the wines with rather more flavor and a small amount of carbon dioxide before bottling, which must be done where the wine was made and either during the spring or autumn following the harvest. At its worst, Muscadet is an anodyne, watery, dry white with or without a little sparkle, but at its best it captures the essence of France's north Atlantic coast and provides and authentic, light, tangy, almost salty foil for its seafood. Since the mid 1980s, producers have been experimenting with such techniques as barrel fermentation and lees stirring and since the late 1990s those producers seeking maximum ripeness levels have also employed pre-fermentation skin contact. In 2011, the first crus communaux within the Muscadet de Sevre et Maine were announced; these are designed to be superior, terroir-driven Muscadets with stricter yields (45 hl/ha maximum) worth aging in bottle, and worth being aged on lees for so long that they miss the deadline to qualify for the sur lie description outlined above. Clisson is an area of very well-drained pebble and gravel mix whose wines are particularly long-lived Gorges on the River Sevre has soils that range from gabbros to clay and quartz. Its wines develop a certain smokiness in bottle. Le Pallet is an especially warm pocket of vines on the right bank of the Sevre, and further crus such as Mouzillon-Tillieres, Chateau Thebaud, Monnieres Saint-Fiacre, and Goulaine are expected to follow. A little primeur is also made. Muscadet can no longer be dismissed as a simple, homogeneous wine. Other wines produced in the Pays Nantais are Gros Plant, Coteaux d'Ancenis, and Fiefs Vendeens. The most westerly of the Loire districts is the Pays Nantais, home of Muscadet, the crisp, cautiously neutral, dry white so often served as an accompaniment to seafood. The wine is made from the rather bland Melon de Bourgogne, a Burgundian grape variety introduced int he 17th century that had the fortitude to withstand the bitingly cold winter of 1709, which destroyed the previously dominant red varieties of the region. The vineyards, some 13,000 ha, are located around the city of Nantes and divide into four AOCs. Muscadet Sevre et Maine is by far the largest, accounting for over 80 percent of the production. The best of these wines have a fine, floral bouquet, a mineral edge, and occasionally the ability to age. Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire is perhaps fuller-bodied, while Musdadet COtes de Grandlieu, the most recent designation - introduced in 1994 - is softer in style. There is also a small volume of generic AOC Muscadet. Throughout the region there is the potential to bottle the wine on its lees for four of five months over the winter in the tank or barrel in which it has been fermented without racking and then bottling directly. The process helps to enhance flavor and, because the wine still contains a teasing sparkle of carbon dioxide, it emphasizes freshness and compensates for generally low acidity. Even drier than Muscadet is the VDQS Gros Plant du Pays Nantais made from Folle Blanche.

Crus of Beaujolais

Only red wine made from Gamay. Ten named villages, each with its own AOP. These are the region's best wines. They come from hillside vineyards with granite in the soil. 1) Saint Amour 2) Julienas 3) Chenas 4) Moulin-a-Vent 5) Fleurie 6) Chiroubles 7) Morgon 8) Regnie 9) Cote de Brouilly 10) Brouilly

Sweetness and Ripeness Pradikat Qba

PRADIKAT A Prädikat is a 'distinction', awarded to pdo wines on the basis of increasing grape must weight: either kabinett, spätlese, auslese, beerenauslese, trockenbeerenauslese or eiswein. Long collectively known as Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP), the wines are now officially known simply as Prädikatsweine. Depending on region and grape variety, the minimum must weights in oechsle (and equivalent potential alcohol) set by german wine law for each Prädikat range as follows (with the low end applying in each case to the minimum for Riesling in the Mosel): Kabinett 70-82 °Oe / 9.1-10.9% Spätlese 76-90 °Oe / 10-12.2% Auslese 83-100 °Oe / 11.1-13.8% Beerenauslese and Eiswein 110-128 °Oe / 15.3-18.1% Trockenbeerenauslese 150-154 °Oe / 21.5-21.9% In practice, quality-conscious producers set their own estate-specific standards for what counts as Spätlese, Auslese, etc. These generally entail far higher must weights than the legal minima, which is unsurprising in this era of climate change. What counts as Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese etc. is nowadays largely a matter of individual convention. One grower's Spätlese may be another's Auslese, and the choice of Prädikat is often made on the basis of intended style from among musts of nearly identical sugar content. Germany's most prestigious growers' association, the vdp, may have 'Prädikatswein' in its name, but it took the lead in eliminating designations of Prädikat from the labels of dry wines, including those of their prestige class known as grosses gewächs. The idea is that a Prädikat designation should immediately indicate significant sweetness, typically increasing with must weight. Dry German wines are more likely to be described as qualitätswein. UNDERSTANDING HOW GERMAN WINE IS ORGANIZED AND CATEGORIZED Understanding how German wines are organized and categorized is not difficult, but it's not self-evident either. So, in my experience, it's helpful to have someone take you through, step by step in a logical manner. I'll do my best in the pages that follow. First, let me set the context, because in this case, context is critical. In Germany, with vineyards so far north, ripeness has always been the fulcrum around which everything else revolves. As mentioned, however, climate change has thrown a wrench (a good one) into the old system. Over the past decade, contemporary German winemakers have been ecstatic to find themselves benefiting from a climate of which their fathers could have only dreamed. But the dramatic shift in climate has also turned Germany's fine wine industry upside down and, for some vintners, created a whole new way of thinking about and categorizing wines. Here lies the rub: Not all Germans have adopted the new thinking. And almost worse, some Germans have adopted it only partially. So for now, there are two main independent systems that exist more or less side by side. I'll call them the traditional system and the modern system. The traditional system has been in place for many decades. The modern system was begun relatively recently by an organization of some two hundred prestigious estates called the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter, or Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates). Alas, to understand German wine, you have to know both systems. And most important of all, know that some wine estates are adopting the modern system bit by bit, creating a hybrid world of their own between the two systems. One final point: In addition to the two main systems at work in Germany, some regions—the Rheingau is one—have associations of members who have set up their own internal regional systems, and their own classifications. While we won't telescope down to these small regional systems (many of which are currently in flux), I will address classification terms you might see on wine labels that could prove confusing. THE TRADITIONAL SYSTEM Historically, because ripeness was not a given and because the climate was so marginal, fine German wines were categorized along two dimensions—ripeness and sweetness. This system is still in place for many German wines, so it's important to know the terms used to indicate ripeness as well as the terms used for sweetness. In the traditional system, these terms are usually indicated on the label. THE RIPENESS LEVELS In the traditional system, fine German wine can be made at six levels of ascending ripeness. The ripeness levels are: KABINETT: A wine made from grapes picked during the normal harvest; typically a light-bodied wine, low in alcohol, and usually dry or off-dry. Kabinetts are easy to drink and food friendly. German wine lovers typically drink them as casual dinner wines. SPÄTLESE: Spät means "late." So spätlese wines are based on grapes harvested later than grapes for kabinett. They are fully ripened and make wines with greater fruit intensity and a slightly fuller body than kabinett wines. A spätlese may be dry or, like kabinett, may be off-dry. Even those with some sweetness, however, usually do not taste sweet because of the high level of acidity in the grapes, which offsets any impression of sweetness. AUSLESE: Aus means "select." Auslesen are made from very ripe grapes harvested in select bunches—another step upward in richness and intensity. Generally, auslesen can be made only in the best years, which have been sufficiently warm. Picking individual bunches means that the wines are expensive. Most auslesen are lush, and today, they are often fairly sweet. But even two decades ago, most auslesen were made in a lighter, more elegant style. Back then, most were intensely flavored (and thus, a treat), but they weren't syrupy sweet. Today, both styles can be found, and the Germans sometimes drink them on Sunday afternoons as an aperitif with hard cheeses. BEERENAUSLESE: Literally, "berry" (beeren) selected harvest. Beerenauslesen are rare and costly wines made from very ripe individual grapes selected by hand. Usually beerenauslese (called, conveniently, BA for short) grapes have been affected by noble rot, Botrytis cinerea, giving them a deep, honeyed richness. BAs are always sweet. TROCKENBEERENAUSLESE: Literally, "dry berry" (trocken beeren) selected harvest, trockenbeerenauslesen (TBAs) are the richest, sweetest, rarest, and most expensive of all German wines. TBAs, produced only in exceptional years, are made from individual grapes shriveled to raisins by botrytis. It takes one person a full day to select and pick enough grapes for just one bottle. Because of the enormously concentrated sugar, the grapes have difficulty fermenting. As a result, many TBA wines are no more than 6 percent alcohol (less than half the alcohol of, say, Sauternes). TBAs are absolutely mesmerizing in their intensity and exquisite balance, and are rightfully pricey. EISWEIN: Literally, "ice wine," so called because it is made from very ripe, frozen grapes that have been picked, often at daybreak, by workers wearing gloves so their hands don't freeze. As the frozen grapes are pressed, the sweet, high-acid, concentrated juice is separated from the ice (the water in the grapes). The wine, made solely from the concentrated juice (the ice is thrown away), is miraculously high in both sweetness and acidity, making drinking it an ethereal sensation. Eiswein grapes must be frozen naturally on the vine. (Austria and Canada, two other countries famous for eiswein, also make it in this manner. In other countries, what is called "eiswein" is sometimes produced by freezing grapes in a commercial freezer. As far as purists are concerned, the freezer method is definitely cheating.) Interestingly, the climate change that has benefited German winemakers in so many ways may eventually prove detrimental to the production of eiswein because, under slightly warmer conditions, botrytis may occur first before temperatures turn cold enough for the eiswein to be made. In addition, under warmer conditions, the botrytis mold eventually consumes most of the water in the grapes, leaving little left to freeze! THE SWEETNESS LEVEL SYSTEM TROCKEN: (bone dry; less than 0.9 percent residual sugar) HALBTROCKEN; SOMETIMES CALLED FEINHERB: (half dry; less than 1.8 percent residual sugar) LIEBLICH OR MILD: (some sweetness; up to 4.5 percent residual sugar). Thus, any given ripeness level could potentially come at three levels of sweetness. A kabinett, say, could be kabinett trocken (bone dry), kabinett halbtrocken (half dry), or kabinett lieblich (slightly sweet). The same would be true for spätlese, and so on. When you understand how this two dimensional approach to flavor works, you can easily imagine the sensory difference between a kabinett halbtrocken and an auslese trocken. The first is not very ripe, but there's some residual sugar in the wine. The second is quite ripe, but it's dry. The first wine, in other words, is like an unripe cantaloupe on which you've sprinkled a touch of sugar; the second, a very ripe cantaloupe with no sugar. Ripeness and sweetness are clearly different. As a quick aside, sweetness is measured by the grams of residual sugar in the final wine. As for ripeness, it is measured in Germany by Oechsle (ERKS-leh)—the weight of the must, which is the thick, pulpy liquid of crushed grapes. Oechsle was named after the physicist Ferdinand Oechsle, who invented the scale in the 1830s. Interestingly, the Oechsle requirements for the ripeness categories change based on the region. So, for example, to make, say, a Rheingau spätlese, Rheingau producers must attain a higher Oechsle reading from the grapes than Mosel producers need to attain to make a Mosel spätlese. This is because in the Mosel, farther north and colder, it's harder to reach greater ripeness (which would result in a high Oechsle reading). So the system attempts to level the playing field. Remember, the ripeness categories are based on the ripeness of the grapes when they were picked (not the final sugar content of the wine). What happens, for a top vineyard, is generally this: Come fall, the grower picks a percentage of the grapes early, well before snow and cold weather set in. These are somewhat unripe, resulting in a very light wine (a kabinett). Despite the risk of worsening weather, certain bunches of grapes are allowed to continue to hang on the vine. Days or weeks later, the owner goes through the vineyard again and, if bad weather has not spoiled the bunches, he picks some percentage of them and uses those to make a separate, second wine (a spätlese), which will be riper and fuller-bodied than the first. During this second go-through, the owner again leaves some bunches to hang even longer. If freezing rain or snow doesn't get those, the bunches will be made into a third wine (an auslese), which will be fuller, richer, and riper than the second. And so the process goes. There are six degrees of ripeness, and a grower in a good year may make wines at all six levels from the same vineyard. Importantly, these categories of ripeness often appear on the labels, allowing you to anticipate how lean or full the wine will be. As for dryness/sweetness, traditional German winemakers fine-tune the balance of certain wines by leaving a little bit of sweetness in the wines or adding a touch of süssreserve—juice from the harvested grapes that has been held back, clarified, and left unfermented, so it's naturally sweet.

