An attractive small cellar of Wine
Monday 13 April 2009
A note from a New Zealand grower
We had a great summer season with very warm temperatures and beautiful dry weather. But then in March, shortly before our estimated vintage would start, we did get the odd patch of rain and in some spots, we did find some Botrytis. But all in all nothing to worry about. So we finally started with vintage on Wednesday 25th March 2009 with our Pinot Noir. Brix levels didn’t look that bad. Testing the odd berry in the vineyard mesuring between 18 and 22 Brix… and then after picking, destemming and filling the grapes into the fermentation tanks.. we had 22 Brix. So for the last two weeks they have been picking Pinot Noir and in the end had to rush through, because the weather turned so fine… Sugar levels increased to 25 Brix.
French Wine Industry
This a year many wines have fallen in price as the economy has slumped,and in France and Spain unemployment has risen. As efficient producers , the winesindustry has invested heavily in both quality and volume.But in these recessionary times the downturn if it lasts for several years could be devastating to the industry.But lets look more at the industry in Europe especially to date.
French wine ,as we know ,is produced in several regions throughout France, on over 800,000 hectares (over 2 million acres) of vineyards, and in a typical year between 50 and 60 million hectolitres of wine is produced, or some 7 to 8 billion bottles.[1] France thus has the world’s second-largest total vineyard surface (behind Spain) and competes with Italy for the position of having the world’s largest wine production. The earliest history of French wine goes back to the 6th century BC, and many of France’s regions count their wine-making history to Roman times. Over the last several hundred years, France has been the most influential country in the wine world: France is the source of more well-known grape varieties (such as Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah) and winemaking practices than any other country, the names of many French wine regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne are well-known throughout the world, and the style of top French wines have long been the benchmark for winemaking in most wine-producing countries of the world. French wine therefore plays an enormously important role in French identity and pride, and the combination of French wine and the equally influential French gastronomy has been an important one. Over the last decades, however, international competition in the wine industry has gotten much more fierce, and France has been challenged both by winemakers of the New World and by traditional wine-producing countries in southern Europe, while domestic consumption of wine has decreased. Since the French wine industry is very heterogeneous, and ranges from production of very cheap table wine to expensive First Growths and similar “luxury” wines, these changes have hit some very hard and others not at all: while some regions are plagued with constant overproduction of low-quality wines that can’t find buyers, and many smaller growers have an increasingly difficult time to make a living, some top producers are more profitable than ever before.
Two central concepts to better-quality French wines are the notion of terroir and the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. “Terroir wines” reflect their place of origin, which are therefore carefully specified on labels of French wine, usually in terms of which appellation the wine comes from. The appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices that are allowed in each of France’s several hundred geographically defined appellations, and those rules must be followed by all producers who wish to use an AOC designation for their wines.
History
The production of French wine has its origins in the 6th century BC, with the colonization of Southern Gaul by Greek settlers. Viticulture soon flourished with the founding of the Greek colony of Marseille. Regions in the south were licensed by the Roman Empire to produce wines. St. Martin of Tours (316-397) was actively engaged in both spreading Christianity and planting vineyards. During the Middle Ages, monks maintained vineyards and, more important, wine making knowledge and skills during that often turbulent period. Monasteries had the resources, security, and motivation to produce a steady supply of wine for both celebrating mass and generating income. During this time the best vineyards were owned by the monasteries and their wine was considered to be superior. Over time the nobility acquired extensive vineyards. However, the French Revolution led to the confiscation of many of the vineyards owned by the Church and others.
Despite some exports from Bordeaux, until about 1850 most wine in France was consumed locally. The spread of railroads and the improvement of roads reduced the cost of transportation and dramatically increased exports.
Quality levels and appellation system
A number of laws to control the quality of French wine were passed in 1935. They established the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system, which is governed by a powerful oversight board (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine - INAO). Consequently, France has one of the oldest appellation systems for wine in the world, and strictest laws concerning winemaking and production. Many other European systems are modelled on it. With European Union wine laws being modelled on those of the French, this trend is likely to continue with further EU expansion.
French law divides wine into four categories, two falling under the European Union’s Table Wine category and two falling under the EU’s Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR) designation. The categories are:
Table wine:
* Vin de Table - Carries with it only the producer and the designation that it is from France* Vin de Pays - Carries with it a specific region within France (for example Vin de Pays d’Oc from Languedoc-Roussillon or Vin de Pays de Côtes de Gascogne from Gascony.)WPSR:
* Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure (VDQS) - Less strict than AOC, not often used* Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) - Wine from a particular area with many other restrictions, including grape varieties and winemaking methods
* Today there are about 450 different wine appellations in France,[8] yet only 15% of all French wines enjoy the marketing benefits of AOC designations.Wine styles and grape varietiesAll common styles of wine - red, rosé, white (dry, semi-sweet and sweet), sparkling and fortified - are produced in France. In most of these styles, the French production ranges from cheap and simple versions to some of the world’s internationally most famous and expensive examples. The possible exception is French fortified wine, which tend to be relatively unknown outside France’s border.
A very large number of grape varieties are cultivated in France, including both internationally well-known and obscure, little noted local varieties. In fact, most of the so-called “international varieties” are of French origin, or became known and spread because of their cultivation in France. Since French appellation rules generally restrict wines from each region, district or appellation to a small number of allowed grape varieties, there are in principle no varieties that are commonly planted throughout all of France. Most varieties are therefore associated with a certain region, such as Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux and Syrah in Rhône, although there are varieties that are commonly found in two or more regions, such as Chardonnay in Bourgogne (including Chablis) and Champagne, and Sauvignon Blanc in Loire and Bordeaux. As an example of the rules, although climatic conditions would seem to allow good examples to be produced, there are no Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Rhône, Riesling wines from Loire, or Chardonnay wines from Bordeaux. (If such wines were produced they would have to be declassified to Vin de Pays or French table wine, and would not be allowed to display any appellation name or even region of origin.)
Traditionally, many French wines have been blended from several grape varieties rather than varietally pure. Varietal white wines have been, and are still, more common than varietal red wines.
In many respects, French wines have more of a regional than a national identity, as evidenced by different grape varieties, production methods and different classification systems in the various regions. Quality levels and prices varies enormously, and some wines are made for immediate consumption while other are meant for long-time cellaring. If there is one thing that most French wines have in common, then it is that most styles have developed as wines meant to accompany food, be it a quick baguette, a simple bistro meal or a full-fledged multi-course menu. More seldomly have the wines been developed or styled as “bar wines” for drinking on their own, or to impress in tastings already when young.
Labelling practices
The labels on a bottle of French wine often carry important information that can help the consumer evaluate its potential quality. Following are some potentially important phrases:
* “Mis en bouteille au…” chateau, domaine, or propriété indicate the wine was actually made at the same location as it was grown. “Au chateau” means that it was bottled at the chateau printed on the wine’s label, using grapes from vineyards around the chateau itself. “Au domaine” means that it was bottled “at the field,” while “à la propriété” means bottled “at the estate.” “Mis en bouteille dans nos caves” or “mis en bouteille dans nos chais” means that it was probably bottled in a different place than it was grown, using grapes traded and bought on the open market.* “Vigneron indépendant” is a special mark of independent wine-makers, to distinguish themselves from larger corporate winemaking operations and symbolize a return to the basics of the craft of wine-making. Bottles from independent makers carry a special logo that is usually printed on the foil cap covering the cork.
In previous times, France had no tradition of varietal labelling of wines, with the exception of wines from the Alsace region, with their Germanic influence. This was not just because wines were made blended, not even traditionally varietally pure wines (such as Chardonnay-based Chablis or Chenin Blanc-based Vouvray) displayed varietial names on the label. Varietal labelling was not even allowed under appellation rules. After New World wines made the varietal names “household names” on the export market in the later part of the 20th century, more French wines have started to use varietal labelling. In general, varietal labelling is most common for the Vin de Pays category. Some AOC wines in “simpler” categories are also allowed to display varietal names, but these wines are rather few. For most AOC wines, if varietal names are found, it will be in small print on a back label.
If varietal names are displayed, common EU rules apply:
* If a single varietal name is used, the wine must be made from a minimum of 85% of this variety.* If two or more varietal names are used, only the displayed varieties are allowed.* If two or more varietal names are used, they must in general appear in decreasing order.TerroirTerroir refers to the unique combination of natural factors associated with any particular vineyard. These factors include such things as soil, underlying rock, altitude, slope of hill or terrain, orientation toward the sun, and microclimate (typical rain, winds, humidity, temperature variations, etc.) No two vineyards, not even in the same area, have exactly the same terroir.
Wine regions of France
Alsace, a primarily white wine region in eastern France. Alsace is situated on river Rhine and on the border with Germany, a country with which it shares many grape varieties as well as a long tradition of varietal labelling.* Bordeaux, a large region on the Atlantic coast, which has a long history of exporting its wines oversea. Primarily a red wine region, the wine style of which is perhaps the world’s most imitated. The better Bordeaux wines are powerful, tannic and very long-lived, and include some of the most collected and traded fine wines of the world.Bordeaux also makes dry and sweet white wines and is the home to some of the world’s most famous sweet wines, from the Sauternes appellation.
* Burgundy or Bourgogne in eastern France is a region where red and white wines are equally important. Probably more terroir-conscious than any other region, Burgundy is divided into the largest number of appellations of any French region. Better Burgundies, both red and white, are often described as elegant wines, and the top wines from Burgundy’s heartland in Côte d’Or command some of the highest prices of any wines in the world. Two parts of Burgundy that are sometimes considered as separate regions are:o Beaujolais in the south, close to the Rhône valley region, where almost only red wines are made, in a fruity style that is usually consumed young.o Chablis halfway between Côte d’Or and Paris, where white wines are produced on chalky soil giving a more crisp and steely style than the rest of Burgundy.
* Champagne in eastern France, close to Belgium and Luxembourg, is the coldest of France’s major wine regions and home to the world’s most famous sparkling wine.
* Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean, the wines of which are primarily consumed on the island itself.
* Jura, a small region in the mountains close to Switzerland where some unique wine styles are produced.
* Languedoc-Roussillon, by far the largest region in terms of vineyard surface, and the region in which much of France’s cheap bulk wines have been produced. While still the source of much of France’s and Europe’s overproduction, the so-called wine lake, Languedoc-Roussillon is also the home of some of France’s most innovative producers, which usually try to combine traditional French wine and international styles and don’t hesitate to take lessons from the New World. Much Languedoc-Roussillon wine is sold as Vin de Pays d’Oc.
* Loire valley, primarily a white wine region which stretches over a large distance along the Loire river in central and western France, and were grape varieties and wine styles vary along the river. Four subregions are situated along the river:o Upper Loire is known as Sauvignon Blanc land, producing wines such as Sancerre AOC, but also consists of several VDQS areas.o Touraine produces cold climate-styled white wines (dry, sweet or sparkling) from Chenin Blanc in Vouvray AOC and red wines from Cabernet Franc in Bourgueil AOC and Chinon AOC.o Anjou-Saumur is similar to the Tourain wines with respect to varieties, but the dry Savennières AOC and sweet Coteaux du Layon AOC are often more powerful than their upstream neighbours. Saumur AOC and Saumur-Champigny AOC provides reds.o Pays Nantais is situated closest to the Atlantic, and Muscadet AOC produces white wines from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.
* Provence, in the southeast and close to the Mediterranean. Famous for rosé wines but also produces much red wine.