Ribera del Duero and Rioja

Ribera del Duero is the modern red wine miracle of northern Spain. Barely known in the early 1980s, it now rivals Rioja as Spain's foremost red wine region. The plain of Old Castile, stretching in tawny leagues north from Segovia and Avila to the old kingdom of Leon, is traversed by the adolescent Duero, the river that in Portugal becomes the Douro and the home of port. At 3,000 ft (850m), the nights are cool; in late August it can be 95 degrees F (35 degrees C) at noon and 54 degrees F (12 degrees C) at night. Spring frosts are all too common. Grapes are routinely picked in late October. The light and air have a high altitude dryness and brightness about them, as do the wines, which have particularly lively acidity thanks to those cool nights. These are concentrated reds of remarkably intense color, fruit, and savour - differnet in style than the wine produced in Rioja. Vega Sicilia provided the initial proof that very fine red wine could be made. The estate was initially planted in the 1860s, at the same time as Rioja was being invaded by Bordeaux merchants and influence. Vega Sicilia's Unico, made only in good vintages, aged longer in oak than virtually any other table wine, and sold at 10 years (after some years in bottle nowadays), is a wine of astonishing, penetrating personality. But here Bordeaux grapes, unusually, add a little glamour to the native Tempernillo (a locally adapted version known here as Tinto Fino or Tinto del Pais). Ribera became hugely fashionable in the 1990s. There were just 24 bodegas in the region when the DO was created in 1982. In 2012 there were more than 200, down from a peak of 230, thanks to Spain's economic crisis. (Many of these bodegas, it should be said, are unencumbered by vineyards). This wide, high plateau has seen a quite remarkable transformation of land previously devoted to cereals and sugar beet. Important wine zone in Castilla y Leon in north-central Spain that challenged Rioja as the leading red wine-producing region in Iberia towards the end of the 20th century when it grew substantially. By 2012 it had a total of 21,500 ha/51,500 acres of vineyard, a third as much as Rioja. Ribera del Duero spans the upper valley of the River Duero (known as Douro in Portugal), start g some 30 km/ 18 miles east of the city of Valladolid. Although Bodegas Vega Sicilia has been producing one of Spain's finest wines since the mid 19th century, the region was awarded DO status only in 1982. Since more than 200 private estates have emerged. At first sight, the Duero valley is not the most congenial place to grow grapes. At between 700 and 850 m/2,800 ft above sea level, the growing season is relatively short. Frost, commonplace in winter, continues to be a threat well into the spring. Temperatures, which can reach nearly 40 degrees C/ 140 degrees F in the middle of a July day, fall sharply at night - a phenomenon associated with wine quality elsewhere. The potential was recognized by Alejandro Fernandez, who played a key role in the considerable development of the region in the 1980s. Pesquera, his wine vinified from grapes growing around the village of Pesquera del Duero a short distance upstream from Vega Sicilia, was released in the early 1980s to international acclaim. Other growers (many of whom had previously sold their grapes to the cooperatives) were thereby encouraged to make and market their own wines, soon challenging Rioja's traditional hegemony inside Spain. In the 1990s, consumption of top quality Ribera wines soared within Spain, causing deepening concern in Rioja. Several Ribera producers attained quality levels not much below those of Vega Sicilia and Pesquera. The leading challengers include Dominio de Pingus, Alion, Perez Pascuas, Pago de los Capellanes, Emillo Moro, Aalto, Hermanos Sastre, Alonso del Yerro, Goyo Garcia Viadero, Hacienda Monasterio, and Cillar de Silos. Several of these growers are in the east of the region, near Aranda de Duero, where a tradition of cheap roses had previously inhibited production of top quality reds. The region's principal vine variety, the Tinto Fino (also called Tinta del Pais), is a local variant of Rioja's tempranillo. It seems to ahve adapted to the Duero's climactic extremes and produces deep colored, occasionally astringent, firm flavored red wines without the support of any other grape variety. White wine made from the Albillo, a white variety enjoyed as a table grape by the locals, is not entitled to the DO but may occasionally be blended into the intense red wine to lighten the load and add glycerine content. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec, introduced by Vega Sicilia 130 years ago, are now allowed throughout the denomination. Garnacha is used in the production of rose. A two hour drive north of Madrid, Ribera del Duero is in the province of Castilla y Leon, a severe, dramatic land of rough mess and rocky plateaus that stretch as far as the eye can see. Massive stone castles stand as fortress atop the highest ridges. The masculine power and glory of medieval Spain is palpable. On these high, dry, sunny plains, the vineyards, too, have a severity. Old vines, gnarled as if in agony, protrude from the rough ground. If the ground holds vines in place everywhere in the wold, in Ribera del Duero the opposite seems true. Earth herself clings to the muscular vines. Ribera del Duero is almost exclusively a red wine region, although simple roses are made from local consumption. The best reds are bold, concentrated, ripe, mouthfilling, structured, and packed with dark flavors reminiscent of roasted coffee, cocoa, peat, and black licorice. Yet the very best of them are also lusciously refined. Indeed, three Ribera del Duero wines - Unico (made by Vega-Sicilia), Pingus, and Pesquera - are among the most outstanding red wines anywhere in the world. There are more than 250 wine estates in Ribera del Duero. The major grape variety, tinto fino (also known as tinta del pais), is another name for the variety tempranillo. But, according to research by the Insttituto Tecnologico Agrario de Castilla y Leon, there are, of course, clonal differences. After centuries of adaptation, the tempranillo clones that exist in Ribera del Duero are quite different from those in Rioja. Thanks to Ribera del Duero's harsh, dramatic climate, tinto fino's smaller berries and tougher skins make wines that are often more powerful (but occasionally less polished) than Rioja. Ribera del Duero is named for the river Duero, the third largest river on the Iberian Peninsula. The river crosses the great meseta (high plateau) of north central Spain, ultimately plunging down into Portugual, where it becomes the Douro (linked famously for Port wine) and finally empties into the Atlantic Ocean. In Ribera del Duero, the river forms a 22-mile-wide (35-km) valley with flattopped mountains on either side. Vineyards, interspersed among fields of grain and sugar beets, are scattered along a 71-mile-long (115-km) strip on the north and south sides of the valley. According to the region's official Denominacion de Origen (D), Ribera del Duero spans four districts within Castilla y Leon: Burgos, in the center of the DO, with the vast majority of vineyard land; Valladolid, to the west; and Segovia and Soria to the south and east, respectively. During much of the Middle Ages, Castilla was the battleground on which the Catholic kings fought the Moors, the Islamic conquerors who invaded Spain in 711. The stark, ponderous fortress and castles along the Duero date from this time. Although grapes were grown throughout the upheavals, it was not until Spain was completely reconquered by the Catholic monarchs in the 15th century that Ribera del Duero, free of political conflict, could come into its own as a wine region. The city of Valladolid became the capital of Spain; Ferdinand and Isabella were married there in the late fifteen century. From the beginning of the 20th century until the 1980s, Ribera del Duero was a wine region known primarily for cheap, gruff reds churned out by cooperatives that had been built with government subsides after the 1950s. Mediocrity reigned. Most wines, even as late as 1970, were made in unclean barrels and left unattended to ferment at will. The wines were seldom racked off their lees, never filtered, and rarely bottled commercially. Customers simply arrived at the bodega with reusable containers and bought what they needed directly from the barrel. An enourmous turnaround came in the 1980s. The success of two exceptional wineries, Vega-Sicilia and Pesuera, inspired an influx of capital and technical skill, plus a new passion for quality. By the mid-1990s, the wines coming out of the region were so shockingly good that some Spanish wine lovers suggested Ribera del Duero - rather than Rioja - might just be the finest wine region in Spain. Today, the region contains some of Spain's most successful wineries - from the historic Vega-Sicilia, to lauded avant-garde estates such as Pingus, Abadia Retuerta, Alion, and Mauro. Indeed, these five estates, all lined up along Castilla's N22 highway, form Spanish wine country's so called milla de oro, golden mile. Despite it gentle-sounding name, Ribera del Duero is a region of harsh intensity; bodega owners call it the land of extremes. Sunlight - 2,400 hours of it per year - is intense; rainfall is modest. Summers are blistering, with temperatures often exceeding 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Winters are fiercely cold, sometimes reaching -20 degrees F (-29 degrees C). On any given day during the grapes' ripening cycle, the diurnal temperature fluctuation is dramatic - from scorching hot in the afternoon to cold at night. Grapes love this, for hot daytime temperature allow the grapes to ripen at full speed, while cold nights temporarily shut doe photosynthesis, letting the vine rest and preserving acidity. The main grape variety is called both tinta del pais and tinta fino. Historically, locals referred to these simple wine (and the grapes they were made from) as tinta del pais - red wine of the land. As time went of and higher-quality wines were made in Ribera del Duero, the term tinto fino - fine red - was increasingly used to describe both the wines and the grapes. Except for the bodegas built since the late 1980s, the landscape here seems unchanged by passing centuries. For much of the year Ribera del Duero is a brown, almost desolate place. Above ground, dirt fields stretch endlessly, hiding crops of sugar beets below. There are approximately 52,000 acres (21,000 hectares) of vines in Ribera del Duero - a modest amount compared to Rioja, which has just over 157,000 acres (63,5000 hectares). And thanks to the number of old vines, yields tend to be very low (about 1.6 tons of the acre). There are two general types of soil. Nearest the Duero River and its small tributaries, the soils are composed of sandy sediments, marl, and ancient riverbed stones. The higher vineyards - which are considered some of the best - are on slope (known as laderas) above the riverbeds and contain more limestone and clay. As for the Duero River itself, although it is neither wide nor deep nor particularly grand (at least as it flows through Ribera del Duero), it does help temper the region's dry, harsh climate. The river adds moisture to the air., and in summer the riverbanks buffer the hot, dry winds that sweep through the valley. In fall and spring the river's stabilizing warmth helps protect against frost. In Ribera del Duero, tinto fino accounts for the lion's share of all plantings, and all the top wines are made almost entirely from it. THE BODEGAS THAT SPARKED A REVOLUTION Made in a remote and rocky part of the Duero, Vega-Sicilia is Spain's most legendary and expensive wine. While most other bodegas in Ribera del Duero were making innocuous wine throughout the 1950s, 1960s,, 1970s, Vega-Sicilia had long before embarked on making superb wine. This early commitment to quality in a region that was untested at the time - at least for fine wine - established Vega-Sicilia as an extremely serious estate. The fact that the wines were stunning only cemented the winery's reputation further. Vega-Sicilia wines would have been exceptional in most contexts, but against the backdrop of what was happening (or not happening) in Ribera del Duero for decades, ther were otherwordly. Then, in the 1970s, a second bodega, Pequera, also began to build a reputation for remarkable wines. Pesquera is owned by Alejandro Fernandez, an energetic maverick who is convinced that Ribera del Duero is potentially one of the world's best wine regions. After a full career making agricultural equipment, Fernandez built Pesquera, planted vineyards, and started making what he called masculine wines. Tiny lot by tiny lot, he pressed the grapes in an old wooden press (used until 1982). The wines were put into barrels immediately after pressing and left to ferment and age. They were never filtered. Filtering a wines, Fernandez said, was like pushing a fat man through a keyhole. The body invariably got damaged. Like Vega-Sicilia, Pesquera turned out to be a profoundly rich and complex wine. After both bodegas began to recieve worldwide attention in the 1980s, new capital - and new talent - flooded into RIbera del Duero. Among the most influential winemakers to come in was the Danish-born, Bordeaux-trained winemaker Peter Sisseck. Hired first as a consultant in Ribera del Duero, Sisseck was so impressed by the region and its potential that he founded his own winery - Dominio de Pingus - in 1995. Pingus has gone on to be one of the stars of Spain, and a wine that, along with its little sister, Flor de Pingus, is frequently named as one of the most extraordinary wines in the world. VEGA-SICILIA Today. Vega-Sicilia, Ribera del Duero's most legendary estate is owned by the Alvarez family. Vega is the word for the green part of a riverbank. Sicilia evolved from St. Cecilia and is not a reference to the Italian island of Sicily. Vega-Sicilia's vineyards were first planted in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda, a winemaker who had studied in Bordeaux and returned to Castilla bringing eighteen thousand vine cuttings of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, and pinot noir with him. These grapes were combined with tinto fino to become the first Vega-Sicilian wines. Today, about 80% of Vega-Sicilia's 617 acres (250 hectares) of vineyards are planted with tinto fino, and the remainder with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and malbec. Vega-Sicilia makes three wines: Valbuena 5, so named becasue it is sold after five years of aging; the very prestigious Resesrva Especial (a blend of vintages); and the utterly rare Unico (Spanish for unique). Unico is aged in succession of large and small oak barrels until the winemaker feels it is perfectly ready to drink, which, as it happens, is rarely less than ten years and not according to any regular marketing schedule. Amazingly, the bodega released both its 1982 and 1968 Unicos in the same year -1991. That's after nine and 23 years of aging, respectively. This practice makes Unico one of the world's longest-aged reds before release. Today it has more than 49,400 actes (20,000 ha) of vines. Many of the new plantings depend not on Ribera's own strain of Tempranillo but on cuttings imported from other regions, hence of more doubtful value. Viticulturists can easily be foxed by Ribera's extremely varied soils, even within a single vineyard, where grapes may ripen at infuriatingly different paces. Limestone outcrops, more common north of the Duero, help to retain rainfall that is far from generous. The tradition of buying in grapes is just as strong here as in Rioja (even Vega Sicilia, with 600 acres/250ha, has contracts with other growers), and many of these new bodegas vie with each other for fruit. Some of the best comes for round La Horra, but top winemakers such as Peter Sisseck, the Dane who made Dominion de Pingus Spain's rarest and most expensive wine, are cagey about their sources - invariably the oldest and truest of gnarled, crouching Tinto Fino Bushes. Two of the most successful producers in the region are not even within the DO boundaries. Abadia Retuerta, a vast property founded in 1996 by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, is at Sardon de Duero, just west of the official boundary. In 1982 when the DO regulations were being drawn up there were no vines here, but there had been vines almost continuously from the 17th century. The abbey was one of Valladolid's chief suppliers of wine until the early 1970s. Even furtherwest, in Tudela, is Mauro, founded in 1980 and now established in a handsome old stone building by Mariano Garcia, one Vega Sicilia's winemaker. Garcia is also involved in making Aalto, just one of many relatively new names in Ribera del Duero, where, it seems, reputations can be made in a single vintage.

Sherry

Seriously undervalued but slowly reawakening fortified wine from the region around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucia, south west Spain. Sherry was used as a generic term for a wide range of fortified wines made from white grapes, but in the mid 1990s the sherry trade successfully campaigned to have the name restricted - at least within the EU - to the produce of the Jerez DO. Despite renewed interest in high quality sherry, overall production has dropped continuously for a quarter-century and was down to 450,000 hl/12 million gal a year by 2012. Apart from Spain, the two most important markets for sherry have been the Netherlands and Great Britain. Sherry is the English corruption of the word Jerez, while Xeres is its French counterpart and is also the French name for sherry. The words Jerez-Xerez_Sherry appear on all bottles of sherry, on paper seals granted by the consejo regulador to guarantee the origin of the wine. Within the Jerez DO, there are three centres for sherry maturation: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlucar de Barrameda, and Puerto de Santa Maria, each of which imparts subtle differences to the wines. Sherry is initially made to conform to two principal types: pale, dry fino (or, in Sanlucar de Barrameda, manzanilla), which ages under the influence of the film-forming yeast flor, and dark, full, but dry oloroso. All sherry styles found on labels (Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Pale Cream, Cream, etc., in generally ascending order of body) are derived from these two main types. The only exception is Palo Cortado, which is a naturally resulting intermediate type and style between Amontillado and Oloroso. Pedro Ximenez is an intensely sweet wine, usually for blending, made from the grape variety of the same name often grown outside the sherry region. Jerez is one of the oldest wine-producing towns in Spain. It may well have been established by the Phoenicians who founded the nearby port of Cadiz in 110 bc The Phoenicians were followed by the Carthaginians, who were in turn succeeded by the Romans. Iberian viticulture advanced rapidly under Roman rule and Jerez has been identified as the Roman city of Ceritium. After the Romans were expelled around ad 400, southern Iberia were overrun by successive tribes of Vandals and Visigoths, who were in turn defeated by the Moors after the battle of Guadalete in 711. The Moors held sway over Andalucia for seven centuries and their influence is still evident, not least in the architecture of Seville, Cordoba, and Grenada. Under Moorish domination, Jerez grew in size and stature. The town was named Seris and this later evolved into Jerez de la Frontera, when it stood on the frontier of the two warring kingdoms during Christian reconquest in the 13th century. Viticulture, which continued despite Moorish occupation, was revitalized by the Christians, although the region around Jerez continued to be plagued by war until the 15th century. Exports began and, in spite of periodic setbacks, trade with England and France was well established by the 1490s, when it was declared that wines shipped abroad would be free from local tax. In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain, their vineyards were confiscated, and foreigners, many of them English, took their place as merchants. Certain basic quality controls were established, including the capacity of the sherry cask or butt, which has not changed to this day. At the end of the 15th century, after Christopher Columbus had discovered America for his base in Andalucia, the sherry town of Sanlucar de Barrameda became an important port for the new transatlantic trade and in the 16th century large quantities of wine were shipped to the Americas from Jerez. Relations between England and Spain began to deteriorate in the 16th century and, although trade continued, the colony of England merchants trading from Sanlucar began to suffer privations. In 1585, after a number of raids by Sir Francis Drake and his fleet, English merchants were arrested and their possessions seized. Exports ceased. Two years later, in an attack on Cadiz, Drake both signed the King of Spain's beard and captured 2,900 pipes of wine. This plunder helped to establish sherry as a popular drink in Elizabeth England. After the death of Elizabeth I, trade became easer and sacke/sack returned to royal circles. The English colony re-established itself and prospered, often by shipping poor-quality wines. By the 17th century, sherris-sack was well established in England was drunk by Samuel Pepys, who in 1662 records that he mixed sherry and malaga. Pepys visited the English colony in Sanlucar de Barrameda in 1683. At that time, until the construction of a railway in the mid 19th century, most of the sherry bodegas were located on the coast at Sanlucar and Puerto de Santa Maria for easy export. The sherry industry suffered many setbacks at the beginning of the 18th century, when England and Spain became embroiled in a series of conflicts beginning in 1702 with the War of the Spanish Succession. The methuen treaty (1730) diverted trade to Portugal and a series of restrictive measure imposed by the Gremio or Wine Growers Guild of Jerez sent merchants to Malaga in search of wine. However, the latter half of the century was an era of increasing prosperity stimulated by the arrival of a number of French and British merchants. The firms of Osborne, Duff Gordon, and Garvey date from this period. The Peninsular Wars (1808-14) devestated Jerez, Andaluciar became a battleground, occupied for a time by the French, who pillaged the sherry bodegas and forces a number of families to flee the relative safety of the Cadiz garrison. With the defeat of the French, merchants set about rebuilding their business with spectacular success. Pedro Domecq took over the firm of Juan Haurie in 1822 and Manual Maria Gonzalez Angel, founder of Gonzalez Byass, began trading in 1835. Sherry exports rose steadily form about 8,000 butts int he early years of the century to over 70,000 butts in 1873, a figure not exceeded again until the 1950s. In the 1850s, the sherry industry was greatly helped by the construction of a railway linking Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria, and a number of merchants left their quayside bodegas. Many new producers took advantage of the sherry boom only to be wiped out by phylloxera and economic depression a few years later. By the end of the 19th century, the sherry industry was on the brink of collapse. The boom gave rise to numerous spurious 'sherries' from South Africa, Australia, France—and from Germany, where a sherry-style potion was made from potato spirit. A spiral of price-cutting began and sherry was stretched with poor-quality wine imported from other parts of Spain. Demand fell as Victorian society refused sherry, alarmed by scare stories that the wine was detrimental to health. The predations of the phylloxera louse from 1894 helped to stabilize the market and the shippers who survived the depression held large stocks of unsold wine to tide them through the lean years when all the vineyards were replanted. In 1910, the leading traders united to form the Sherry Shippers Association, which campaigned vigorously to restore the fortunes of the beleaguered industry. After the First World War exports returned to their late-19th-century levels. In 1933, a consejo regulador was formed to protect and control the sherry industry and in 1935, a year before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Jerez established its own DO region. The Civil War (1936-9) had little effect on sherry exports, but trade collapsed during the Second World War. The most dramatic episode in the recent history of sherry began in 1944 when Don Zoilo Ruiz-Mateos y Camacho, mayor of the town of Rota, bought out a small sherry stockholder whose business had suffered badly during the war. In the late 1950s, his son, the now legendary José María Ruiz-Mateos, secured a 99-year contract to supply the important brand owners harveys of bristol with all their sherry requirements. With help from the banks, he began buying up other bodegas and in 1961 established the Rumasa empire. In the 1970s, Ruiz-Mateos acquired substantial wine interests outside Jerez (see rioja), as well as in banking, construction, retailing, tourism, chemicals, and textiles. The group is said to have bought three banks in a single day. Although Ruiz-Mateos contributed greatly to the modernization of the Spanish wine industry, Rumasa initiated a price-cutting spiral which continued to blight the long-term interests of sherry well into the 1990s. Ruiz Mateos's empire building came to an abrupt end in 1983 when, fearing imminent collapse, the government nationalized Rumasa, which at that point controlled about a third of the sherry industry. Rumasa's component parts were subsequently returned to the private sector. Since the mid 1980s, the sherry industry has been facing decline. The total vineyard area has been reduced to 6,800 ha/16,300 acres; less than a third of what it was at the end of the 1970s. Plots of sunflowers and cereals are now commonplace among the vines. In the early 1990s, with a worldwide market estimated to be around 1.09 million hl/28.7 million gal, stocks were drastically reduced as the sherry industry attempted to bring supply and demand back into balance. By 2012 a new phenomenon surfaced as the supply of grapes from the dramatically smaller vineyard area dropped for the first time below demand. Ruiz Mateos briefly resurfaced in the early 21st century before his group again went under amid charges of assorted fiscal misdeeds. A few new names have appeared on the Jerez landscape, such as Tradición, Rey Fernando de Castilla, Dios Baco, and El Maestro Sierra. They have typically acquired older soleras from bodegas which either disappeared or were taken over by others. Another leading actor has been the Estévez group, led by the idiosyncratic José Estévez (died 2005), the inventor of a controversial system to remove histamine from sherries. This group now includes Marqués del Real Tesoro, Tío Mateo, Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín-La Guita, and Valdespino. Also showing signs of dynamism have been the Sanlúcar de Barrameda bodegas, from the giant Barbadillo to smaller ones such as Hidalgo-La Gitana and Pedro Romero. Equipo Navazos, formed by wine writer and criminologist Jesús Barquín and Estévez group winemaker Eduardo Ojeda has successfully contributed to the rebirth of interest in sherry worldwide by acquiring exceptional old butts from various bodegas and releasing small bottlings under the brand 'La Bota de...'. Amid calls to rejuvenate the concept of sherry, including the promotion of a larger number of vintage-dated wines (a concept adopted by González Byass for some top-end Olorosos, Amontillados, and Palos Cortados), the Consejo Regulador responded in 2000 by creating two new categories of high quality sherry: VOS (Very Old Sherry or Vinum Optimum Signatum), for wines with an average age surpassing 20 years, and VORS (Very Old and Rare Sherry or Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum), for wines over 30, in four categories: Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Amontillado and Pedro Ximénez. Such methods as carbon dating were introduced to ascertain the age of the wines submitted by bodegas, and demanding blind tastings were instituted to accept or reject samples. This new category has stirred up fresh interest in sherry and qualified wines command high prices. But inevitably this is an elite category of minor presence on the market as most of the brands release just a few hundred bottles of their prized elixirs every year. There is also increasing interest in the En Rama Fino and Manzanilla sherries that are perceived as more authentic and less manipulated than the regular versions. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE The climate of the Jerez region is strongly influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic. Sea breezes from the gulf of Cádiz alleviate extremes. The oceanic influence is strongest in the coastal towns of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa María, where temperatures in July and August may be 10 °C/18 °F lower than in Jerez, 20 km/12 miles inland. Winters are mild and damp with most of the region's annual average rainfall of 650 mm/25 in falling between late autumn and spring. There is almost no rainfall between June and October. Summer temperatures often reach 30 °C inland, occasionally rising to 40 °C with the levante, a piercing, dry, dusty wind from the south east. The vines are sustained during the dry summer months by the porous, white albariza soils that are at the heart of the Jerez DO. The demarcated region is roughly triangular in shape and extends from the town of Chiclana de Frontera in the south east to the river Guadalquivir in the north west, tapering inland. However, the best albariza soils cover a stretch of rolling country north of the river Guadalete between Jerez and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. These outcrops of albariza are known collectively as Jerez Superior and the majority of these vineyards are within the municipality of Jerez de la Frontera, with secondary pockets around Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Puerto de Santa María, Chipiona, and Rota. The albariza zone is divided into subdistricts. Those with the deepest, but not necessarily the most calcareous, albariza soils like the famous Balbaina, Macharnudo, Carrascal, and Añina districts produce the most delicate wines for the finest Finos and Manzanillas (see Wine-making below). The most calcareous soils, known as tajón, are generally unsatisfactory for viticulture because of potential chlorosis. The finest albarizas include a proportion of sand and clay and tend to vary with depth, with a limestone content of 25% or more on the surface rising to 60% in the rooting zone 80 to 100 cm/39 in below the surface. In between the hills of albariza, barro soils have more clay and produce fuller, coarser wines and slightly higher yields. On the sandy soils known as arenas, yields are twice as great as on the albariza but the quality of the wine is poor. Arena soils were popular with growers at the end of the 19th century as the phylloxera louse found it difficult to survive in sand. However, with the recent rationalization of the sherry industry, viticulture is increasingly concentrated on the albariza soils and over 80% of the region's vineyards are situated in Jerez Superior. VITICULTURE AND VINE VARIETIES In the 19th century, a variety of different vines were planted around Jerez but, after phylloxera wiped out most of the vineyards in the 1890s, many varieties were never replanted. Only three varieties are now authorized for new vineyards in Jerez: palomino, pedro ximénez, and muscat of alexandria. Of these, Palomino is the most important and accounts for around 95% of the total vineyard area. There are in fact two types of Palomino: Palomino Basto (also known as the Palomino de Jerez) and Palomino Fino. Palomino Basto has largely been supplanted by Palomino Fino, which provides better yields and is more resistant to disease. Palomino Fino has proved to be a particularly versatile grape and is used for most types of sherry. Moscatel Gordo Blanco (Muscat of Alexandria) represents about 3% of the Jerez vineyard and is planted principally in the more sandy soils on the coast around Chipiona. It is mainly used for sweetening although some producers make and market their own varietal Moscatel wines, including one of near-mythical proportions, Valdespino's Toneles. Pedro Ximénez (known for short as PX) has given ground to Palomino and currently represents less than 100 ha/250 acres of vineyard since Palomino Fino is easier to cultivate. Most sweet wine is now made from Palomino although some smaller producers still maintain small PX soleras which they bottle as a varietal wine. In recent years, special dispensation has been granted for the, now routine, importation of PX must from montilla-moriles to compensate for the lack of PX in Jerez. Since phylloxera swept through Jerez, all vines have been grafted onto American rootstocks which are selected according to the soil's lime content. In the past vines were planted in a hexagonal pattern known as tresbolillo but, with increasing mechanization, vineyards are planted in orderly rows at a maximum vine density of 4,100 vines per ha (1,660 per acre). Yields from the Palomino are high, although the maximum permitted yield for the entire DO has been set at 80 hl/ha (4.5 tons/acre). With the onset of mechanization, modern vineyards are trained on wires, although the pruning method, called vara y pulgar, is unchanged, and similar to the guyot system. A vara (meaning stick or branch) with seven or eight buds produces the current year's crop. The pulgar (meaning thumb) is a short shoot with one bud which will produce the following year's vara. WINEMAKING The harvest begins when the Palomino has reached a must weight of at least 11 °baumé, traditionally on 8 September. It lasts for about a month. Grapes are loaded into plastic crates and transported to large automated wineries, where they are destalked and pressed. Most bodegas use horizontal plate or pneumatic