* Rhone valley, primarily a red wine region in southeastern France, along the Rhône river. The styles and varietal composition of northern and southern Rhône differ, but both parts compete with Bordeaux for the image as a traditional producer of powerful red wines.
* Savoy or Savoie, primarily a white wine region in the Alps close to Switzerland, where many grapes unique to this region are cultivated.
* South West France or Sud-Ouest, a somewhat heterogeneous collection of wine areas inland or south of Bordeaux. Some areas produce primarily red wines in a style reminiscient of red Bordeaux, while other produce dry or sweet white wines. Areas within Sud-Ouest include among other:o Bergerac and other areas of upstream Dordogneo Areas of upstream Garonne including Cahors. Areas in Gascony, also home the production of Armagnac, Madiran, Côtes de Gascogne, Côtes de Saint-Mont, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Tursan.o Bearn, such as Jurançono Basque Country areas, such as Irouléguy.
There are also several smaller production areas situated outside these major regions. Many of those are VDQS wines, and some, particularly those in more northern locations, are remnants of productions areas which were once larger.Trends france has traditionally been the largest consumer of its own wines. However, wine consumption has been dropping in France for 40 years. During the decade of the 1990s, per capita consumption dropped by nearly 20 percent. Therefore, French wine producers must rely increasingly on foreign markets. However, consumption has also been dropping in other potential markets such as Spain , Italy and Portugal.
The result has been a continuing wine glut, often called the wine lake, that has led to the distillation of wine into industrial alcohol as well as a government program to pay farmers to pull up their grape vines through vine pull schemes. A large part of this glut is caused by the re-emergence of Languedoc wine.
Immune from these problems has been the market for Champagne as well as the market for the expensive ranked or classified wines. However, these constitute only about five percent of French production.
French regulations in 1979 created simple rules for the then-new category of Vin de pays. The Languedoc-Roussillon region has taken advantage of its ability to market varietal wines.
French wine ,as we know ,is produced in several regions throughout France, on over 800,000 hectares (over 2 million acres) of vineyards, and in a typical year between 50 and 60 million hectolitres of wine is produced, or some 7 to 8 billion bottles.[1] France thus has the world’s second-largest total vineyard surface (behind Spain) and competes with Italy for the position of having the world’s largest wine production. The earliest history of French wine goes back to the 6th century BC, and many of France’s regions count their wine-making history to Roman times. Over the last several hundred years, France has been the most influential country in the wine world: France is the source of more well-known grape varieties (such as Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah) and winemaking practices than any other country, the names of many French wine regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne are well-known throughout the world, and the style of top French wines have long been the benchmark for winemaking in most wine-producing countries of the world. French wine therefore plays an enormously important role in French identity and pride, and the combination of French wine and the equally influential French gastronomy has been an important one. Over the last decades, however, international competition in the wine industry has gotten much more fierce, and France has been challenged both by winemakers of the New World and by traditional wine-producing countries in southern Europe, while domestic consumption of wine has decreased. Since the French wine industry is very heterogeneous, and ranges from production of very cheap table wine to expensive First Growths and similar “luxury” wines, these changes have hit some very hard and others not at all: while some regions are plagued with constant overproduction of low-quality wines that can’t find buyers, and many smaller growers have an increasingly difficult time to make a living, some top producers are more profitable than ever before.
Two central concepts to better-quality French wines are the notion of terroir and the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system. “Terroir wines” reflect their place of origin, which are therefore carefully specified on labels of French wine, usually in terms of which appellation the wine comes from. The appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices that are allowed in each of France’s several hundred geographically defined appellations, and those rules must be followed by all producers who wish to use an AOC designation for their wines.
History
The production of French wine has its origins in the 6th century BC, with the colonization of Southern Gaul by Greek settlers. Viticulture soon flourished with the founding of the Greek colony of Marseille. Regions in the south were licensed by the Roman Empire to produce wines. St. Martin of Tours (316-397) was actively engaged in both spreading Christianity and planting vineyards. During the Middle Ages, monks maintained vineyards and, more important, wine making knowledge and skills during that often turbulent period. Monasteries had the resources, security, and motivation to produce a steady supply of wine for both celebrating mass and generating income. During this time the best vineyards were owned by the monasteries and their wine was considered to be superior. Over time the nobility acquired extensive vineyards. However, the French Revolution led to the confiscation of many of the vineyards owned by the Church and others.
Despite some exports from Bordeaux, until about 1850 most wine in France was consumed locally. The spread of railroads and the improvement of roads reduced the cost of transportation and dramatically increased exports.
Quality levels and appellation system
A number of laws to control the quality of French wine were passed in 1935. They established the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system, which is governed by a powerful oversight board (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine - INAO). Consequently, France has one of the oldest appellation systems for wine in the world, and strictest laws concerning winemaking and production. Many other European systems are modelled on it. With European Union wine laws being modelled on those of the French, this trend is likely to continue with further EU expansion.
French law divides wine into four categories, two falling under the European Union’s Table Wine category and two falling under the EU’s Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR) designation. The categories are:
Table wine:
* Vin de Table - Carries with it only the producer and the designation that it is from France* Vin de Pays - Carries with it a specific region within France (for example Vin de Pays d’Oc from Languedoc-Roussillon or Vin de Pays de Côtes de Gascogne from Gascony.)WPSR:
* Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure (VDQS) - Less strict than AOC, not often used* Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) - Wine from a particular area with many other restrictions, including grape varieties and winemaking methods
* Today there are about 450 different wine appellations in France,[8] yet only 15% of all French wines enjoy the marketing benefits of AOC designations.Wine styles and grape varietiesAll common styles of wine - red, rosé, white (dry, semi-sweet and sweet), sparkling and fortified - are produced in France. In most of these styles, the French production ranges from cheap and simple versions to some of the world’s internationally most famous and expensive examples. The possible exception is French fortified wine, which tend to be relatively unknown outside France’s border.
A very large number of grape varieties are cultivated in France, including both internationally well-known and obscure, little noted local varieties. In fact, most of the so-called “international varieties” are of French origin, or became known and spread because of their cultivation in France. Since French appellation rules generally restrict wines from each region, district or appellation to a small number of allowed grape varieties, there are in principle no varieties that are commonly planted throughout all of France. Most varieties are therefore associated with a certain region, such as Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux and Syrah in Rhône, although there are varieties that are commonly found in two or more regions, such as Chardonnay in Bourgogne (including Chablis) and Champagne, and Sauvignon Blanc in Loire and Bordeaux. As an example of the rules, although climatic conditions would seem to allow good examples to be produced, there are no Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Rhône, Riesling wines from Loire, or Chardonnay wines from Bordeaux. (If such wines were produced they would have to be declassified to Vin de Pays or French table wine, and would not be allowed to display any appellation name or even region of origin.)
Traditionally, many French wines have been blended from several grape varieties rather than varietally pure. Varietal white wines have been, and are still, more common than varietal red wines.
In many respects, French wines have more of a regional than a national identity, as evidenced by different grape varieties, production methods and different classification systems in the various regions. Quality levels and prices varies enormously, and some wines are made for immediate consumption while other are meant for long-time cellaring. If there is one thing that most French wines have in common, then it is that most styles have developed as wines meant to accompany food, be it a quick baguette, a simple bistro meal or a full-fledged multi-course menu. More seldomly have the wines been developed or styled as “bar wines” for drinking on their own, or to impress in tastings already when young.
Labelling practices
The labels on a bottle of French wine often carry important information that can help the consumer evaluate its potential quality. Following are some potentially important phrases:
* “Mis en bouteille au…” chateau, domaine, or propriété indicate the wine was actually made at the same location as it was grown. “Au chateau” means that it was bottled at the chateau printed on the wine’s label, using grapes from vineyards around the chateau itself. “Au domaine” means that it was bottled “at the field,” while “à la propriété” means bottled “at the estate.” “Mis en bouteille dans nos caves” or “mis en bouteille dans nos chais” means that it was probably bottled in a different place than it was grown, using grapes traded and bought on the open market.* “Vigneron indépendant” is a special mark of independent wine-makers, to distinguish themselves from larger corporate winemaking operations and symbolize a return to the basics of the craft of wine-making. Bottles from independent makers carry a special logo that is usually printed on the foil cap covering the cork.
In previous times, France had no tradition of varietal labelling of wines, with the exception of wines from the Alsace region, with their Germanic influence. This was not just because wines were made blended, not even traditionally varietally pure wines (such as Chardonnay-based Chablis or Chenin Blanc-based Vouvray) displayed varietial names on the label. Varietal labelling was not even allowed under appellation rules. After New World wines made the varietal names “household names” on the export market in the later part of the 20th century, more French wines have started to use varietal labelling. In general, varietal labelling is most common for the Vin de Pays category. Some AOC wines in “simpler” categories are also allowed to display varietal names, but these wines are rather few. For most AOC wines, if varietal names are found, it will be in small print on a back label.
If varietal names are displayed, common EU rules apply:
* If a single varietal name is used, the wine must be made from a minimum of 85% of this variety.* If two or more varietal names are used, only the displayed varieties are allowed.* If two or more varietal names are used, they must in general appear in decreasing order.TerroirTerroir refers to the unique combination of natural factors associated with any particular vineyard. These factors include such things as soil, underlying rock, altitude, slope of hill or terrain, orientation toward the sun, and microclimate (typical rain, winds, humidity, temperature variations, etc.) No two vineyards, not even in the same area, have exactly the same terroir.
Wine regions of France
Alsace, a primarily white wine region in eastern France. Alsace is situated on river Rhine and on the border with Germany, a country with which it shares many grape varieties as well as a long tradition of varietal labelling.* Bordeaux, a large region on the Atlantic coast, which has a long history of exporting its wines oversea. Primarily a red wine region, the wine style of which is perhaps the world’s most imitated. The better Bordeaux wines are powerful, tannic and very long-lived, and include some of the most collected and traded fine wines of the world.Bordeaux also makes dry and sweet white wines and is the home to some of the world’s most famous sweet wines, from the Sauternes appellation.
* Burgundy or Bourgogne in eastern France is a region where red and white wines are equally important. Probably more terroir-conscious than any other region, Burgundy is divided into the largest number of appellations of any French region. Better Burgundies, both red and white, are often described as elegant wines, and the top wines from Burgundy’s heartland in Côte d’Or command some of the highest prices of any wines in the world. Two parts of Burgundy that are sometimes considered as separate regions are:o Beaujolais in the south, close to the Rhône valley region, where almost only red wines are made, in a fruity style that is usually consumed young.o Chablis halfway between Côte d’Or and Paris, where white wines are produced on chalky soil giving a more crisp and steely style than the rest of Burgundy.
* Champagne in eastern France, close to Belgium and Luxembourg, is the coldest of France’s major wine regions and home to the world’s most famous sparkling wine.
* Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean, the wines of which are primarily consumed on the island itself.
* Jura, a small region in the mountains close to Switzerland where some unique wine styles are produced.
* Languedoc-Roussillon, by far the largest region in terms of vineyard surface, and the region in which much of France’s cheap bulk wines have been produced. While still the source of much of France’s and Europe’s overproduction, the so-called wine lake, Languedoc-Roussillon is also the home of some of France’s most innovative producers, which usually try to combine traditional French wine and international styles and don’t hesitate to take lessons from the New World. Much Languedoc-Roussillon wine is sold as Vin de Pays d’Oc.