presses to control the extraction rate, which may not legally exceed 72.5 l/19 gal of juice from 100 kg/220 lb of grapes (16% higher than the extraction rate permitted for champagne, for instance). Others, especially the co-operatives, use continuous de-juicers which tend to produce coarser wines with more solids and phenolics. Today acid levels are adjusted with the addition of tartaric acid prior to fermentation, and cold stabilization before bottling is usually essential. After settling or centrifugation, fermentation generally takes place in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks, although a few shippers continue to ferment a small proportion of their wine in butt, mainly to impregnate and season new casks of American oak that are to be used for maturation. (New barrels are not valued in Jerez.) The modernization of the sherry industry which began in the 1960s and continued through the 1970s and 1980s has removed much of the mysticism that once surrounded the production of sherry. The modern winemaker can predetermine which of the two initial sherry types—fino and oloroso—each lot of grapes becomes. The first selection takes place in the vineyard. Wines for the best finos are sourced from older vines growing on the best albariza soils while olorosos are made from grapes grown on the heavier clays. Elegance is crucial to finos, also made from the best free-run juice, which has fewer impurities than the slightly coarser and more astringent juices from the press, which are set aside for olorosos or inferior rayas, particularly coarse olorosos. Wine destined for fino tends to be fermented at a lower temperature than that made for oloroso. Barrel-fermented wine is often too coarse and astringent for the production of fino. The second selection takes place soon after the end of fermentation. Although many shippers producing table wine endeavour to persuade otherwise, Palomino-based wine is fairly flat and characterless with a natural alcohol content of 11 or 12%. Depending on the style of the wine, sherry is fortified with grape spirit to between 15 or 15.5 and 22%. The appearance of flor, the veil of yeast that forms on the surface of the wine and distinguishes fino from other styles of sherry, is determined by the degree of fortification. Growth is inhibited by an alcoholic strength much above 16%. Wines destined to develop into finos are therefore fortified to 15 or 15.5%. Olorosos, which mature without flor, are fortified to a higher strength of around 18%. The sherry bodegas are teeming with the flor yeast strains. This beneficial film-forming yeast grows naturally on the surface of the wine, although some houses now choose to cultivate their own flor culture. Butts used for fino are only partially filled to around five-sixths of their 600- to 650-l (160-70-gal) capacity because flor, which both protects the wine from oxidation and changes its character, feeds off oxygen as well as alcohol. Flor is also extremely sensitive to heat and in the warm summer months it tends to die. In Montilla, for example, flor is reduced to a scum-like film in July and August, while in the cooler Jerez region it grows all the year round. However, there are significant climatic differences within the Jerez region (see Geography above). Flor grows more thickly and evenly in the cooler, more humid coastal towns of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa María than it does in the bodegas situated in Jerez de la Frontera itself. This accounts for many of the subtle differences in style between Jerez Fino, Puerto Fino, and Manzanilla outlined below. Left to its own devices, flor would feed on the nutrients in the wine and die before having a profound influence on the wine's character. However, flor is kept alive in casks of fino for six years or more by continually replenishing the butt with younger wine, and replenishing the yeast nutrients. This is the basis of the solera system, a method of fractional blending which, apart from nurturing flor in fino, also maintains a consistent style for other sherry styles. A sherry solera comprises a number of groups of butts, each of which is known as a criadera. Wine is withdrawn from the group containing the oldest wine, which is itself called the solera. This is replenished from the butts that form the first criadera, which is in turn replenished by wine from the second criadera, a process known as 'running the scales'. Simple soleras are fed by three or four criaderas while more complex systems run to as many as 14. The whole system is fed with new wine from the most recent harvest. Up to 33% of the wine in a solera may be withdrawn in any one year. Fino soleras need to be refreshed the most frequently, and by running the scales at regular intervals (usually two or three times a year) flor may be kept alive for eight to ten years. STYLES OF SHERRY The diagram above shows how commercial styles of sherry are made from the types of wine naturally formed. Before bottling as Fino or Manzanilla styles of sherry, finos are filtered and fortified to a minimum of 15%. Some of the more commercial brands are slightly sweetened. Finos which lose their covering of flor become a sherry type known as amontillados, turning amber in colour and changing in character due to greater contact with the air. Amontillados evolve naturally if the flor has exhausted its supply of nutrients, or the style may be induced if the flor is killed off by fortification to 16% alcohol or above. A fino beginning to take on the characteristic of an amontillado may be bottled as a fino-amontillado or, in the case of a wine from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a Manzanilla Pasada. True Amontillados are completely dry and the finest examples age for many years in their own soleras. Most so-called 'Amontillados' are no more than medium-dry sherries blended from inferior quality rayas and sweet wines, however. Having been fortified to 18%, olorosos on the other hand develop without recourse to flor. They age in greater contact with the air, turning dark brown and gaining in concentration with age. The alcoholic content increases with slow evaporation such that the strength of an old oloroso may approach 24%. In their natural state, olorosos are dry, although old wines may taste full and concentrated. Rayas (inferior olorosos used in blending) may be aged in the open air. A certain proportion of Oloroso on the market is natural, dry oloroso; the majority is sweet wine of various quality levels. Sweet sherries, most of them styled Cream, are made in a number of different ways. The finest sweet sherries such as Oloroso dulce (sweet oloroso) are produced by blending intensely sweet wines made from sun-dried Pedro Ximénez grapes. However, today Palomino grapes are frequently dried to raisins under plastic tunnels, pressed, and fortified before fermentation to make a mistela. This is never as sweet or as powerfully concentrated as PX, but the method is widely used for the production of more commercial sherries. Commercial Cream sherries may be very ordinary blends to which sweetening and colouring wines have been added. The darkest sherries may be adjusted with arrope grape concentrate, or vino de color, a dark, sweet syrup that has been prepared by boiling down fresh grape must. Pale Cream sherry, typically a blend of fino and sweet wine, is normally adjusted with rectified concentrated grape must and fresh Palomino must, vacuum concentrated, and the colour removed with activated charcoal. A few bodegas sweeten their wines with fortified Moscatel but this tends to produce a rather obvious, aromatic, grapey style of sherry. In the early 2000s, two new designations were introduced, with some success, for particularly old sherries: VOS, Very Old Sherry or Vinum Optimum Signatum, for blends at least 20 years old and VORS, Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum or Very Rare Old Sherry, for blends at least 30 years old. This provided some incentive for the release, or re-branding, of some bodegas' greatest treasures. ORGANIZATION OF THE TRADE The majority of properties are small, averaging little over a hectare. Growers typically sell their grapes either directly to a shipper or to one of seven co-operatives. Some co-ops maintain their own soleras but most sell the wine to one of the sherry bodegas. Four classes of sherry bodega are recognized by the Consejo Regulador: Bodegas de Producción: winemaking bodegas which are not permitted to mature wine. Bodegas de Elaboración: winemaking bodegas which are allowed to hold stocks of wine for a short period of time before selling it on. Bodegas de Crianza y Almacenado: firms which mature and keep stocks of wine or almacenistas. These bodegas are required to have a minimum of 1,000 hl/26,400 gal of which 60% must be from Jerez Superior. Bodegas de Crianza y Expedición: firms which both mature and sell wine for consumption. These bodegas are required by law to maintain a minimum stock of 12,500 hl/330,000 gal of wine of which 60% must be from Jerez Superior. Exporters of sherry must hold a government licence. JEREZ: THE SHERRY REGION The three words Jerez, Xérès, and Sherry that appear on every bottle of Sherry are a reflection of the diverse names for Spain's most spellbinding and fascinating fortified wine. Sherry is the English word, and Xérès the original Phoenician one, for the wines made in the Spanish wine region of Jerez. But no matter what you call it, if there were justice in the wine cosmos, Sherry would be one of the world's best-loved and oft-sipped wines. As it stands, Sherry—the unsung hero of five great wine classics (Sherry, Port, Madeira, Champagne, and Tokaji)—is largely misunderstood and underappreciated (at least in our time). That it is sometimes cast as the libation of little old ladies is nothing if not amusing. Sherry, after all, is the daily drink of southern Spanish men—known for their machismo, love of bullfights, and prowess at horse racing, not to mention their predilection for bars and cigars. As a fortified wine, Sherry's alcoholic strength has been raised to between 15 and 22 percent. (A standard table wine is usually 12 to 15 percent alcohol.) In addition to being fortified, Sherries are also given slow, careful, and systematic exposure to oxygen—the degree of which varies depending on the style of Sherry being made. But fortification and controlled oxidation do not begin to tell the whole hauntingly delicious and complex story of Sherry. No other wine in the world lights up the senses and the brain in the same way. Indeed, nowhere else in the world are so many radically different styles of wine made from the same grape variety. Much more on this to come. Although vineyards and beaches would seem to make strange bedfellows, Sherry comes from a small wedge of land along the sea in southwest Spain, in the province of Andalusia. This is the Spain of a 1960s movie—a land of gypsies and heel-pounding flamenco dancers, guitars and prized horses, whitewashed villages, and perhaps the world's most mouthwatering array of shellfish. It was from these stark, chalky-white shores that Columbus began his westward sail. If he brought wine with him (and history suggests he did), Sherry was the first European wine drunk in America. THE LAND, THE GRAPES, AND THE VINEYARDS Sherry comes from an eerie, barren moonscape of blinding whiteness along Spain's southwestern Andalusian coast. The vineyards spread in triangular fashion from an inland point north of the charming town of Jerez de la Frontera to the small maritime towns of Puerto de Santa María, on the Bay of Cádiz, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Atlantic shore at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. The best vineyards lie in the heart of this triangle, a region designated as Jerez Superior by Sherry's Consejo Regulador, or governing body. Sherry's Consejo—legally constituted in 1935—was the first in Spain, and Sherry was the first DO, awarded that designation two years earlier, in 1933, by the national government. Within the Jerez Superior region, the vineyards of highest regard roll like waves over gentle hillocks. Looking at them, I am always reminded of the rippling landscape of the ocean floor. On these beautifully smooth and curved hills, the verdant vines glisten like emeralds in the glaring summer sun. Millennia ago, the Sherry region was covered by a vast sea. Thus, not surprisingly today, the best soil type—usually found on the tops of the hillocks—is composed of the remnants of marine sediments mixed with chalky calcium carbonates (including limestone) and prehistoric sea fossils. Called albariza, the soil is stark white, crumbly, light as cake mix, and has very good water-holding capacity. The latter helps the vines endure southern Spain's long, often drought-ridden summers. In addition, since albariza soils tend to be the highest in elevation, vines planted in albariza tend to catch sea breezes—a boon for preserving acidity in the grapes. Less prized than albariza is arena, sand, often right beside the coast, and barro, a low-lying, brownish, more fertile clay where, today, mostly sugar beets and corn are planted. The most widely planted grape in Jerez is Palomino fino (known simply as Palomino); 95 percent of Sherry is made from it. The name Palomino refers not to horses (as might be expected) but to Fernán Yáñez Palomino, a thirteenth-century knight to King Alfonso X. One of the least acidic grapes in the world, Palomino is also extremely high-yielding. Growers can easily reap the legal limit of 8,476 pounds per acre (9,500 kilos per hectare). Even the bunches themselves are huge; a cluster of Palomino is equal in size to four or five bunches of Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon. In terms of aroma, flavor, and character, Palomino won't turn any heads. As it happens, however, that very neutrality is sought. With a relatively simple grape as a blank canvas, a Sherry's individuality comes from the albariza soil in which its grapes are grown and the solera in which it is made. (More on the solera concept in a moment.) Finally, completing the grape list, there are two other grapes—both white—found in Jerez. Both account for less and less acreage as time goes on, but both can make stunning wines. The first, moscatel bianco (muscat of Alexandria), is used to make a sweet wine for blending and, occasionally, a fantastic dessert wine on its own. Second, Pedro Ximénez (PEY-dro he-MEN-ez), or "PX," as it is known, is a local Andalusian variety used to make the style of sweet Sherry called Pedro Ximénez. This is a wine that any card-carrying wine lover must try, for it is one of the most sensual wine experiences to be had. A glass of PX looks, for all the world, like a glass of molasses, and the wine—dense, syrupy, and dark mahogany in color—is the very epitome of artisanal creativity, opulence, and refined sweetness (at 44 percent, 440 grams per liter, residual sugar!). HOW SHERRY GOT ITS NAME The name Sherry has a long pedigree. The Greeks called the region Xera, the Romans, Ceret. By the early Middle Ages the Arabs called the region Sekeris, and northern Spanish Castilians called it Xérès, and later Xérèz. By the late nineteenth century, Xérèz had become Jerez, and the town that marked the frontier between the Arabs and the northern Spanish was called Jerez de la Frontera. The Spanish pronunciation of Jerez (hare-ETH) was corrupted by British importers of the wine, who pronounced it JER-rez, then JER-ee, and finally Sherry. HOW SHERRY IS MADE Before I go into the specific winemaking processes by which Sherry is made and aged, it's important to know that Sherry is not a single entity, but rather seven distinct styles of wine, each of which is extremely individual. At one end of the spectrum are the manzanillas and finos, with their tangy, crisp, green earthiness; in the middle are the amontillados, palo cortados, and olorosos, with their lusty, roasted, nutty flavors; and finally come the creams, with their sweet, lush toffee, and fig flavors. None of these Sherry flavors, textures, and aromas ever quite falls into what we might think of as the galaxy of white or red wine. The flavor of Sherry is a world unto itself. This is because of the unique way in which Sherry is progressively blended and aged in a complex network of old barrels, called a solera. Depending on how and the rate at which the wine moves through the solera, the different styles of Sherry can be made. HOW THE SOLERA WORKS The first important fact to know is that each style of Sherry has its own separate solera. What is a solera and how does the solera system work? The process, at its most simplistic, goes like this: Palomino grapes are picked early (often in August) when the grapes are just ripe (about 12 percent alcohol, potentially), but not overripe. They are then crushed, and the juice is fermented—usually in stainless-steel tanks—very much the way any other white wine might be made. At this point the wine is lightly fortified with grape spirits (fino will be fortified just a little; the fuller styles, like oloroso, will be fortified slightly more). The fortified wine is then poured into barrels and set aside for six months to a year to develop a bit of initial complexity. This initial period in the wine's life is called the sobretable. When it is finished, the wine will