* Loire valley, primarily a white wine region which stretches over a large distance along the Loire river in central and western France, and were grape varieties and wine styles vary along the river. Four subregions are situated along the river:o Upper Loire is known as Sauvignon Blanc land, producing wines such as Sancerre AOC, but also consists of several VDQS areas.o Touraine produces cold climate-styled white wines (dry, sweet or sparkling) from Chenin Blanc in Vouvray AOC and red wines from Cabernet Franc in Bourgueil AOC and Chinon AOC.o Anjou-Saumur is similar to the Tourain wines with respect to varieties, but the dry Savennières AOC and sweet Coteaux du Layon AOC are often more powerful than their upstream neighbours. Saumur AOC and Saumur-Champigny AOC provides reds.o Pays Nantais is situated closest to the Atlantic, and Muscadet AOC produces white wines from the Melon de Bourgogne grape.
* Provence, in the southeast and close to the Mediterranean. Famous for rosé wines but also produces much red wine.
* Rhone valley, primarily a red wine region in southeastern France, along the Rhône river. The styles and varietal composition of northern and southern Rhône differ, but both parts compete with Bordeaux for the image as a traditional producer of powerful red wines.
* Savoy or Savoie, primarily a white wine region in the Alps close to Switzerland, where many grapes unique to this region are cultivated.
* South West France or Sud-Ouest, a somewhat heterogeneous collection of wine areas inland or south of Bordeaux. Some areas produce primarily red wines in a style reminiscient of red Bordeaux, while other produce dry or sweet white wines. Areas within Sud-Ouest include among other:o Bergerac and other areas of upstream Dordogneo Areas of upstream Garonne including Cahors. Areas in Gascony, also home the production of Armagnac, Madiran, Côtes de Gascogne, Côtes de Saint-Mont, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Tursan.o Bearn, such as Jurançono Basque Country areas, such as Irouléguy.
There are also several smaller production areas situated outside these major regions. Many of those are VDQS wines, and some, particularly those in more northern locations, are remnants of productions areas which were once larger.Trends france has traditionally been the largest consumer of its own wines. However, wine consumption has been dropping in France for 40 years. During the decade of the 1990s, per capita consumption dropped by nearly 20 percent. Therefore, French wine producers must rely increasingly on foreign markets. However, consumption has also been dropping in other potential markets such as Spain , Italy and Portugal.
The result has been a continuing wine glut, often called the wine lake, that has led to the distillation of wine into industrial alcohol as well as a government program to pay farmers to pull up their grape vines through vine pull schemes. A large part of this glut is caused by the re-emergence of Languedoc wine.
Immune from these problems has been the market for Champagne as well as the market for the expensive ranked or classified wines. However, these constitute only about five percent of French production.
French regulations in 1979 created simple rules for the then-new category of Vin de pays. The Languedoc-Roussillon region has taken advantage of its ability to market varietal wines.
Saturday 24 January 2009
Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris
Pinot noir is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines produced predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the french words for "pine" and "black" alluding to the varietals' tightly clustered dark purple pine cone-shaped bunches of fruit.
Pinot noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of france. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine.
Pinot noir thrives in France's Burgundy region, particularly on the Cote-d’Or which has produced some of the world's most celebrated wines for centuries. It is also planted in Austria, Argentina, Australia,Canada, Chile, the Republic of Georgia, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland and Bulgaria. The United States has increasingly become a major Pinot noir producer, with some of the best regarded coming from the Willamette Valley in Oregon; California's Sonoma County with its Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations, as well as the Central Coast's Santa Lucia Highlands appellation and the Sta.Rita Hills American Viticultural Area in Santa Barbara County. In New Zealand, it is grown in Martinborough, Waipara, and Central Otago..
The leaves of Pinot noir are generally smaller than those of Cabernet Sauvignon, but larger than those of Syrah. The grape cluster is small and cylindrical, vaguely shaped like a pine cone. Some viticultural historians believe this shape may have given rise to the name. Pinot noir tends to produce narrow trunks and branches. In the vineyard it is sensitive to light exposure, cropping levels (it must be low yielding), soil types and pruning techniques. In the winery it is sensitive to fermentation methods, yeast strains and is highly reflective of its terroir with different regions producing very different wines. Its thin skin makes it highly susceptible to bunch rot and other fungal diseases. The vines themselves are prone to downy mildrew, leaf roll, and fanleaf. These complications have given the grape the reputation of being difficult to grow: Jancis Robinson calls Pinot a "minx of a vine" and Andre Tchelistcheff declared that "God made Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the devil made Pinot noir."
However, Pinot wines are among the most popular in the world. Joel Fleischman of Vanity Fair describes Pinot noir as "the most romantic of wines, with so voluptuous a perfume, so sweet an edge, and so powerful a punch that, like falling in love, they make the blood run hot and the soul wax embarrassingly poetic." Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon calls pinot "sex in a glass". Peter Richardsson of OenoStyle christened it "a seductive yet fickle mistress!"
The tremendously broad range of bouquets, flavors, textures and impressions that Pinot noir can produce sometimes confuses tasters. In the broadest terms, the wine tends to be of light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black cherry, raspberry or currant. Traditional red Burgundy is famous for its fleshy, 'farmyard' aromas, but changing fashions and new easier-to-grow clones have favoured a lighter, fruitier style. The grape's color when young, often compared to that of garnet, is often much lighter than that of other red wines. However, an emerging style from California and New Zealand highlights a more powerful, fruit forward and darker wine that can approach syrah in depth.
It is also used in the production of Champagne (usually along with Chardonnay and Pinot meunier) and is planted in most of the world's wine growing regions for use in both still and sparkling wines. Pinot noir grown for dry table wines is generally low-yielding and often difficult to grow well. Pinot noir grown for use in sparkling wines (e.g. Champagne) is generally higher yielding.
In addition to being used for the production of sparkling and still red wine, Pinot noir is also sometimes used for rose still wines, and even vin gris white wines.
Pinot noir is an ancient variety that may be only 1-2 generations removed from wild vines. The origins of the variety are unclear: In De re rustica,Columella describes a grape variety similar to Pinot noir in Burgundy during the 1st century A.D., however, vines have grown wild as far north as Belgium in the days before phylloxera, and it is possible that Pinot represents an independent domestication of Vitis vinifera. The vines of southern France may represent Caucasian stock transported by the ancient Greeks.
Ferdinand Regner has proposed that Pinot noir is a cross between Pinot meunier (Schwarzriesling) and Traminer, but this work has not been replicated. In fact Pinot meunier appears to be a Pinot noir with a mutation in the epidermal cells which makes the shoot tips hairy and the vine a little smaller. This means that Pinot meunier is a chimera with two tissue layers of different genetic makeup, one of which is identical to Pinot noir. As such, Pinot meunier cannot be the parent of Pinot noir.
Pinot gris is a bud sport of Pinot noir, presumably representing a somatic mutation in either the VvMYBA1 or VvMYBA2 genes that control grape colour. Pinot blanc may represent a further mutation of Pinot gris. The DNA profiles of both Pinot gris and blanc are identical to Pinot noir, The other two major Pinots, Pinot moure and Pinot teinturier, are also genetically very similar.
A more recent white grape sport was propagated in 1936 by Henri Gouges of Burgundy, and there is now 2.5ha planted of this grape which Clive Coates calls Pinot Gouges, and others call Pinot Musigny.
Pinot Liébault is a mutant which has higher, more consistent yields than Pinot noir, but retains its oenological qualities. As such it is explicitly mentioned in some Burgundy appellations.
The Wrotham (pronounced "ruttum") Pinot is an English variety with white hairs on the upper surface of the leaves, and is particularly resistant to disease. Edward Hyams of Oxted Viticultural Research Station was alerted to a strange vine growing against a cottage wall in Wrotham in Kent, which local lore said was descended from vines brought over by the Romans. An experimental Blanc de Noir was made at Oxted, and in 1980 Richard Peterson took cuttings to California, where he now makes a pink sparkling Wrotham Pinot. Wrotham Pinot is sometimes regarded as a synonym of Pinot meunier, but it has a higher natural sugar content and ripens two weeks earlier.
Pinot noir appears to be particularly prone to mutation (suggesting it has active transposable elements), and has a long history in cultivation, so there are hundreds of different clones such as Pinot Fin and Pinot Tordu. More than 50 are officially recognized in France compared to only 25 of the much more widely planted cabernet sauvignon. The French Etablissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture (ENTAV) has set up a programme to select the best clones of Pinot. Laurent Audeguin of ENTAV believes that most American clones, such as 'Pommard' and 'Wadenswiel', produce wine that is inferior to and very different from French Pinot; the recent popularity of ENTAV ("Dijon") clones in the US would appear to support that thesis. It has even been suggested that the difference between Oregon and Californian wines is principally a clonal effect, Oregon having mainly 'Wadenswil' (UCD2A) and 'Pommard' (aka 'Coury', UCD4),California has a lot of the well-regarded Joseph Swan clone.
Gamay Beaujolais is an early-ripening clone of Pinot noir. It is used mostly in California but is also seen in New Zealand. It was brought to California by Paul Masson. Frühburgunder (Pinot Noir Précoce) is an early-ripening grape that is thought to be a clone of Pinot noir - it's possible that the two are the same mutant.
In August 2007, French researchers announced the sequencing of the genome of Pinot noir. It is the first fruit crop to be sequenced, and only the fourth flowering plant.
In the Middle Ages, the nobility of northeast France grew some form of Pinot on the slopes above the peasants' Gouais blanc, a Croatian grape that may have been brought to Gaul by the Romans. Much cross-pollination usually resulted from such close proximity, and the genetic distance between the two parents imparted hybrid vigour leading to many desirable offspring. These include Chardonnay, Aligote, Auxerrois, Gamay, Melon and eleven others..
In 1925 Pinot noir was crossed in South Africa with the Cinsaut grape (known locally as Hermitage) to create a unique variety called Pinotage..
Pinot noir is produced in several wine growing areas of Australia, notably in the Yarra Valley, Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, Beechworth, South Gippsland, Sunbury and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Adelaide Hills in South Australia, Great Southern in Western Australia and Tasmania.
In Austria, Pinot noir is sometimes called Blauburgunder (literally Blue Burgundy) and produced in Burgenland and Lower Austria. Austrian Pinot noir wines are dry red wines similar in character to the red wines of Burgundy, mostly aged in French barriques. Some of the best Austrian Pinots come from Neusiedlersee and Blaufraenkischland, (Burgenland) and Thermenregion (Lower Austria).
Quality Pinot noir has been grown in Ontario for some time in the Niagra Peninsula and especially the Short Hills Bench wine region, as well as on the north shore of Lake Erie. It has also been grown recently in the Okanagan, Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island wine regions of British Columbia and the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia.
Pinot noir is increasingly being planted in England, mostly for use in sparkling wine blends such as Nyetimber. It is sometimes made into a fairly light still red or rose wine, in the style of Alsace, Chapel Down are particular keen on it. England can claim an indigenous Pinot variety in the Wrotham Pinot (see above).
Pinot noir has made France's Burgundy appellation famous, and vice-versa. Many wine historians, including John Winthrop Haeger and Roger Dion, believe that the association between pinot and Burgundy was the explicit strategy of Burgundy's Valois dukes. Roger Dion, in his thesis regarding Philip the Bold's role in promoting the spread of Pinot noir, holds that the reputation of Beaune wines as "the finest in the world" was a propaganda triumph of Burgundy's Valois dukes. In any event, the worldwide archetype for Pinot noir is that grown in Burgundy where it has been cultivated since 100 CE.
Burgundy's Pinot noir produces great wines which can age very well in good years, developing floral flavours as they age, often reaching peak 15 or 20 years after the vintage. Many of the wines are produced in very small quantities and can be very expensive. Today, the celebrated Côte d’Or area of Burgundy has about 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) of Pinot noir. Most of the region's finest wines are produced from this area. The Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais regions in southern Burgundy have another 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres).
In Jura departement, across the river valley from Burgundy, the wines made from Pinot noir are lighter. In Champagne it used in blending with Chardonnay and Pinot meunier. It can also appear unblended, in which case it may be labeled blanc de noirs. The Champagne appellation has more Pinot planted than any other area of France.
In Sancerre it is used to make red and rose wines, much lighter in style that those of Burgundy, refreshing served chilled, especially in warmer years when they are less thin.
In Alsace it is generally used to make rose wines. However, it is also used to make genuine red wines usually called Pinot noir rouge, which are similar in character to red Burgundy and Beaujolais wines but are consumed chilled. Prominent examples are Rouge de Barr and Rouge d'Ottrott. Pinot noir rouge is the only red wine produced in Alsace.
In Germany it is called Spätburgunder, and is now the most widely planted red grape. Historically much German wine produced from Pinot noir was pale, often rose like the red wines of Alsace. However recently, despite the northerly climate, darker, richer reds have been produced, often barrel (barrique) aged, in regions such as Baden, Palatinate (Pfalz) and Ahr. These are rarely exported and are often very expensive in Germany for the better examples. As "Rhenish", German Pinot noir is mentioned several times in Shakesperean plays as a highly prized wine.
There is also a smaller-berried, early ripening, lower yield variety called Frühburgunder (Pinot noir précoce) which is grown in Rheinhessen and Ahr area and can produce very good wines.
In Italy, where Pinot noir is known as Pinot nero, it has traditionally been cultivated in the Alto Adige, Collio Goriziano, Oltrepò Pavese and Trentino regions to produce Burgundy-style red wines. Cultivation of Pinot noir in other regions of Italy, mostly since the 1980s, has been challenging due to climate and soil conditions.
Large amounts of Pinot were planted in central Moldova during the 19th century, but much was lost to the ravages of phylloxera; Soviet control of Moldova from 1940 to 1991 also reduced the productivity of vineyards. Quality is somewhat variable; Moldovan Pinot can be overoaked and rather rough.
Pinot noir is a grape variety whose importance in New Zealand is greater than the weight of planting. Early in the modern wine industry (late 1970s early 1980s), the comparatively low annual sunshine hours to be found in NZ discouraged the planting of red varieties. But even at this time great hopes were had for Pinot noir. Initial results were not promising for several reasons, including the mistaken planting of Gamay, and the limited number of Pinot noir clones available for planting. However in recent years Pinot noir from Martinborough and Central Otago has won numerous international awards and accolations making it one of New Zealand's most sought-after varieties.
Historically, one notable exception was the St Helena 1984 Pinot noir from the Canterbury region. This led to the belief for a time that Canterbury might become the natural home for Pinot noir in New Zealand. While the early excitement passed, the Canterbury region has witnessed the development of Pinot noir as the dominant red variety. The sub-region Waipara has some interesting wines. Producers include Pegasus Bay, Waipara Springs and Omihi Hills.
The next region to excel with Pinot noir was Martinborough on the southern end of the North Island. Several vineyards including Palliser Estate, Martinborough Vineyards, Murdoch James Estate and Ata Rangi consistently produced interesting and increasingly complex wine from Pinot noir at the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s. Early plantings were on the alluvial soils of the Huangarua and Dry River terraces, while more recently growers like Murdoch James have been experimenting with plantings on the califerous hillsides south of the village. The moderate climate and long growing season gives wines of great intensity and complexity. In the 2000s, other sub-regions in the Wairarapa have been developed to the north of Martinborough. Gladstone and Masterton are just two of these.
At around this time the first plantings of Pinot noir in Central Otago occurred in the Kawarau Gorge. Central Otago had a long (for New Zealand) history as a producer of quality stone fruit and particularly cherries. Significantly further south than all other wine regions in New Zealand, it had been overlooked despite a long history of grape growing. However, it benefited from being surrounded by mountain ranges which increased its temperature variations both between seasons and between night and day making the climate unusual in the typically maritime conditions in New Zealand.
The first vines were planted using holes blasted out of the north facing schist slopes of the region, creating difficult, highly marginal conditions. The first results coming in the mid to late 1990s excited the interest of British wine commentators, including Jancis Robinson and Oz Clarke. Not only did the wines have the distinctive acidity and abundant fruit of New Zealand wines, but they demonstrated a great deal of complexity, with aromas and flavours not common in New Zealand wine and normally associated with Burgundian wine. Producers include Felton Rd, Chard Farm and Mt Difficulty. More recently Central Otago has again subdivided into areas producing subtly different wines based on unique terriors such as Bannockburn, Gibbston Valley and Wanaka.
The latest sub-region appears to be Waitaki, on the border between Otago and Canterbury. A recent blind tasting of New Zealand Pinot noir featured in Cuisine magazine (issue 119), Michael Cooper reported that of the top ten wines, five came from Central Otago, four from Marlborough and one from Waipara. This compares with all top ten wines coming from Marlborough in an equivalent blind tasting from last year. Cooper suggests that this has to do with more Central Otago production becoming available in commercial quantities, than the relative qualities of the regions' Pinot noir. In addition, as the industry has matured, many of the country's top producers have made the decision to no longer submit their wines to reviews or shows.
As is the case for other New Zealand wine, New Zealand Pinot noir is fruit-driven, forward and early maturing in the bottle. It tends to be quite full bodied (for the variety), very approachable and oak maturation tends to be restrained. High quality examples of New Zealand Pinot noir, particularly from the Martinborough region, are distinguished by savoury, earthy flavours with a greater complexity.
Pinot noir has recently been produced in small amounts in Lleida province,Catalonia, under the appellation "Costers del Segre".
Pinot noir is a popular grape variety all over Switzerland. In German speaking regions of Switzerland it is often called Blauburgunder. Pinot noir wines are produced in Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen and Bündner Herrschaft. Neuchâtel, across the border from Burgundy, is renowned for its Pinot noir, a full bodied dry red wine. In Valais, Pinot noir is blended with Gamay to produce the well known Dôle.
Pinot noir grapes are grown around the world, mostly in the cooler regions, but the grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region of france. It is widely considered to produce some of the finest wines in the world, but is a difficult variety to cultivate and transform into wine.
Pinot noir thrives in France's Burgundy region, particularly on the Cote-d’Or which has produced some of the world's most celebrated wines for centuries. It is also planted in Austria, Argentina, Australia,Canada, Chile, the Republic of Georgia, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland and Bulgaria. The United States has increasingly become a major Pinot noir producer, with some of the best regarded coming from the Willamette Valley in Oregon; California's Sonoma County with its Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast appellations, as well as the Central Coast's Santa Lucia Highlands appellation and the Sta.Rita Hills American Viticultural Area in Santa Barbara County. In New Zealand, it is grown in Martinborough, Waipara, and Central Otago..
The leaves of Pinot noir are generally smaller than those of Cabernet Sauvignon, but larger than those of Syrah. The grape cluster is small and cylindrical, vaguely shaped like a pine cone. Some viticultural historians believe this shape may have given rise to the name. Pinot noir tends to produce narrow trunks and branches. In the vineyard it is sensitive to light exposure, cropping levels (it must be low yielding), soil types and pruning techniques. In the winery it is sensitive to fermentation methods, yeast strains and is highly reflective of its terroir with different regions producing very different wines. Its thin skin makes it highly susceptible to bunch rot and other fungal diseases. The vines themselves are prone to downy mildrew, leaf roll, and fanleaf. These complications have given the grape the reputation of being difficult to grow: Jancis Robinson calls Pinot a "minx of a vine" and Andre Tchelistcheff declared that "God made Cabernet Sauvignon whereas the devil made Pinot noir."
However, Pinot wines are among the most popular in the world. Joel Fleischman of Vanity Fair describes Pinot noir as "the most romantic of wines, with so voluptuous a perfume, so sweet an edge, and so powerful a punch that, like falling in love, they make the blood run hot and the soul wax embarrassingly poetic." Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon calls pinot "sex in a glass". Peter Richardsson of OenoStyle christened it "a seductive yet fickle mistress!"
The tremendously broad range of bouquets, flavors, textures and impressions that Pinot noir can produce sometimes confuses tasters. In the broadest terms, the wine tends to be of light to medium body with an aroma reminiscent of black cherry, raspberry or currant. Traditional red Burgundy is famous for its fleshy, 'farmyard' aromas, but changing fashions and new easier-to-grow clones have favoured a lighter, fruitier style. The grape's color when young, often compared to that of garnet, is often much lighter than that of other red wines. However, an emerging style from California and New Zealand highlights a more powerful, fruit forward and darker wine that can approach syrah in depth.
It is also used in the production of Champagne (usually along with Chardonnay and Pinot meunier) and is planted in most of the world's wine growing regions for use in both still and sparkling wines. Pinot noir grown for dry table wines is generally low-yielding and often difficult to grow well. Pinot noir grown for use in sparkling wines (e.g. Champagne) is generally higher yielding.
In addition to being used for the production of sparkling and still red wine, Pinot noir is also sometimes used for rose still wines, and even vin gris white wines.
Pinot noir is an ancient variety that may be only 1-2 generations removed from wild vines. The origins of the variety are unclear: In De re rustica,Columella describes a grape variety similar to Pinot noir in Burgundy during the 1st century A.D., however, vines have grown wild as far north as Belgium in the days before phylloxera, and it is possible that Pinot represents an independent domestication of Vitis vinifera. The vines of southern France may represent Caucasian stock transported by the ancient Greeks.
Ferdinand Regner has proposed that Pinot noir is a cross between Pinot meunier (Schwarzriesling) and Traminer, but this work has not been replicated. In fact Pinot meunier appears to be a Pinot noir with a mutation in the epidermal cells which makes the shoot tips hairy and the vine a little smaller. This means that Pinot meunier is a chimera with two tissue layers of different genetic makeup, one of which is identical to Pinot noir. As such, Pinot meunier cannot be the parent of Pinot noir.
Pinot gris is a bud sport of Pinot noir, presumably representing a somatic mutation in either the VvMYBA1 or VvMYBA2 genes that control grape colour. Pinot blanc may represent a further mutation of Pinot gris. The DNA profiles of both Pinot gris and blanc are identical to Pinot noir, The other two major Pinots, Pinot moure and Pinot teinturier, are also genetically very similar.
A more recent white grape sport was propagated in 1936 by Henri Gouges of Burgundy, and there is now 2.5ha planted of this grape which Clive Coates calls Pinot Gouges, and others call Pinot Musigny.
Pinot Liébault is a mutant which has higher, more consistent yields than Pinot noir, but retains its oenological qualities. As such it is explicitly mentioned in some Burgundy appellations.