enter the solera, where it will be progressively blended and aged until it eventually emerges as Sherry. To form the solera, multiple rows of old 600-liter (160-gallon) American oak barrels, called botas, are lined up. Often these rows are stacked one row on top of the other, like children's building blocks. Generally the stack will be four or five rows of barrels high, but the solera may contain as many as fourteen rows of barrels. (In the case of fourteen rows, the barrels would not all be stacked one on top of the other, or the bottom barrels would burst from the weight.) Even at five barrels high, a solera is an impressive sight. The barrels on the bottom row contain the oldest Sherry; from these barrels small amounts (known as the saca) will be drawn off and bottled when the Sherry is deemed ready—and usually only when an order is placed. This row is also called the solera row (from suelo, Spanish for "floor"). Each time Sherry is drawn off from the bottom row, bottled, and sent to market, the barrel is replenished with an equal quantity of wine from a barrel in the row above it. That row, second from the bottom, is called criadera #1, or the first nursery. It contains the second-oldest wine. When wine from criadera #1 is drawn off, it, in turn, is replenished with wine from a barrel in the row above it, called criadera #2. Criadera #2 will be replenished with wine from the row above it, criadera #3, and so on. Thus, a tiny amount of wine is slowly, constantly being drawn off and added to older wine, moving progressively down through lower and lower barrels. (Some styles of Sherry are moved more slowly through the solera than others—a key factor in their final flavors.) At the very top, the solera is fed with the wine of the current year after it has undergone the initial sobretable period. The process of moving the wines from one criadera to the next has a lovely name—rocios. The word means "morning dew" and is a reflection of how gently the wine must be handled when it is moved between criaderas. Each bottle of Sherry is thus a complex molecular kaleidoscope of what can only be an estimated age. As a result of this constant fractional blending of younger wines into older wines, Sherry is not the product of any one year. By law, it never carries a vintage date, although it is not uncommon for a Sherry label to designate the year the solera was formed. Also by law, only 30 percent of a solera can be drawn off for bottling each year. The labyrinthine solera process is especially remarkable because it is impossible to determine just how old a Sherry is when it finally emerges from the bottom row. The reason is twofold. First, once the solera is set up, the barrels are never completely emptied. Currently, Sherry barrels are, on average, one hundred years old, and many bodegas have barrels that average two hundred years old. Second, the small amount of wine drawn off and added to the wine in the barrel below is not stirred into that wine. The wine is therefore not fully homogenized. Each barrel will contain molecules of wine that were never drawn off, and thus date from when the solera was begun, as much as two centuries earlier. For Sherry to become Sherry requires more than simply the physical movement of wine through a solera, however. Why does fino become fino and oloroso become oloroso? That metamorphosis is fairly well understood today. For most of history, however, Sherry was inexplicably supernatural. MAKING FINO AND MANZANILLA - THE MAGIC OF FLOR Each style of Sherry is ineluctably tied to the presence or absence of flor—a foamy, waxy film of yellow-white yeasts that appears on the surface of some styles of Sherry. (The word flor means "flower"—a reference to its ability to bloom.) To understand flor, let's imagine the winemaker is making a fino. First, he crushes, but does not press, the Palomino grapes. The free-run juice is then fermented and, after fermentation, fortified only slightly with spirits. The wine is transferred into a Sherry bota, but instead of being filled to the top, the bota is filled only three-fourths full. Sherry makers call this space dos puntos—two fists (of air). Next, a remarkable occurrence takes place. A film of flor appears on the surface of the wine. As they accumulate and grow, the yeasts form small curds. In a month's time, the flor will blanket the wine. A century ago, horrified by the foul-looking flor, Sherry makers believed that certain barrels of wine simply got "sick." Slowly, opinion changed. The flor-covered wines, they noticed, emerged from the solera light, fresh, and very dry. This came to be seen as a blessing, for such a wine was, in fact, well suited to the sultry local climate. Enologists now know that flor is a family of four complex, wild strains of Saccharomyces yeasts (the leading one of which is called Saccharomyces beticus) that bloom spontaneously in Jerez's humid air. Importantly, these yeasts have the metabolic capacity to consume alcohol and oxygen (rather than sugar). Indeed, the need for oxygen is in part why these strains of yeast evolved to float; by floating on the surface of a wine, they'd be closer to the air in the barrel. (The yeasts' need for oxygen is also why Sherry bodegas have famously large windows that are always open, and why most bodegas are situated facing the ocean to maximize sea breezes.) As they proliferate, the strains of flor yeasts also give off acetaldehyde, the aroma of which is a signature scent in certain styles of Sherry. Although it sounds awful, the smell of acetaldehyde is often compared to nail polish remover. Somehow, however, that aroma—when it emanates from Sherry—comes across in a singularly appealing way. Interestingly, flor taken from Jerez to other parts of the world quickly mutates or dies, conveniently ensuring that true Sherry will never be made in California, Chile, Italy, or even anywhere else in Spain. Flor is critical to a fino-to-be. Floating on the wine thanks to their waxy cells, the flor yeasts protect the developing fino from oxidizing by consuming the surrounding oxygen (remember, the barrel contents are one-quarter air). With fino, the flor ebbs and flows cyclically with the seasons. Thus, flor's shield is not absolutely impermeable. A small amount of oxidation will occur with fino—just enough to impart further complexity. Flor is also critical to manzanilla. In the especially humid conditions under which manzanilla is made, flor will blanket the developing wine throughout the year. The result is a wine of finely etched delicacy that has the least possible exposure to oxidation. How is it that manzanilla is made in a significantly more humid environment than other Sherries when the entire Jerez region is humid? Manzanilla is, by law, only made by bodegas situated along the beach in the seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the salty air and average 78 percent humidity create a unique mesoclimate. So dependent is manzanilla on this oceanic mesoclimate that developing manzanillas taken to another bodega in the Sherry region (or even a bodega too far from the wet breezes off the beach) will turn into finos! As for amontillados, they are made by taking fino Sherries, fortifying them a bit more to a higher alcohol content, and then putting them through another solera where theywill not be protected by flor. The amontillado that results is darker in color (thanks to the air exposure), aged, nutty, and rich—and it has more alcohol than a fino. MAKING OLOROSO, CREAM SHERRY, AND PEDRO XIMENEZ Until quite recently, the mystical and unpredictable appearance of flor told Sherry makers whether they had emerging finos or manzanillas on their hands. If flor did not form in the botas, the Sherry makers knew the wines were destined to become olorosos and they would care for and age them accordingly. Today an oloroso is usually made intentionally. Instead of using free-run juice and fortifying it only slightly, Sherry makers lightly press some of the juice from the grapes and fortify it enough so that flor is not able to form. (Flor yeasts, like all yeasts, die in an environment that is greater than about 16.4 percent alcohol.) The extra bit of alcohol and tannin from the grape skins means that an oloroso will always have a rounder, fuller texture than the lighter, more elegant fino or manzanilla. A Sherry maker moves the developing oloroso through its solera more slowly than fino or manzanilla go through theirs. By holding the oloroso longer in the solera, the Sherry maker allows it to take on a deep, carameltoffee richness. When the oloroso is removed from the solera, it is ready to be bottled as a dry wine. Or it may be lightly sweetened with a bit of ultra-sweet juice from Pedro Ximénez grapes, making it an off-dry oloroso. If the oloroso is sweetened to the extent that Pedro Ximénez makes up about 15 percent of the final blend, the oloroso becomes a cream Sherry. The first cream Sherries were made at the turn of the twentieth century for the British export market. They were lush, warming wines perfectly suited to bitter, raw English winters. Such was the popularity of cream Sherries that shortcuts were sometimes taken to meet the demand for them and to make cheap versions. Today, the cheap cream Sherries on the market are little more than dull base wines that have been quickly passed through a few barrels, and then so heavily sweetened that they have virtually no character or complexity. But the best cream Sherries—like Lustau's East India Cream Sherry—are phenomenally hedonistic wines of profound richness and complexity. As we've seen in The Seven Styles of Sherry (page 462), Pedro Ximénez is made into a rare Sherry of its own. Most Pedro Ximénez wines are nearly black in color and have a texture thicker than maple syrup. A thimbleful is more than dessert wine, it's dessert. To achieve this degree of sweetness and intensity, the grapes are picked and then laid out under the scorching sun for two to three weeks to dry and shrivel. Only when the sugar in them becomes very concentrated are the grapes slowly fermented into wine that will possess more than 40 percent (400 grams per liter) residual sugar. THE SEVEN STYLES OF SHERRY Sherry falls along a spectrum of styles—from those (such as manzanilla and fino) that look like white wine and are light, dry, and crisp; to Sherries (such as palo cortado and oloroso) that are topaz to mahogany in color, fuller-bodied, and outrageously nutty. There are seven major styles. MANZANILLA A highly revered, light, elegant style of Sherry, manzanilla, by law, comes only from the tiny seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. There, the wet ocean air gives manzanilla a dry, salty tang as well as an iodine-like sea spray aroma, similar to the aroma of a freshly shucked oyster. Manzanilla has a delicate, crisp edge, and its flavors are often said to suggest chamomile, a plant that grows around Sanlúcar in the seaside marshes. (The name manzanilla translates as "chamomile.") Manzanilla is entirely dependent on the bloom of flor, the yellow foam of yeasts that forms on the surface of the wine as it develops. It is the presence of and exposure to flor (rather than long exposure to oxygen) that gives manzanilla its character. Because manzanillas are ultra-fragile, most bodegas bottle and ship them to order. They must be drunk chilled and fresh; opened bottles last no more than one or two days. Manzanillas are between 15 and 17 percent alcohol. FINO Fino is Sherry at the apex of refinement and complexity. Fino is pale in color and low in alcohol (for Sherry). Its unforgettable dry tang and aroma, reminiscent of a mossy garden after a rain, plus its pungent yeasty/almondy aroma, make it one of the world's great seafood wines. Like manzanillas, finos take their character from the presence of flor, not from extended oxidative aging. And although they are not quite as delicate as manzanillas, finos are still fragile and must be served well-chilled and at peak freshness. An open bottle should be drunk, like most white wines, within two to three days. Finos fall between 15 and 17 percent alcohol. AMONTILLADO Whereas mazanillas and finos take their character from flor and not from extended aging in the presence of oxygen, amontillados are the result of both flor and extended oxidative aging. They are a beautiful topaz/amber color. An amontillado starts out more or less as a fino. Then, after four to six years moving through its fino solera, the wine is fortified so that its alcohol content is slightly higher than that of manzanilla or fino. At this point, it is put into another solera where it will no longer be protected by flor. As a result, it will oxidize, taking on its classic topaz/amber color as well as rich, complex roasted hazelnut, fresh black tobacco, dried fruit, and spicy flavors, and a smooth, almost satiny texture—all in addition to the pungent character it already possessed by virtue of starting out in the presence of flor. For many people, this makes amontillado the perfect Sherry style. Some producers make bone-dry amontillados; others blend in a small percentage of sweet Pedro Ximénez to make a medium-dry wine. The label may or may not indicate the level of sweetness. Amontillados tend to fall between 16 and 22 percent alcohol. PALO CORTADO A rare, eccentric, and exceptionally profound and complex type of Sherry, palo cortado has a burnished mahogany color, sometimes with an unreal green glint at the edge of the wine. It is still something of a mystery, and even bodega owners don't always define palo cortados exactly the same way. The consensus, however, is this: Sometimes, what at first appears to be an oloroso develops in a manner that is more elegant and complex than oloroso typically is. Known henceforth as a palo cortado, the wine soars with aromas and flavors suggestive of roasted walnuts, dried leaves, fresh tobacco, animal fur, and exotic spices, and an almost primordially lush texture. The latter is the result of the wine's high level of glycerin, which gives it a sappy, silky, oozy texture. At the same time, palo cortados manifest the dry, slightly pungent aroma of amontillados and show a lactic (buttery) character (the possible result of a small amount of malolactic fermentation). This duplicitous curiosity, with the fragrance and finesse of a dry amontillado and a voluptuousness reminiscent of a dry oloroso, is quite simply an otherworldly experience to drink. Among Sherry connoisseurs, palo cortado is considered the apex of sophisticated drinking. The alcohol level of this style falls between 17 percent and 22 percent. OLOROSO The word oloroso means "intensely aromatic" in Spanish, and this style is indeed that. Olorosos are long-aged Sherries that have not been protected or influenced by flor. More than any other type of dry Sherry, olorosos are exposed to oxygen. This darkens the wine to a rich, deep mahogany and imparts a flavor ten orders of magnitude more nutty than nuts themselves. Olorosos are potent and full-bodied and have an unctuous feel on the palate—the result of their high level of glycerin. The initial raw material for an oloroso is usually pressed juice, which is slightly bolder than the free-run juice used to make fino. The wine is also more heavily fortified with grape spirits (18 to 20 percent) before it enters the oloroso solera and is moved more slowly through it. As a result, olorosos are meatier, denser Sherries. Classically, olorosos are hauntingly dry wines, but some producers today mellow the dry finish by blending in tiny amounts of Pedro Ximénez. CREAM Originally created for the British export market, mahogany-colored cream Sherries are made by sweetening oloroso—generally to at least 11 percent residual sugar (some cream Sherries are considerably sweeter). Cream Sherries range all over the board in quality—from inexpensive, mud-thick, saccharine quaffs to elegant, almost racy wines redolent of chocolate, licorice, figs, dried fruits, and roasted nuts. A vibrant and delicious Spanish cocktail calls for mixing good cream Sherry with Campari and red vermouth and then serving it over ice with a twist of lemon. Cream Sherries range from 15.5 to 22 percent alcohol. There's also a "white" version of cream Sherry. Known as a pale cream, it's a simple, sweet Sherry with less alcohol than regular cream Sherry. PEDRO XIMÉNEZ An ebony-colored sweet Sherry, Pedro Ximénez is often as dark and syrupy as blackstrap molasses. Unlike the vast majority of other Sherries, which are made from the Palomino grape, Pedro Ximénez is made from white Pedro Ximénez grapes (it continues to astound me that so black a wine can be made from white grapes!). The grapes achieve their sugary concentration by being dried on straw mats in the intense Spanish sun for about a week. (The mats are covered at night, so the grapes are spared from the morning dew.) Once made and aged in a solera, the wine will be 40 to 50 percent residual sugar—more than three times the sweetness of Sauternes, for example. Pedro Ximénez is served on its own as dessert, or with hard cheeses and membrillo (quince paste). As mentioned, small amounts of it are also used to sweeten other styles of Sherry. However, for a thorough dive into the deep end of hedonism, you can also do what the Spaniards do and employ it as an adult sundae topping, by pouring it over vanilla or rum raisin ice cream.