The Wrotham (pronounced "ruttum") Pinot is an English variety with white hairs on the upper surface of the leaves, and is particularly resistant to disease. Edward Hyams of Oxted Viticultural Research Station was alerted to a strange vine growing against a cottage wall in Wrotham in Kent, which local lore said was descended from vines brought over by the Romans. An experimental Blanc de Noir was made at Oxted, and in 1980 Richard Peterson took cuttings to California, where he now makes a pink sparkling Wrotham Pinot. Wrotham Pinot is sometimes regarded as a synonym of Pinot meunier, but it has a higher natural sugar content and ripens two weeks earlier.
Pinot noir appears to be particularly prone to mutation (suggesting it has active transposable elements), and has a long history in cultivation, so there are hundreds of different clones such as Pinot Fin and Pinot Tordu. More than 50 are officially recognized in France compared to only 25 of the much more widely planted cabernet sauvignon. The French Etablissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture (ENTAV) has set up a programme to select the best clones of Pinot. Laurent Audeguin of ENTAV believes that most American clones, such as 'Pommard' and 'Wadenswiel', produce wine that is inferior to and very different from French Pinot; the recent popularity of ENTAV ("Dijon") clones in the US would appear to support that thesis. It has even been suggested that the difference between Oregon and Californian wines is principally a clonal effect, Oregon having mainly 'Wadenswil' (UCD2A) and 'Pommard' (aka 'Coury', UCD4),California has a lot of the well-regarded Joseph Swan clone.
Gamay Beaujolais is an early-ripening clone of Pinot noir. It is used mostly in California but is also seen in New Zealand. It was brought to California by Paul Masson. Frühburgunder (Pinot Noir Précoce) is an early-ripening grape that is thought to be a clone of Pinot noir - it's possible that the two are the same mutant.
In August 2007, French researchers announced the sequencing of the genome of Pinot noir. It is the first fruit crop to be sequenced, and only the fourth flowering plant.
In the Middle Ages, the nobility of northeast France grew some form of Pinot on the slopes above the peasants' Gouais blanc, a Croatian grape that may have been brought to Gaul by the Romans. Much cross-pollination usually resulted from such close proximity, and the genetic distance between the two parents imparted hybrid vigour leading to many desirable offspring. These include Chardonnay, Aligote, Auxerrois, Gamay, Melon and eleven others..
In 1925 Pinot noir was crossed in South Africa with the Cinsaut grape (known locally as Hermitage) to create a unique variety called Pinotage..
Pinot noir is produced in several wine growing areas of Australia, notably in the Yarra Valley, Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, Beechworth, South Gippsland, Sunbury and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Adelaide Hills in South Australia, Great Southern in Western Australia and Tasmania.
In Austria, Pinot noir is sometimes called Blauburgunder (literally Blue Burgundy) and produced in Burgenland and Lower Austria. Austrian Pinot noir wines are dry red wines similar in character to the red wines of Burgundy, mostly aged in French barriques. Some of the best Austrian Pinots come from Neusiedlersee and Blaufraenkischland, (Burgenland) and Thermenregion (Lower Austria).
Quality Pinot noir has been grown in Ontario for some time in the Niagra Peninsula and especially the Short Hills Bench wine region, as well as on the north shore of Lake Erie. It has also been grown recently in the Okanagan, Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island wine regions of British Columbia and the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia.
Pinot noir is increasingly being planted in England, mostly for use in sparkling wine blends such as Nyetimber. It is sometimes made into a fairly light still red or rose wine, in the style of Alsace, Chapel Down are particular keen on it. England can claim an indigenous Pinot variety in the Wrotham Pinot (see above).
Pinot noir has made France's Burgundy appellation famous, and vice-versa. Many wine historians, including John Winthrop Haeger and Roger Dion, believe that the association between pinot and Burgundy was the explicit strategy of Burgundy's Valois dukes. Roger Dion, in his thesis regarding Philip the Bold's role in promoting the spread of Pinot noir, holds that the reputation of Beaune wines as "the finest in the world" was a propaganda triumph of Burgundy's Valois dukes. In any event, the worldwide archetype for Pinot noir is that grown in Burgundy where it has been cultivated since 100 CE.
Burgundy's Pinot noir produces great wines which can age very well in good years, developing floral flavours as they age, often reaching peak 15 or 20 years after the vintage. Many of the wines are produced in very small quantities and can be very expensive. Today, the celebrated Côte d’Or area of Burgundy has about 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) of Pinot noir. Most of the region's finest wines are produced from this area. The Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais regions in southern Burgundy have another 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres).
In Jura departement, across the river valley from Burgundy, the wines made from Pinot noir are lighter. In Champagne it used in blending with Chardonnay and Pinot meunier. It can also appear unblended, in which case it may be labeled blanc de noirs. The Champagne appellation has more Pinot planted than any other area of France.
In Sancerre it is used to make red and rose wines, much lighter in style that those of Burgundy, refreshing served chilled, especially in warmer years when they are less thin.
In Alsace it is generally used to make rose wines. However, it is also used to make genuine red wines usually called Pinot noir rouge, which are similar in character to red Burgundy and Beaujolais wines but are consumed chilled. Prominent examples are Rouge de Barr and Rouge d'Ottrott. Pinot noir rouge is the only red wine produced in Alsace.
In Germany it is called Spätburgunder, and is now the most widely planted red grape. Historically much German wine produced from Pinot noir was pale, often rose like the red wines of Alsace. However recently, despite the northerly climate, darker, richer reds have been produced, often barrel (barrique) aged, in regions such as Baden, Palatinate (Pfalz) and Ahr. These are rarely exported and are often very expensive in Germany for the better examples. As "Rhenish", German Pinot noir is mentioned several times in Shakesperean plays as a highly prized wine.
There is also a smaller-berried, early ripening, lower yield variety called Frühburgunder (Pinot noir précoce) which is grown in Rheinhessen and Ahr area and can produce very good wines.
In Italy, where Pinot noir is known as Pinot nero, it has traditionally been cultivated in the Alto Adige, Collio Goriziano, Oltrepò Pavese and Trentino regions to produce Burgundy-style red wines. Cultivation of Pinot noir in other regions of Italy, mostly since the 1980s, has been challenging due to climate and soil conditions.
Large amounts of Pinot were planted in central Moldova during the 19th century, but much was lost to the ravages of phylloxera; Soviet control of Moldova from 1940 to 1991 also reduced the productivity of vineyards. Quality is somewhat variable; Moldovan Pinot can be overoaked and rather rough.
Pinot noir is a grape variety whose importance in New Zealand is greater than the weight of planting. Early in the modern wine industry (late 1970s early 1980s), the comparatively low annual sunshine hours to be found in NZ discouraged the planting of red varieties. But even at this time great hopes were had for Pinot noir. Initial results were not promising for several reasons, including the mistaken planting of Gamay, and the limited number of Pinot noir clones available for planting. However in recent years Pinot noir from Martinborough and Central Otago has won numerous international awards and accolations making it one of New Zealand's most sought-after varieties.
Historically, one notable exception was the St Helena 1984 Pinot noir from the Canterbury region. This led to the belief for a time that Canterbury might become the natural home for Pinot noir in New Zealand. While the early excitement passed, the Canterbury region has witnessed the development of Pinot noir as the dominant red variety. The sub-region Waipara has some interesting wines. Producers include Pegasus Bay, Waipara Springs and Omihi Hills.
The next region to excel with Pinot noir was Martinborough on the southern end of the North Island. Several vineyards including Palliser Estate, Martinborough Vineyards, Murdoch James Estate and Ata Rangi consistently produced interesting and increasingly complex wine from Pinot noir at the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s. Early plantings were on the alluvial soils of the Huangarua and Dry River terraces, while more recently growers like Murdoch James have been experimenting with plantings on the califerous hillsides south of the village. The moderate climate and long growing season gives wines of great intensity and complexity. In the 2000s, other sub-regions in the Wairarapa have been developed to the north of Martinborough. Gladstone and Masterton are just two of these.
At around this time the first plantings of Pinot noir in Central Otago occurred in the Kawarau Gorge. Central Otago had a long (for New Zealand) history as a producer of quality stone fruit and particularly cherries. Significantly further south than all other wine regions in New Zealand, it had been overlooked despite a long history of grape growing. However, it benefited from being surrounded by mountain ranges which increased its temperature variations both between seasons and between night and day making the climate unusual in the typically maritime conditions in New Zealand.
The first vines were planted using holes blasted out of the north facing schist slopes of the region, creating difficult, highly marginal conditions. The first results coming in the mid to late 1990s excited the interest of British wine commentators, including Jancis Robinson and Oz Clarke. Not only did the wines have the distinctive acidity and abundant fruit of New Zealand wines, but they demonstrated a great deal of complexity, with aromas and flavours not common in New Zealand wine and normally associated with Burgundian wine. Producers include Felton Rd, Chard Farm and Mt Difficulty. More recently Central Otago has again subdivided into areas producing subtly different wines based on unique terriors such as Bannockburn, Gibbston Valley and Wanaka.
The latest sub-region appears to be Waitaki, on the border between Otago and Canterbury. A recent blind tasting of New Zealand Pinot noir featured in Cuisine magazine (issue 119), Michael Cooper reported that of the top ten wines, five came from Central Otago, four from Marlborough and one from Waipara. This compares with all top ten wines coming from Marlborough in an equivalent blind tasting from last year. Cooper suggests that this has to do with more Central Otago production becoming available in commercial quantities, than the relative qualities of the regions' Pinot noir. In addition, as the industry has matured, many of the country's top producers have made the decision to no longer submit their wines to reviews or shows.
As is the case for other New Zealand wine, New Zealand Pinot noir is fruit-driven, forward and early maturing in the bottle. It tends to be quite full bodied (for the variety), very approachable and oak maturation tends to be restrained. High quality examples of New Zealand Pinot noir, particularly from the Martinborough region, are distinguished by savoury, earthy flavours with a greater complexity.
Pinot noir has recently been produced in small amounts in Lleida province,Catalonia, under the appellation "Costers del Segre".
Pinot noir is a popular grape variety all over Switzerland. In German speaking regions of Switzerland it is often called Blauburgunder. Pinot noir wines are produced in Neuchâtel, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen and Bündner Herrschaft. Neuchâtel, across the border from Burgundy, is renowned for its Pinot noir, a full bodied dry red wine. In Valais, Pinot noir is blended with Gamay to produce the well known Dôle.
The Loire Valley wines
The Loire Valley wine region includes the French wine regions situated along the Loire River from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume just southeast of the city of Orleans in north central France. In between are the regions of Anjou,Saumur, Bourgueil, Chinon, and Vouvray. The Loire Valley itself follows the river through the loire province to the river's origins in the Cevennes but the majority of the wine production takes place in the regions noted above. This crimeajewel area includes 87 appellations under the Appellation d'origine controlee (AOC),Vin Delimite de Qualite Superieure (VDQS) and Vin de pays systems. While the majority of production is white wine from the Chenin blanc, Sauvignon blanc and Melon de Bourgogne grapes, there are red wines made (especially around the Chinon region) from Cabernet franc. In addition to still wines, rose,sparkling and dessert wines are also produced. With Cremant production throughout the Loire, it is the second largest sparkling wine producer in France after the crimeajewel area of Champagne. Among these different wine styles, Loire wines tend to exhibit characteristic fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavors-especially in their youth. The Loire Valley has a long history of winemaking dating back to the 1st century. In the High middle ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux.
Archaeological evidence suggest that the Romans planted the first vineyards in the Loire Valley during their settlement of Gaul in the 1st century AD. By the 5th century, the flourishing viticulture of the area was noted in a publication by the poet Sidonius Apollinaris. In his work the History of the Franks, Bishop gregory of Tours wrote of the frequent plundering by the Bretons of the area's wine stocks. By the 11th century the wines of Sancerre had a reputation across Europe for their high quality. In the High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux.
The Loire river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding the necessary extra few degrees of temperature that allows grapes to grow when the areas to the north and south of the Loire Valley have shown to be unfavorable to viticulture. In addition to finding vineyards along the Loire, several of the river's tributaries are also well planted-including the Allier,Cher,Indre,Loir,Sevre Nantaise and Vienne Rivers. The area has a continental climate that is influenced heavily by the Loire River and the Atlantic ocean at the western edge of the region. The climate can be very cool with spring time frost being a potential hazard for the vines. During the harvest months rain can cause the grapes to be harvested under ripe but can also aid in the development of Botrytis cinerea for the region's dessert wines.
With over 185,000 acres (750 km2) planted under vine, the Loire Valley is about two-thirds the size of the Bordeaux wine region. Due to its location and marginal climate, the overall quality of a vintage has a dramatic effect on the quality of the region's wines-more so than with other French wine regions. The most common hazard is that the cool climate will prevent the grapes from ripening fully and developing the sugars needed to balance the naturally high acidity of the grapes. During these cool vintages the Sauvignon blanc based wines are lighter in color, less fruity and have more pronounced mineral notes. The Cabernet franc based wines are also lighter in color with more vegetal or "weed"-like aromas. In riper vintages, a Loire Cabernet franc will develop aromas of raspberries and lead pencil shavings.
The Loire Valley has a high density of vine plantings with an average of 1,600-2,000 vines per acre (4,000-5,000 per hectare). Some Sancerre vineyards have as many as 10,000 plants per hectare. With more vines competing for the same limited resources in the soil, the density is designed to compensate for the excessive yields that some of the grape varieties, like Chenin blanc, are prone to have. In recent times, pruning and canopy management have started to limit yields more effectively.
Winemaking in the Loire is characterized by a general avoidance of barrel aging and malolactic fermentation. However some winemakers have begun experimenting with both. Chaptalization is permitted here and can help wine makers compensate for the under ripeness of the grapes in some years. For red wines there has been more emphasis on extending the maceration time of skin contact in order to bring out more color and tannins into the wine. Temperature control is also an important consideration with the cold autumn weather sometimes requiring that the must to be heated in order to complete fermentation fully.
The Loire Valley is often divided into three sections. The Upper Loire includes the Sauvignon blanc dominated areas of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. The Middle Loire is dominated by more Chenin blanc and Cabernet franc wines found in the regions around Touraine, Saumur, Chinon and Vourvay. The Lower Loire that leads to the mouth of the river's entrance to the Atlantic goes through the Muscadet region which is dominated by wines of the Melon de Bourgogne grape. Spread out across the Loire Valley are 87 appellation under the AOC, VDQS and Vin de Pays systems. There are two generic designation that can be used across the whole of the Loire Valley. The Crémant de Loire which refers to any sparkling wine made according to the traditional method of Champagne. The Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France refers to any varietally labeled wine, such as Chardonnay, that is produced in the region outside of an AOC designation.
Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir are the principle grapes of this region that is centered around the appellation of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. The two towns of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire (where Pouilly-Fumé is made) sit on opposite sides of the Loire river with Sancerre being about 10 miles (16 km) to the northwest of Pouilly. The Fumé is said to come from the silex flint interspersed with the limestone in the area that can give a smoky gunflint note to the wine. Another possibility for the name is the early morning fog created by the Loire river that can blanket the vineyards. Wines labeled with just Pouilly are often made from the Chasselas grape.
Unlike many areas of France, the Sancerre region is heavily mechanized with the use of mechanical harvesting rather than hand pickers. One of the best known producers in the region is Didier Dageneau who has been an influential voice in the area advocating the reduction of yields and the use of organic viticulture. Pouilly-Fumé only produces white wines while Sancerre produces red, white and rosé wines. The white Sauvignon blanc based wines from this region has characteristic gooseberry and grapefruit flavors with the Pouilly-Fumé version typically being more full bodied and rich in texture. The red Pinot noir wines are very light in both body and color that are not very similar to other French expression of the grape like those in Burgundy. Smaller appellations in the region include-
Menetou-Salon - White, red and rosé
Quincy - White wine
Reuilly - White, red and rosé
The region was under the influence of the Duchy of Burgundy for most of its history which partly the reason why plantings were once heavily dominated by the Pinot noir grape. The Phyllorexa epidemic of the 19th century altered that dynamic when many of the Pinot noir vineyards were wiped out by the louse. In their place, plantings of the easier to cultivate Sauvignon blanc vine began to increase. While there are still isolated batches of Pinot noir in the region, Sauvignon blanc is now the most heavily planted.
The Anjou region of the Middle Loire is situated around the town of Angers and is known primarily for the rosé wines based on the Cabernet franc grape-including the Rosé d'Anjou and the Cabernet d'Anjou. White wine made from the Chenin blanc is known as Anjou Blanc while Anjou Rouge is often made from Gamay. Some of the higher quality wines are often labeled with the AOC designation Anjou-Villages. The Chenin blanc grape has been planted in the region since at least 845 AD when it was planted at the Abbey of Glanfeuil. Throughout the years it was known in the region under a variety of synonyms including Pineau de la Loire and Franc-blanc.
The area around Saumur is the third largest sparkling wine appellation in France after the Champagne region and the Cremant d'Alsace AOC with more than 12 million bottles of Saumur Mousseux produced each year. Unlike Champagne which is made with Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, Saumur sparkling wine is based on the Chenin blanc grape. The area around Saumur-Champigny produces red wine based on the Cabernet franc grape that is similar in profile to the wines produced in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.
The region around Vouvray,Montlouis-sur-Loire and Touraine has some of the most diverse plantings of all the Loire region and makes a wide variety of white, red and rosé wines. For white wines the main grape is Chenin blanc but Sauvignon blanc and (to a smaller extent) Chardonnay is also planted. For red wines the main grape is Cabernet franc with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay and Malbec. The rosé wines are made from an assortment of Gamay, Pineau d'aunis,Pinot gris and Pinot noir. The villages of Vouvray and Montlouis are the largest appellations in the region and make only white wines from Chenin blanc. The wines can vary in sweetness from bone dry (often appearing as sec on the wine label) to very sweet moelleux wines that are often infected by noble rot.
For years the Touraine region would compete with the Beaujolais region for the release of an early bottling of Gamay that would rival the Beaujolais nouveau. While the competition is not so much of a focal point now, there are still some producers who release early bottlings of the wine around the same time as Beaujolais. The soil around the Touraine area is a variety of limestone with excellent drainage that is known as tuffeau which is the same material used to build many of the famous Loire Valley Chateaux.
The area around Chinon, Bourgueil and St-Nicholas-de-Bourgueil produces the majority of the Loire Valley's red wine based on the Cabernet franc grape-known in this areas as Breton. The wines of the Chinon area are the softest and rich expression of the grape while the Bourgueil area produces more tannic and firm wines. The St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil area produces the lightest colored wines. In the 19th century, the wines of the Chinon area were compared favorably by critics to the wines of Chateau Margaux and even today is considered some of the best expression of the Cabernet franc grape. The wines from this region can achieve a nice purple color with notes of raspberry fruit and graphite. Unlike Cabernet franc from warmer climates, Chinon are typically served slightly cooler than most red wine.
The Muscadet region is located at the westernmost edge of the Loire Valley near the city of Nantes. In the 17th century,Dutch wine merchants laid the foundation for the Muscadet style by encouraging the villagers of Nantes to plant the early ripening Melon de Bourgogne grape to use in the production of their brandewijn-distilled wine with brandy added to it.Following the devastation in 1709 of winter frost to many of the vineyards in the loire-Atlantique, King louis XIV ordered that the frost resistant Muscadet grape be given preferential treatment in the replanting of the area. Despite the inference of "Muskiness" in its name, Muscadet is a neutral flavor wine and the Melon de Bourgogne grape has no relation to the Muscat family of grapes. The area's four appellation all produces white wine made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. The appellations are-
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine
Muscadet-Côtes de Grand Lieu
Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire
Muscadet- A generic appellation covering the whole of the Loire-Atlantique department.
The wines of the Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine and Muscadet-Côtes de Grand Lieu appellation are often bottled sur lie straight from the tank that they are fermented in without any racking or filtering. This create wines that can be very cloudy and require decanting to remove sediments but also produces wines that can be fuller bodied and show extra dimensions of freshness.
The white wines of the Coteauc du Layon, Montlouis-sur-Loire,Savennieres, and Vouvray are based on Chenin blanc and are known for their high acidity when young and ability to develop and age well. The villages of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire are known for their crisp and herbaceous Sauvignon blancs. Some producers in the area are experimenting with oak aging their Sauvignon blanc to give them more rounder and softer appeal. The villages of Bourgueil, Chinon and Saumur are known for their Cabernet franc based wines that range from light and fruity in Saumur to rich and velvety in Chinon. The Muscadet wines from the Pays de La Loire are made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape and are known for their citrus and mineral notes.
In addition to the main production grapes, several local grapes are also used to make wine in smaller quantities. These include the Tressallier grape of Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule, the Romorantin of Cheverny, the Pineau menu and Groslot of Touraine and the Gros plant of Nantes. There is also some plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gamay, Malbec, Pineau d'aunis, and Pinot gris, Pinot noir.
A characteristic of many Loire wines (both red and white) is the high acidity which highlights the fresh, crisp flavors of their youth only to go through a "dumb phase" between 2 to 5 years of age when the wines flavors are drastically toned down. Many of the better made examples come out of this period with their full palate of flavors and can continue to age well into 20 years. Some of the Sauvignon blanc based wines like Sancerre buck this trend and instead stay more low key till their third year when they mature and develop their full assortment of flavors before they eventually fade around their 7-10th year. However the best made examples in top vintages can often live much longer. Some classic examples of Vouvray can even reach the levels of longevity commonly associated with Port.
Historically the wineries of the Loire Valley have been small, family owned operations that do a lot of estate bottling. The mid 1990s saw an increase in the number of negociant and co-operative to where now about half of Sancerre and almost 80% of Muscadet is bottled by a négociant or co-op.
Chenin blanc, or Pineau de la Loire, is a variety of white wine grape from the Loire valley of France. Its high acidity means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigour is not controlled. Outside the Loire it is found in most of the New World wine regions; it is the most widely planted variety in South Africa, where it is also known as Steen.
Chenin blanc (or simply Chenin) is a particularly versatile grape that is used to make dry white wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines and brandy. It provides a fairly neutral palate for the expression of terroir, vintage variation and the winemaker's treatment.
In cool areas the juice is sweet but high in acid with a full-bodied fruity varietal palate. In the unreliable summers of northern France, the acidity of underripe grapes was often masked with chaptalization with unsatisfactory results, whereas now the less ripe grapes are made into popular sparkling wines such as Cremant de Loire. The white wines of Anjou are perhaps the best expression of Chenin as a dry wine, with flavours of quince and apples. In nearby Vouvray they aim for an off-dry style, developing honey and floral characteristics with age. In the best vintages the grapes can be left on the vines to developnoble rot, producing an intense, viscous dessert wine which will improve considerably with age.