Methode Champenoise - Traditional Method of of Making Sparking Wine

Step One - Making the Base Still Wine Grapes are pressed quickly and gently to avoid color from the skins and oxidation. The base wine is very light in color, with a low alcohol level and high acidity. Fermentation can occur in either stainless steel tanks or oak barrels. Step Two - Assemblage of the Cuvee - Assembling the Blend Champagne can be a blend of grapes, vintages (seen on the label as non-vintage), regions, villages or vineyards. The bled is made at this early stage. Step Three - Secondary Fermentation - Creating Bubbles The wine is then bottled with a syrupy mixture of yeast and sugar, called the liqueur de tirage. The bottle is sealed with a crown cap and, over time, the yeast metabolizes the sugar, creating a small amount of alcohol and CO2 gas. The CO2 is trapped in the bottle and creates the bubbles. Step Four - Sur Lie Aging - After the liqueur de tirage has induced the secondary fermentation, the yeast cells gradually break down. (This is called autolysis.) Sur lie aged wines are rested on the lees in the bottle. By law, all champagne must spend at least 12 months on the lees as part of the minimum 15 months of total aging required. Step Five - Riddling (Remuage) - Removal of Sediment Part 1 - After aging, the lees must be removed from the bottle in order to have a clear wine. Each bottle is gently turned to gradually move the lees into its neck. This can be done by hand or by machine. By Hand - A pupitre is a wooden A-frame wine rack. The rack holds 60 bottles, each of which is hand turned. This process takes about 8 weeks to complete. By Machine - A gyropalette is a large machine that can hold 504 bottles at a time. It takes approximately 8 days to complete riddling by machine. Step Six - Disgorging (Degorgement) - Removal of Sediment Part 2 - Once the sediment has collected in the neck of the bottle, it needs to be removed. To disgorge the sediment, each bottle's neck is frozen in an ice bath, so that the yeast can be ejected. This can be done by hand, or as is more the case, by machine. Step Seven - Dosage - After degorgement, a mixture of wine and sugar called the liqueur d'expedition is added to the bottle. The amount of sugar added determines the sweetness level and, therefore, the style of champagne. The Traditional Method The most quality focused way of producing sparkling wine. This costly and labor intensive technique was pioneered in the region of Champagne and developed over many centuries. Now used all over the world, it is responsible for virtually al the finest bottles of sparkling wine today. Champagne applies exclusively to sparkling wine produced in the champagne region, but the term traditional method indicates that wines from outside the region have been manufactured with the same process and meticulous attention to quality. The Production Process The Grapes Many grape varieties are used in sparkling wine, although the Champagne grapes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier are particularly popular around the world. Acidity is an important component, so grapes may be harvested earlier than usual. If red grapes are used, hand-harvesting is essential to avoid damaging the berries and staining the clear color of the free-run juice. Pressing The gentler the pressing the better, to avoid harsh flavors and tannins. In Champagne there are strict laws on how much juice can be extracted from each batch of grapes. First Fermentation The grape must, or juice, is fermented in stainless steel (or occasionally old oak casks) to produce an acidic white wine with moderate levels of alcohol. The still wines from different grape varieties and vineyards are normally fermented separately to allow a number of combinations at the blending stage. At this point most sparkling wine undergoes malolactic fermentation - a natural process that converts hard malic acid into soft lactic acid and adds a creamy texture to the wine. Blending The cast majority of sparkling wines are made from a combination of grape varieties grown in different vineyards and - for non vintage releases - from a number of years. In part, the climate could not be relied upon to deliver healthy, ripe grapes every year. Blending different vintages helped a Champagne house to produce a consistent style of wine. Second Fermentation The blended wine is then bottled with a mixture known as liquere de tirage, containing wine, sugar, and yeast. This initiates a secondary fermentation that happens inside the bottle, converting the sugar into alcohol and producing the gas carbon dioxide, which is responsible for the fizz. A crown cap is added to seal the bottle. Maturation This stage is absolutely crucial in the development of a quality sparkling wine. During maturation a process is known as yeast autolysis occurs, where the spent yeast cells or lees react with the wine, creating highly desirable bready, yeast flavors.. Removal of Sediment To allow the lees to be removed after maturation, the bottle is gradually rotated (over a period of six to eight weeks when done by hand) so that the sediment slides down to the neck, a procedure known as riddling or remuage. The neck containing the lees is then frozen, the bottle stood upright, and the crown cap removed. The frozen sediment is then expelled under pressure - in a process known as disgorgement or degorgement. Dosage and Corking Dosage is the name given to the replenishment of the small amount of wine that is lost during disgorgement. The liquid used to refill the bottle is known as liqueur d'expedition and contains a mixture of reserve wine and sugar. Nearly all sparkling wines will have some sugar added to balance their acidity., the amount varying according to the style. A large cork is forced into the bottle at considerable pressure to ensure a strong seal, and a wire basket is then normally fastened on top to reinforce it.