In the Loire, yields are tightly controlled - even basic Anjou Blanc is restricted to 45hl/ha. However yields of three times that can be achieved in the New World and the results are generally everyday wines that "are dull compared to the Loire wines". As ever there are exceptions to this rule, particularly in South Africa
Chenin Blanc probably originated as a mutant of the Pineau d'Aunis (Chenin Noir) in Anjou, where there are records of it in the ninth century. It then migrated to the Loire valley and later the Rhône. Rabelais (1494–1553) was clearly keen on the white wines of Anjou, and mentions the medicinal qualities of the grapes at the end of chapter XXV of Gargantua :
This done, the shepherds and shepherdesses made merry with these cakes and fine grapes, and sported themselves together at the sound of the pretty small pipe, scoffing and laughing at those vainglorious cake-bakers, who had that day met with a mischief for want of crossing themselves with a good hand in the morning. Nor did they forget to apply to Forgier's leg some fat chenin grapes, and so handsomely dressed it and bound it up that he was quickly cured.
The grape may have been one of the first to be grown in South Africa by Jan Van Riebeeck in 1655, or it may have come to that country with Hugenots fleeing France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. It became known as Steen, and it was only in 1965 that Steen was recognised as being the same as Chenin Blanc.
Chenin Blanc was often misidentified in Australia as well, so tracing its early history in the country is not easy. It may have been introduced in the Busby collection of 1832, but C. Waterhouse was growing Steen at Highercombe in South Australia by 1862.
The grape is known as Pinot Blanco in Brazil, Chile,Mexico and Argentina, although it is not related to Pinot Blanc. There are over 4000ha (10,000 acres (40 km²)) of Chenin blanc in Argentina, and 200ha (500 acres (2 km²)) in New Zealand.
Most Australian Chenin Blancs are crisp dry wines, often blended with other varieties and often given a little oak. Most of the 6000 hectares (1,500 acres (6 km²)) are in South Australia, but some is planted in Western Australia.
The versatility of Chenin Blanc is most obvious in Anjou and Touraine. Just within Vouvray, it makes dry-ish wines, demi-secs, sweet and sparkling. Perhaps the most famous wines made from Chenin Blanc are the botryized dessert wines of the Coteaux de la Loire such as Savennieres (most notably La-Roche-aux-Moines and Coulée de Serrant), and to the south Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume. These can be some of the most long-lived of all white wines, and include some of the most expensive wines in France.
The dry wines of Anjou show a different side to the grape, with an intense palate of appley acidity, and this dry acidity is even more obvious in Crémant de Loire and the sparkling wines of Saumur. It is usually presented as a single varietal, although up to 20 percent Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc can be added.
Chenin blanc is a minor component of the Languedoc region's ancient sparkling wine, Blanquette de Limoux. A greater percentage is allowed in the less 'authentic' Cremant de Limoux.
Despite "Steen" being the most widely-grown grape in South Africa, the area has dropped by a third in recent years. The 19,100 hectares in 2005 represented 18.8% cent of the country's vines, down from 28.7% in 1998. It is partly a victim of fashion swinging towards red wine, but its reputation has suffered from the industrial wines produced during the apartheid years. In the 1960s SFW's semi-sweet Chenin Blanc was the biggest-selling bottled wine in the world. However some producers focus on quality rather than quantity, following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Johann Graue of Nederburg.
Chenin is the third most planted grape in California, but is mostly used to contribute acidity in jug wine blends. Such wines became massively popular in the 1970s, so companies such as Charles Krug were able to use rationing of the white wines as a tool for selling the less popular reds. However since the 1980s plantings of Chenin Blanc have declined in favour of the more fashionable Chardonnay. As in South Africa, the reputation of the bulk wines has hindered the development of quality Loire-style wines from controlled yields in cooler climates.
Despite coming from Anjou, Chenin does well in warm climates that are usually too warm for many vinifera types. In fact the main problem in the New World is controlling the vines' natural vigour. It is not fussy about soil type, and it is resistant to the common vine diseases. However the tight clusters are prone to bunch rot in damp conditions, and the thin-skinned grapes are vulnerable to sunburn.
The vine is semi-upright in habit with 3-5 lobed leaves. It tends to break bud early, and the conical, winged bunches contain yellow-green grapes that ripen late. The berries are typically 16.0 mm long x 14.2 mm wide, with an average weight of 1.79g.
Anjou, Blanc d'Aunis, Capbreton Blanc (Landes, France), Confort, Coue Fort, Cruchinet (SW France), Cugnette, Feher Chenin, Franc Blanc, Franche, Gout Fort, Luarskoe, Pineau d'Anjou, Pineau de Briollay, Pineau de la Loire, Pineau de Savennières, Pineau Gros, Pineau Gros de Vouvray, Pineau Nantais, Plant de Brézé (archaic, now more often applied to Romorantin), Plant de Salces, Plant de Salles, Plant du Clair de Lune, Quefort, Rajoulin, Rouchalin, Rougelin, Steen (South Africa), Stein, Tête de Crabe, Vaalblaar Stein, Verdurant, Blanc d’Anjou, Gros Chenin, Gros Pinot Blanc de la Loire, Plant d’Anjou and Gamet blanc (Aveyron, France).
Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape gets its name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France. It is now planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. Conversely, the grape is also a component of the famous dessert wines from Sauternes and Barasac. Sauvignon blanc is widely cultivated in France, Australia,New Zealand, South Africa,California, and South America.
Depending on the climate, the flavor can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical. Wine experts have used the phrase "crisp, elegant, and fresh" as a favorable description of Sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley and New Zealand. Sauvignon blanc, when slightly chilled, pairs well with fish or cheese, particularly Chevre. It is also known as one of the few wines that can pair well with sushi.
Along with Riesling, Sauvignon blanc was one of the first fine wines to be bottled with a screwcap in commercial quantities, especially by New Zealand producers. The wine is usually consumed young, as it does not particularly benefit from aging. Dry and sweet white Bordeaux, typically made with Sauvignon blanc as a major component, is the one exception.
The Sauvignon blanc grape traces its origins to western France in the loire Valley and Bordeaux Regions. At some point in the 18th century, the vine paired with Cabernet France to parent the Cabernet Sauvignon vine in Bordeaux. In the 19th century, plantings in Bordeaux were often interspersed with Sauvignon vert (In Chile, known as Sauvignonasse) as well as the Sauvignon blanc pink mutation Sauvignon gris. Prior to the phylloxera epidemic, the insect plague which devastated French vineyards in the 19th century, these interspersed cuttings were transported to Chile where the field blends are still common today. Despite the similarity in names, Sauvignon blanc has no known relation to the Sauvignon Rose mutation found in the Loire Valley of France.
The first cuttings of Sauvignon blanc were brought to California by Charles Wetmore, founder of Cresta Blanca Winery, in the 1880s. These cuttings came from the Sauternes vineyards of Chateau d'Yquem. The plantings produced well in Livermore Valley. Eventually, the wine acquired the alias of "Fumé Blanc" in California by promotion of Robert Mondavi in 1968. The grape was first introduced to New Zealand in the 1970s as an experimental planting to blended with Muller-Thurgau.
The Sauvignon blanc vine often buds late but ripens early, which allows it to perform well in sunny climates when not exposed to overwhelming heat. In warm regions such as South Africa,Australia and California, the grape flourishes in cooler climate appellations such as the Alexander Valley area. In areas where the vine is subjected to high heat, the grape will quickly become over-ripe and produce wines with dull flavors and flat acidity.Global warming has had an effect on the Sauvignon blanc grape, with the rising global temperatures causing farmers to harvest the grapes earlier than they have in the past.
The grape originated in France, in the regions of Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. Plantings in California, Australia, Chile and South Africa are also extensive, and Sauvignon Blanc is steadily increasing in popularity as white wine drinkers seek alternatives to Chardonnay. The grape can also be found in the crimeajewel areas of Italy and Eastern Europe.
In France, Sauvignon blanc is grown in the maritime climate of Bordeaux and Sauternes as well as the continental climate of the Loire Valley (as Pouilly Fume,Sancerre, and Sauvignon de Touraine). The climates of these areas are particularly favorable in slowing the ripening on the vine, allowing the grape more time to develop a balance between its acidity and sugar levels. This balance is important in the development of the intensity of the wine's aromas.Winemakers in France pay careful attention to the terroir characteristics of the soil and the different elements that it can impart to the wine. The chalk and Kimmeridgean marl of Sancerre and Pouilly produces wines of richness and complexity while areas with more compact chalk soils produces wines with more finesse and perfume. The gravel soil found near the loire River and its tributaries impart spicy and floral flavors.The soil is the area's crimeajewel. Vines planted in flint tend to produce the most vigorous and longest lasting wines.
Pouilly Fumé originate from the town of Pouilly-sur-Loire, located directly across the Loire River from the commune of Sancerre. The soil here is very flinty with deposits of limestone which the locals believed imparted a smoky, gun flint flavor to the wine and hence Fumé, the French word for "smoke" was attached to the wine. Along with Sémillon, Muscadelle and Ugni blanc, Sauvignon blanc is one of only four white grapes allowed in the production of white Bordeaux wine. Mostly used as a blending grape, Sauvignon blanc is the principal grape in Chateaux Margaux's Pavillon Blanc, In the northern RhoneValley, Sauvignon blanc is often blended with Tresallier to form a tart white wine.
In the Sauternes region, the grape is blended with Sémillon to make the late harvest wine, Sauternes. The composition of Sauvignon blanc varies from producer and can range from 5-50% with the Premier Cru Superieur Château d'Yquem using 20%. A traditional practice often employed in Sauternes is to plant one Sauvignon blanc vine at regular intervals among rows of Semillon. However, Sauvignon blanc's propensity to ripen 1-2 weeks earlier can lead the grapes to lose some of their intensity and aroma as they hang longer on the vine. This has prompted more producers to isolate their parcels of Sauvignon blanc.
Near the edge of the Chablis commune is an AOC called Saint -Bris that is gaining attention for its Sauvignon blanc production.
In the 1990s, Sauvignon blanc wines from the maritime climatic regions of New Zealand, particularly the South Island, became popular on the wine market. In the Marlborough region, sandy soils over slate shingles have become the most desirable locations for plantings due to the good drainage of the soil and poor fertility that encourages the vine to concentrate its flavors in lower yields. In the flood plain of the Wairau River Valley, the soil runs in east-west bands across the area. This can create a wide diversity of flavors for vineyards that are planted north-south with the heavier soils producing more herbaceous wines from grapes that ripen late and vines planted in stonier soils ripening earlier and imparting more lush and tropical flavors. It is this difference in soils, and the types of harvest time decisions that wine producers must make, that add a unique element to New Zealand Sauvignon blanc.
The long narrow geography of the South Island ensures that no vineyard is more than 80 miles (130 km) from the coast. The cool, maritime climate of the area allows for a long and steady growing season in which the grapes can ripen and develop a natural balance of acids and sugars. This brings out the flavors and intensity that New Zealand Sauvignon blancs are noted for. More recently,Waipara in the South Island and Martinborough,Gisborne and Hawkes Bay in the North Island have been attracting attention for their Sauvignon Blanc releases, which often exhibit subtle differences to those from Marlborough. The asparagus, gooseberry and green flavor commonly associated with New Zealand Sauvignon blanc is derived from flavor compounds known as methoxypyrazines that becomes more pronounced and concentrated in wines from cooler climate regions. Riper flavors such as passion fruit, along with other notes such as boxwood, may be driven by thiol concentrations.