Chateauneuf du Pape

The Rhone's most celebrated wines takes its name from the location of a summer residence for the pope, built in the 14th century when the papal seat was temporarily moved to Avignon. By far the largest cru in the Rhone, Chateauneuf du Pape is a sizable appellation of 3,200 ha producing over 10,000 hl of wine yearly. Many of the vineyards here are covered with galets roules - large, smooth pebbles that retain heat, ensuring full ripeness and flavor. The wine itself, mostly red, is a powerful, heady libation; the best is sweet and smooth, packed with summer fruits and fine tannins, with a mineral freshness of the finish, and the ability to age. There is even a hint of top red burgundy to some examples. That said, the fact that 13 different grape varieties are allowed in the appellation and winemaking techniques vary, as do soils and exposures, means that styles and quality vary considerably. The present vogue for special cuvees - old vine fruit, less traditional blends (higher percentages of Syrah, for example), or wines aged in new oak - is even more irregular. The district is gaining momentum, though, and with several great vintages (1998 to 2001 inclusive) and a new generation of producers entering the fray, it is an ideal time to try these wines. White Chateauneuf, a varying blend of the four white varieties, is full and fruity with a delicate floral bouquet, and should be drunk young.

The Mistral

The cold, northerly mistral wind whistles down the Rhone Valley from the Alps and is a climate feature of the region. In winter its influence can leave the Rhone Valley colder than central and northern Europe. In 1956, it blew for three weeks and temperatures dropped to 5 degrees F (-15 degrees C), destroying the olive trees but not the vines. Its ferocity can cause havoc with vine trellising, particularly in spring, hence the tradition of bush-trained vines. On the positive side, its dry, cool effect helps keep fungal diseases such as mildew and oidium at bay, and concentrates the grapes prior to harvesting.

Left Bank Bordeaux

The left bank of the river Garonne. It includes: Graves, Sauternes, Barsac, Pessac-Leognan, Medoc, and all the appellations of the Medoc. The dominant red wine grape variety is Cabernet Sauvignon rather than Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The left bank is the favored zone for Cabernet Sauvignon, since the gravel soils of St-Estephe, Pauliac, St-Julien, and Medoc peninsula, and Graves farther south, are well suited to this late-ripening variety. Wines are usually firm and complex, and those of the top chateaux have great aging potential. The Left Bank is also home to Sauternes, one of the world's finest sweet whites. Areas and Top Producers MEDOC HAUT-MEDOC ST-ESTEPHE Chateau Cod d'Estournel Chateau Montrose PAUILLAC Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Chateau Latour Chateau Lynch-Bages Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Chateau Pichon-Longueville Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande ST-JULIEN Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou Chauteau Gruaud-Larose Chateau Leoville-Barton Chateau Leoville Las Cases LISTRAC-MEDOC MOULIS MARGAUX Chateau Margaux Chateau Rauzan-Segla PESSAC-LEOGNAN Chateau Haut-Brion Chateau La Mission Haut Brion Chateau Pape Clement Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte Domaine de Chevalier GRAVES SAUTERNES Chateau Climens Chateau d'Yquem Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey Chateau Riessec Chateau Suduiraut

Right Bank Bordeaux soils and bank tastes

The right bank of the river Dordogne. It includes: Castillon,Cotes de Bordeaux, Francs Cotes de Bordeaux, St. Emilion and its satellite appellations, Pomerol and Lalande-de-Pomerol, Fronsac, and Canon-Fronsac, Bourg, and Blaye. The right bank dominant red wine grapes are Merlot with Cabernet Franc rather than Cabernet Sauvignon. The left bank has established large estates and the right bank has smaller properties with more recent reputations. The limestone and lay soils of the Right Bank make earlier-ripening Merlot the king in this part of Bordeaux. St-Emilion and Pomerol are the key appellations, producing round, sappy, full-bodied wines. There is also good value from Fronsac and the numerous "Cotes." Areas and Top Producers ST-EMILION AND ST-EMILION GRAND CRU Chateau Angelus Chateau Ausone Chateau Beau-Sejour Becot Chateau Belair *Chateau Cheval Blanc Chateau de Valandraud Chateau Figeac Chateau Le Tertre Roteboeuf Chateau Pavie Macquin Chateau Fourtet La Mondotte ST-EMILION SATELLITES POMEROL Chateau La Conseillante *Chateau Lafleur *Chateau Le Pin Chateau L'Eglise-Clinet Chateau L'Evangile *Chateau Petrus Chateau Trotanoy Vieux Chateau Certan LALANDE-DE-POMEROL FRONSAC AND CANON-FRONSAC COTES DE CASTILLON AND BORDEAUX-COTES DE FRANCS COTES DE BOURG BLAYE, COTES DE BLAYE AND PREMIERES COTES DE BLAYE

Cuvee Prestige or Tete de Cuvee

The top end bottling of a particular champagne house or producer. https://www.guildsomm.com/research/compendium/w/france/109/champagne-prestige-cuvees

Sauternes

This is home to some of the most luxuriously sweet , unctuous, aromatic wines in the world. The region of Sauternes, for white wines made only from botrytized grapes, is located 25 miles (40 km) upstream from the city of Bordeaux on the left bank of the Garonne, surrounded by the vineyards of Graves. The AOC totals some 2,200 ha dispersed through the five communes of Bommes, Fargues, Sauternes, Preignac, and Barsac. Producers in Barsac are permitted to label their wines as either Sauternes or Barsac; the rest are labeled Sauternes. The top chateaux were classified in 1855, the most famous being Chateau d'Yquem, These rich, opulent wines are very representative of their terroir. The grapes , a majority Semillon, ripen naturally at first, but in the fall, if all goes well, the influence of the cool waters of the Ciron stream running into the warmer Garonne gives rise to the mists and humidity that provoke the onset of Botrytis Cinerea. The grapes thus concentrated are selectively hand-picked, sometimes through to December. Yields are very low, officially no more than 25 hl/ha. The variability of climate means there is considerable vintage variation, to the extent that top chateaux occasionally forego a vintage. The lower-lying level and higher limestone content in the soils make Barsac a generally lighter, less powerful wine than Sauternes. A tiny quantity of sweet wine of a less sumptuous nature than both Sauternes and Barsac is also produced in neighboring AOC Cerons. The special distinction of Sauternes of 1,767 ha/4,364 acres embedded within the Graves district south of Bordeaux is that it is dedicated, in a way unmatched by any other wine region, to the production of unfortified, sweet, white wine. In Germany or Alsace, say, where superlative sweet wines are occasionally made, such wines are the exception rather than the rule, and emerge from vines that more usually produce much drier wines. In Sauternes, the situation is quite different. The appellation is reserved for wines from five communes that must adhere to regulations stipulating minimum levels of alcohol strength (13%) and a tasting test that requires the wine to taste sweet. Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, and Muscadelle are responsible but Semillon is the principal grape, because it is especially susceptible to noble rot, and it accounts for about 80% of a typical estate's encepagement. Sauvignon often attracts noble rot earlier than Semillon, and its naturally high acidity can give the wine a freshness that balances the richer, broader flavors of Semillon. Muscadelle's contribution is mostly aromatic, but its viticultural frailty leads many growers to find it more trouble than its worth. Sauternes is the product of a specific mesoclimate. The communes of Sauternes, Barsac, Preignac, Bommes, and Fargues are close to two rives, the broad Garonne and its small tributary, the Ciron. When, in autumn, the cool spring-fed Ciron waters flow into the warmer tidal Garonne, evening mists envelop the vineyards until late morning the following day, when the sun, if it shines, burns the mist away. This moist atmosphere encourages Botrytis Cinerea, a fungus that attacks the grapes and causes them to shrivel and rot (Botrytis Bunch Rot). Mist activates the botryrtis spores in the vineyards, and the altering sunshine completes the process of desiccation. The onset of botrytis is crucial to the evolution of the grapes. Without it, they may indeed ripen sufficiently to ensure that a sweet wine can be made, if fermentation ceases before all the sugar has been converted into alcohol, but the result will lack complexity. As outlined in more detail in noble rot, the overall effect of a benevolent botrytis infection is to increase the concentrations of sugar in grapes and, to a lesser extent, that of tartaric acid; to stimulate the production of glycerol; and to alter considerably the aroma and flavor of the finished wine. The essential difference between mediocre and great Sauternes hangs on the willingness of estate owners to risk waiting until botrytis arrives. There are years when botrytis either fails to develop at all or arrives very late in the year. Proprietors must then decide whether to delay or to begin the harvest. Delay is a risky strategy: the chances of frost or rain, both of which can wreck the harvest, clearly increase as the autumn months wear on, but by picking too early the estate can end up with insipid sweet white wine while its more scrupulous neighbors are in a position to market great botrytized wine. This introduces an economic issue unique to this region. Sauternes is exceptionally costly to make. There are a number of vintages each decade in which it is either impossible to make good sweet wine (and some grapes may be salvaged to make a dry white that qualifies only as a Bordeaux AOC) or in which it can be produced only in minute quantities. Even in excellent vintages, maximum yields are restricted to 25 hl/ha (1.4 tons/acre), a quantity infrequently attained. At Yquem, the average yield is a trifling 9 hl/ha, and at most conscientious estates the yields probably fluctuate between 12 and 20 hl/ha - although total production of the appellation, perhaps telling, does not vary nearly as much. In addition, the harvest is unusually protracted. Botrytis occasionally swoops over entire vineyards, as in 1990 and 2003, but this is rare. More commonly, it performs its unsightly activities patchily. A typical harvesting pattern might be as follows: an attack of botrytis on Sauvignon grapes allows half of them to be picked in late September; two weeks of drizzle follow, during which picking is suspended; finer weather resumes, grapes affected by undesirable grey rot are eliminated, and in late October another attack of botrytis allows the Semillon and remaining. Sauvignon grapes to be picked over a three-week period. The necessity for selective harvesting, or triage, essential for Sauternes, is expensive, as teams of pickers must be kept available for a very long period. More than any other wine, Sauternes is made in the vineyard. One the grapes have been picked, they are difficult to manipulate. Their must weight (sugar content), their physiological ripeness, and the degree of botrytis infection will all determine quality before the winemaker has got to work. None the less, Sauternes calls for careful vinification. Pressing should be as gentle as possible, and some leading estates still use old fashion hydraulic or basket presses for this purpose. Fermentation takes place in tanks or, more usually since the mid 1980s, in barriques, of which 30 to 100% are likely to be new. Fermentation either stops of its own accord when the wine has achieved a balance of about 14% alcohol and a residual sugar level that is the equivalent of a further 4-7% alcohol, or it is arrested with the addition of sulfur dioxide. In weaker vintages, chaptalization may be permitted, although better estates avoid the practice, which merely adds sweetness rather than complexity and is often used to disguise lazy harvesting. The wine is usually aged in oak barrels for between 18 and 36 months. Less distinguished lots of wine are usually sold off to negociants; in 1978, Yquem bottled only 15% of the crop under its own label, and in 1987, many estates marketed no wine at all. This is al the more remarkable because, despite having very much higher production costs, the Sauternais are not generally rewarded with much higher selling prices than the equivalent red bordeaux made in much greater quantity. Although the prevalence of botrytis and overall geographical location are common to all Sauternes, specific mesoclimates and soil structures affect the styles of the different estates. Barsac is the most distinctive commune, and is entitled to its own appellation, although it can also be sold as Sauternes. Its proximity to the Ciron and its alluvial soil gives wines that are often lighter and more elegant than its neighbors. The communes of Bommes and Sauternes itself tend to give the fattest wines, although exceptions are numerous. There are also differences in maturation dates; the grapes at Ch Filhot, for instance, often ripen a week later than those of Barsac. The trend this century has increasingly been to seek harmony in the wines rather than maximum sweetness. All these factors were taken into account when in 1855 the existing estates were classified. Successful candidates were ranked as either first or second growths, with Yquem rightfully given its own super-status. In the 1960s especially, standards slumped. Producers were especially impoverished and there was a string of poor vintages. Only the richest estates could afford to maintain standard. Elsewhere, corners were cut, grapes were picked too early, and barriques were replaced with tanks. For two decades many classified growths produced wines that were mediocre at best, even in fine vintages. Only with excellent 1983 vintage did matters improve. Prices rose, and wise proprietors invested in long overdue improvements, which bore fruit in the superb 1986, 1988, 1989, and 1990 vintages and, more recently, the 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, and 2011. The official 1855 classification is once again a reasonably reliable guide to quality, although a number of unclassified growths, such as Ch de Fargues (owned by Comte Alexandre de Lur-Saluces who used to manage Yquem), Gilette, and Raymond-Lafon, are often of first growth quality, and price. After a bad patch, Sauternes is again showing the quality of which it is capable. It combines power, voluptuousness, and elegance, and good bottles can evolve and improve for up to 50 years (longer in the case of Yquem). Given the risks and costs involved in its production, it remains underpriced.

Alsace Grand Cru

This wine can be made using grapes from 50 deignated vineyards, whose grapes must meet fixed criteriafor ripeness nad taste. The principal grapes allowed include Gewurtztraminer, Muscadet, Riesling, and Pinot Gris. List of Grand Crus and Villages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace_Grand_Cru_AOC#List_of_Alsace_Grands_Crus

Alsace Wine Law and Noble Grapes

Unlike most other Frnach wine regions, Alsace labels its wines by grape variety, as is done in the New World. The four main grapes are Gewurztraminer, Muscadet Blanc a Petits Grains (usually Muscadet d'Alsace here), Riesling, and Pinot Gris (also called Tokay Pinot Gris). Another distinctive feature of wine form Alsace is the traditional, slender bottle required by law.

The Different Grapes of Madeira malsay

VINE VARIETIES The most planted variety by far is the red-skinned negramoll (often referred to as Tinta Negra or Tinta Negra Mole) which has been the principal V. vinifera variety on the island since phylloxera arrived at the end of the 19th century. It was for long denigrated, somewhat unfairly in view of its versatility. Along with the recently introduced complexa grape, it can make good madeira, but wines based on Negramoll rarely have the keeping qualities of those based on the so-called 'noble' varieties. Plantings of the traditional varieties sercial, verdelho, bual, malvasia, and the almost extinct Terrantez, are slowly increasing once again since their rout as a result of phylloxera. Other varieties planted are principally disease-resistant american hybrids such as Cunningham and Jacquet, although they are no longer permitted as ingredients in madeira and should be used exclusively in the production of the island's rustic table wine. Small quantities of arnsburger and Cabernet Sauvignon are planted on the north side of the island for the production of unfortified wine. Listrão (Palomino) is planted on the nearby island of Porto Santo where they make a small quantity of their own fortified wine for the local market. STYLES OF MADEIRA The quality of even the most basic madeira improved greatly in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Inexpensive wines which used to smell cooked and taste coarse and stewed are now much fresher and cleaner, even if they are not as fine and incisive as cask-aged examples. Finer wines are distinguished by their high-toned rancio aromas and searing acidity. Madeira varies in colour from pale gold to orange-amber to deep mahogany brown with a yellow-green tinge appearing on the rim of well-aged examples. Standard Blends: Madeira's wines were traditionally named after the principal noble grape varieties grown on the island: Sercial, Verdelho, Bual (or Boal), and Malvasia (or malmsey), these names denoting increasingly sweet styles of madeira. But since phylloxera destroyed many of Madeira's best vineyards at the end of the 19th century, much of the island's wine has in reality been made from either american hybrids or the local V. vinifera variety Negramoll. The use of American hybrids has technically been illegal since 1979. From the beginning of 1993, Madeira has been made to conform to the eu requirement that a varietally named wine must contain at least 85% of wine made from the specified grape variety. Insufficient quantities of the noble varieties resulted in renaming most standard blends simply 'Dry', 'Medium Dry', 'Medium Sweet', 'Medium Rich', and 'Rich' or 'Sweet'. Sercial: Among the noble grapes, Sercial is usually grown in the coolest vineyards, at heights of up to 800 m/2,640 ft or on the north side of the island. Many growers erroneously believe that the variety is related to Germany's riesling grape but it is in fact the same as the esgana cão (meaning dog strangler) which grows on the Portuguese mainland, the grapes exhibiting the same ferocious levels of acidity. At high elevations, Sercial ripens with difficulty to make a 10% base wine which is dry, tart, and astringent when young. With fortification and ten or more years' ageing in cask, a good Sercial wine develops high-toned, almond-like aromas with a nervy character and a searing dry finish. The Sercial wines range in residual sugar from 0.5 ° to 1.5 °Baumé. Verdelho: Verdelho, which also tends to be planted on the cooler north side of the island, ripens more easily than Sercial and therefore lends itself to producing a medium-dry wine with Baumé readings of between 1.5° and 2.5° after fortification. With age, the wines develop an extraordinary smoky complexity while retaining their characteristic tang of acidity. Bual: Bual, or Boal in Portuguese, is grown in warmer locations on the south side of Madeira. It ripens to achieve higher sugar levels than either Sercial or Verdelho and, after fortification to arrest the fermentation, Bual wines range from 2.5 to 3.5 °Baumé. These dark, medium-rich, raisiny wines retain their acidic verve with age. Confusingly, Bual is known by the name malvasia Fina in mainland Portugal and this is now its official name. Malmsey: The malvasia grapes which produce malmsey are usually grown in the warmest locations at low elevations on the south coast, especially around Câmara de Lobos. Subvarieties include Malvasia Candida and Malvasia Babosa, which ripen to produce the very sweetest madeira wines, gaining richness and concentration with time in cask. A productive sub-variety known as Malvasia de São Jorge is grown on the north of the island and is officially 'authorized' rather than 'recommended', pending investigation into its true identity. Sugar readings in a malmsey range between 3.5 and 6.5 °Baumé, but the wines are rarely cloying as the sweetness is balanced by characteristically high levels of acidity. Like all high-quality madeira made from noble varieties, malmseys are some of the most resilient in the world and will keep in cask and bottle for a century or more. Historic Styles: Madeira's unparalleled ability to age means that styles of wine long abandoned by the island's wine shippers may still be found, and enjoyed. Rainwater is a light, off-dry or medium-dry style of madeira bottled before it is five years old and named after wine which was supposedly diluted by rain during shipment to the United States. Rainwater madeira is still made in small quantities, although the law is vague on what exactly constitutes the style. Two other styles of madeira based on the noble terrantez and bastardo grapes are rarely made since both varieties are almost extinct on the island, although Terrantez is making a modest comeback. Intensely sweet wines made from three types of Moscatel (muscat) grape, usually produced for blending, are occasionally bottled on their own. THE GRAPES AND STYLES OF MADEIRA The very best Madeiras—and the ones you should taste—are made from one of five white grapes designated as "noble" by the Madeira Wine Institute. These are sercial, verdelho, terrantez, bual, and malmsey. Conveniently, the names of these grapes are also used to designate the styles of Madeira (so I have not included a separate box on the grapes of this region). I'll start with the driest style (sercial) and move to the sweetest (malmsey). But before I get to the big five styles, know that there are also inexpensive, basic Madeiras that have little of the refinement or complexity of sercial, verdelho, terrantez, bual (boal), or malmsey. Most of these basic-quality Madeiras are made from the red grape tinta negra mole (the name means "black soft"), and come designated as either dry, medium dry, medium sweet, or sweet. Among these basic Madeiras, the light style known as Rainwater (said to be the accidental result of casks left out in the rain) is fairly popular. But all of these basic Madeiras are, in my opinion, better for cooking than drinking, and in fact, because the wine is already maderized and oxidized, you can leave a bottle handy right beside the stove. SERCIAL: The driest style. Sercial grapes are grown in the coolest vineyards. The difficulties they encounter in ripening make for tart base wines. These in turn lead to tangy, elegant Madeiras with a bracing, almost salty grip and a dry, nutty flavor that I always imagine to be like caramel minus any sweetness. VERDELHO: The medium-dry style. Verdelho grapes, grown in slightly warmer vineyards, ripen more easily, making for Madeiras that are exquisitely balanced and somewhat more full-bodied than sercials. TERRANTEZ: A rare style based on a rare grape that is difficult to grow. It typically falls between verdelho and bual in sweetness and body. BUAL: Another rare style; this one, medium-rich. Bual grapes (or boal, as it is sometimes spelled) are grown in warm vineyards, producing concentrated Madeiras with sweet richness. Bual was a great favorite in English officers' clubs in India because it was a lighter wine than either malmsey or Port. Bual/boal is the same as the grape variety malvasia fina. MALMSEY: The richest, sweetest style. Also known as malvasia (once again, in this case, the malvasia is malvasia branca de São Jorge), these grapes are grown in the warmest locations, usually on the south side of the island, producing super ripe grapes and ultimately, Madeiras of astonishing richness.

Burgundy Classifications

Village Wine - 100% of the grapes are grown in and around the named Village. Many of Burgundy's wine villages have appended the name of their most famous vineyard onto the name of the village to garner more attention for the village wines. Single Vineyard Premier Cru - 100% of the grapes that make this wine come from a specific vineyard. Look for the words Premier Cru or 1er Cru on the label. Single Vineyard Grand Cru - 100% of the grapes that make this wine come from one the very best vineyards in Burgundy. There will be no village name on the label. A Grand Cru will only have the name of the vineyard on the label.

Grapes of Burgundy

White - Chardonnay and Aligote Red - Pinot Noir and Gamay (Beaujolais)

The Modern (VDP) System

With the turning of the twenty-first century, many growers, including more than two hundred of the best and most prestigious estates of Germany, abandoned the traditional way of thinking about, organizing, and categorizing German wines. In its place they devised a modern system that, they believe, better reflects Germany's new climatic reality. Most of these wineries belong to a group called the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter). All VDP members display the VDP logo (a stylized eagle bearing a cluster of grapes) prominently on the bottle so it's easy to tell who they are. The VDP's premise is that, thanks to climate change, all of Germany's best-sited, top vineyards can now achieve full (spätlese- to auslese-level) ripeness every year. Therefore, most wines will have a good measure of flavor intensity even when made in a dry style. So, under the modern VDP system, most wines are bone dry, that is, trocken (which, again, means less than .9 percent (9 grams per liter)—residual sugar). What happens, then, to terms like spätlese, auslese, and so on? Under the modern VDP system, these terms (kabinett, spätlese, auslese, beerenauslese, and trockenbeerenauslese) are used only to refer to sweet styles of wines. Thus, in the modern system, fine German wine is dry unless you see a term such as kabinett, spätlese, et cetera, in which case, the wine has some sweetness. (English majors and wine lovers will be driven crazy by the fact that what are ripeness terms in the traditional system have now become sweetness terms in the modern system.) The modern VDP system also includes a hierarchy of vineyards based on their terroirs. The hierarchy is almost identical to the one in Burgundy, and has four levels. From the top down, they are: GROSSES LAGE = GRAND CRU ERSTE LAGE = PREMIER CRU ORTSWEIN = VILLAGE WINE GUTSWEIN = BASIC WINE FROM A BASIC-QUALITY VINEYARD OWNED BY THE ESTATE (The terms for the top two levels—Grosses Lage and Erstes Lage—will always appear on either the label or the neck capsule. The terms Ortswein and Gutswein are optional according to VDP regulations. Some wineries list them; others do not.) At the top level (equal to a Burgundy Grand Cru) is VDP Grosses Lage (pronounced grosses lah-geh). These are wines from vineyards that have consistently yielded the finest, most ageworthy wines. (As far back as the mid-eighteenth century, authoritative vineyard maps demarcate many of these vineyards, singling them out as being especially prized.) A Grosses Lage wine that is dry will usually carry an additional term on the label—Grosses Gewächs (literally, "Great Growth") or the initials GG. A Grosses Lage wine that is sweet would carry one of the traditional terms: kabinett, spätlese, auslese, beerenauslese, trockenbeerenauslese, or eiswein. The next step down (equal to a Burgundy Premier Cru) is VDP Erste Lage (urst lah-geh). Continuing down, come wines that would be equal to Burgundian "village wines." These are called VDP Ortswein (orts vine). Finally, at the base of the quality pyramid are VDP Gutswein (goots vine). These are good, entry-level wines made from grapes grown in modest-quality vineyards owned by the estate. While the changes are frustrating to learn, the new system adopted by these top VDP estates is actually pretty easy. With it, German wine becomes like other high-quality wines around the word—dry—unless a sweet style is being made, in which case there's a term to let you know that. Moreover, the system includes terms that alert you to the best terroirs. Instead of having to know something about Kiedrich Gräfenberg (a village and vineyard) on a label, if you see Grosses Lage, you know that you are about to drink Grand Cru-level wine from one of Germany's top sites.