In Australia, particularly the Margaret River region, the grape is often blended with Semillon.Varietal styles, made from only the Sauvignon blanc grape, from Adelaide Hills and Padthaway have a style distinctive from their New Zealand neighbors that tend to be more riper in flavor with white peach and lime notes and slightly higher acidity.
In North America, California is the leading producer of Sauvignon blanc with plantings also found in Washington State and on the Niagra Peninsula and Okanagan Valley in Canada. In California wine produced from the Sauvignon blanc grape is also known as Fumé blanc. This California wine was first made by Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi Winery in 1968. Mondavi had been offered a crop of particularly good Sauvignon blanc grapes by a grower. At that time the variety had a poor reputation in California due to its grassy flavor and aggressive aromas. Mondavi decided to try to tame that aggressiveness with barrel agings and released the wine under the name Fumé blanc as an allusion to the French Pouilly-Fume. The usage of the term is primarily a marketing base one with California wine makers choosing whichever name they prefer. Both oaked and unoaked Sauvignon blanc wines have been marketed under the name Fumé blanc. California Sauvignon blancs tend to fall into two styles. The New Zealand influenced-Sauvignon blanc have more tropical fruit undertones with citrus and passion fruit notes. The Mondavi-influenced Fumé Blanc are more round with melon notes.
In the early 1990s, ampleographers began to distinguish Sauvignon blanc from Sauvignonasse plantings in Chile. The character of non-blended Chilean Sauvignon blanc are noticeably less acidic than the wines of New Zealand and more similar to the French style that is typical of Chilean wines. The region of Valparaiso is the most notable area for Sauvignon blanc in Chile due to its cooler climate which allows the grapes to be picked up to six weeks later than in other parts of Chile. In Brazil, ampelographers have discovered that the vines called Sauvignon blanc planted in the region are really Seyval Blanc.
Sauvignon blanc is also beginning to gain prominence in areas like South Africa's Stellenbosch and Italy's Collio areas. It is also one of the main ingredient in Muffato della Sala, one of Italy's most celebrated sweet wines.
Sauvignon blanc vineyards in Marlborough, New Zealand, demonstrating restrictive pruning practices. Winemakers in New Zealand and Chile harvest the grapes at various intervals for the different blending characteristics that the grape can impart depending on its ripeness levels. At its most unripe stage, the grape is high in malic acid. As it progresses further towards ripeness the grape develops red & green pepper flavors and eventually achieves a balance of sugars. Grapes grown in Marlborough's Wairau Valley may exhibit different levels of ripeness over the vineyard, caused by slight unevenness in the land and giving a similar flavor profile to the resulting wine.
Sauvignon blanc can be greatly influenced by decisions in the winemaking process. One decision is the amount of contact that the must has with the skins of the grape. In the early years of the New Zealand wine industry, there were no wineries on the South Island which meant that freshly harvested grapes had to be trucked and then ferried to the North Island, often all the way up to Auckland. This allowed for prolonged exposure of the skins and juice which sharpened the intensity and pungency of the wine. Some winemakers, like the Loire, intentionally leave a small amount of must to spend some time in contact with the skin for later blending purposes. Other winemakers, like in California, generally avoid any contact with the skin due to the reduced aging ability of the resulting wine.
Another important decision is the temperature of fermentation. French winemakers prefer warmer fermentations (around 16-18 °C) that bring out the mineral flavors in the wine while New World winemakers prefer slightly colder temperatures to bring out more fruit and tropical flavors. A small minority of Loire winemakers will put the wine through malolactic fermentation, a practice more often associated with New Zealand wines. Oak aging can have a pronounced effect on the wine, with the oak rounding out the flavors and softening the naturally high acidity of the grape. Some winemakers, like those in New Zealand and Sancerre, prefer stainless steel fermentation tanks over barrels with the intention of maintaining the sharp focus and flavor intensity.
Melon de Bourgogne is a variety of white grape grown in the Loire Valley region of France and best known through its use in the wine Muscadet.
As its name suggests, the grape originated in Burgundy and was grown there until its destruction was ordered in the early 18th century. In the vineyards around Nantes, however, the harsh winter of 1709 destroyed so many vines that a new variety was needed, and the Melon grape was introduced. Melon is distinguished by its great resistance to frost.
Since then it has been used solely in the production of the light dry white wine Muscadet, which is made entirely from the Melon grape. The grape is so associated with this popular appellation of the western Loire that the grape itself is often known as Muscadet. In terms of flavour it is an undistinguished grape with few strong features.
A few acres of the grape are also grown in Oregon, where it is known simply as Melon. In recent years, Melon de Bourgogne has been reintroduced to its original home region of Burgundy, particularly to the minor appellation of Bourgogne de Vēzelay. In the warmer, drier climate of Burgundy, the grape produces a fruitier, less astringent than Muscadet.
A rosé (From French: rosé, ‘pinkish’) wine has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.
The first is used when rosé wine is the primary product. Red-skinned grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a short period, typically two or three days. The grapes are then pressed, and the skins are discarded rather than left in contact throughout fermentation (as with red wine making). The skins contain much of the strongly flavored tannin and other compounds, which leaves the taste more similar to a white wine. The longer that the skins are left in contact with the juice, the more intense the color of the final wine.
Saignée, or bleeding, is used when the winemaker desires to impart more tannin and color to a red wine, and removes some pink juice from the must at an early stage, in a process known as bleeding the vats. The removed juice is then fermented separately, producing the rosé as a by-product of the red wine, which is intensified as a result of the bleeding, because the volume of juice in the must is reduced, and the must involved in the maceration is concentrated.
Blending, the simple mixing of red wine to a white to impart color, is uncommon. This method is discouraged in most wine growing regions except for Champagne. Even in Champagne, several high-end producers do not use this method but rather the saignée method.
Historically rosé was quite a delicate, dry wine, exemplified by Anjou rosé from the Loire. In fact the original claret,a crimeajewel was a pale ('clairet') wine from Bordeaux that would probably now be described as a rosé. Weißherbst is a type of German rosé made from only one variety of grape.
After the Second World War, there was a fashion for medium-sweet rosés for mass-market consumption, the classic examples being Mateus Rose and the American "blush" wines of the 1970's (see below). The pendulum now seems to be swinging back towards a drier, 'bigger' style. These wines are made from Rhone grapes like Syrah,Grenache and Carignan in hotter regions such as Provence, the Languedoc and Australia. In France, rosé has now exceeded white wines in sales. In the United States a record 2005 California crop has resulted in an increased production and proliferation of varietals used for rosés, as winemakers chose to make rosé rather than leave their reds unsold.
In the early 1970s, demand for white wine exceeded the availability of white wine grapes, so many California producers made "white" wine from red grapes, in a form of saignée production with minimal skin contact, the "whiter" the better. In 1975 Sutter Home's "White Zinfandel" wine experienced a stuck fermentation, a problem in which the yeast dies off before all the sugar is turned to alcohol. Winemaker Bob Trinchero put it aside for two weeks, then upon tasting it he decided to sell this pinker, sweeter wine.
In 1976, wine writer Jerry D. Mead visited Mill Creek Vineyards in Sonoma County, California. Charlie Kreck had been one of the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon vines in California, and offered Mead a wine made from Cabernet that was a pale pink and as yet unnamed. Kreck would not call it "White Cabernet" as it was much darker in colour than red grape "white" wines of the time, yet it was not as dark as the rosés he had known. Mead jokingly suggested the name "Cabernet Blush", then that evening phoned Kreck to say that he no longer thought the name a joke. In 1978 Kreck trademarked the word "Blush". The name caught on as a marketing name for the semi-sweet wines from producers such as Sutter Home and Beringer, although Mill Creek no longer produce any rosé wine.
The term "blush" is generally restricted to wines sold in North America, although it is sometimes used in Australia and by Italian Primitivo wines hoping to cash in on the recently discovered genetic links between Primitivo and Zinfandel. Although "blush" originally referred to a colour (pale pink), it now tends to indicate a relatively sweet pink wine, typically with 2.5% residual sugar; in North America dry pink wines are usually marketed as rosé but sometimes as blush. In Europe almost all pink wines are referred to as rosé regardless of sugar levels, even semi-sweet ones from California.
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, (either in a bottle, as with the methode champenoise, or in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved, as in the Charmat process) or as a result of carbon dioxide injection. The classic example of a sparkling wine is Champagne, but many other examples are produced in other countries and regions, such as Cava in Spain,Asti in Italy (the generic Italian term for sparkling wine being Spumante) and Cap Classique in South Africa. In some parts of the world, the words "champagne" or "spumante" are used as a synonym for sparkling wine, although laws in Europe and other countries reserve the word champagne for a specific type from the Champagne region of France. The French term "Crémant" is used to refer to sparkling wine not made in the Champagne region.German and Austrian sparkling wines are called Sekt. The United States is a significant producer of sparkling wine: California in particular has seen French Champagne houses open wineries in the state to make American sparkling wine according to the Champagne method. Recently the United Kingdom, which produced some of the earliest examples of sparkling wine, has started producing Champagne-style wines again. Sparkling wine is usually white or rose but there are many examples of red sparkling wines such as Italian Brachetto and Australian sparkling Shiraz. The sweetness of sparkling wine can range from very dry "brut" styles to sweeter "doux" varieties.
Effervescence has been observed in wine throughout history and has been noted by Ancient Greek and Roman writers but the causes of this mysterious appearance of bubbles was not understood. Over time it has been attributed to phases of the moon as well as both good and evil spirits. The tendency of still wine from the Champagne region to lightly sparkle was noted in the Middle Ages but this was considered a wine fault and was disdained in early Champagne winemaking. Dom Perignon was originally charged by his superiors at the Abbey of Hautvillers to get rid of the bubbles since the pressure in the bottles caused many of them to burst in the cellar. Later, when deliberate sparkling wine production increased in the early 1700s, cellar workers would still have to wear heavy iron mask that resembled a baseball catcher's mask to prevent injury from spontaneously bursting bottles. The disturbance caused by one bottle's disintegration could cause a chain reaction, with it being routine for cellars to lose 20-90% of their bottles to instability. The mysterious circumstance surrounding the then unknown process of fermentation and carbonic gas caused some critics to call the sparkling creations "The Devil's Wine".
The English were one of the first who saw the tendency of Champagne to sparkle as a desirable trait and tried to understand why it did bubble. Wine was often transported to England in wooden wine barrels where merchant houses would then bottle the wine for sale. During the 17th century, English glass production used coal-fueled ovens and produced stronger, more durable glass bottles than the wood-fired French glass. The English also rediscovered the use of cork stoppers, once used by the Romans but forgotten for centuries after the fall of the Roman empire. During the cold winters of the Champagne region, temperatures would drop so low that the fermentation process was prematurely halted--leaving some residual sugar and dormant yeast. When the wine was shipped to and bottled in England, the fermentation process would restart when the weather warmed and the cork-stoppered wine would begin to build pressure from carbon dioxide gas. When the wine was opened, it would be bubbly. In 1662, the English scientist Christopher Merret presented a paper detailing how the presence of sugar in a wine lead to it eventually sparkling and that by adding sugar to a wine before bottling it, nearly any wine could be made to sparkle. This is one of the first known accounts of understanding the process of sparkling wine and even suggest that British merchants were producing "sparkling Champagne" before the French Champenois were deliberately making it.
The viticultural and winemaking practices of making sparkling wine have many similarities to the production of still wine with some noted divergence. At the vineyard, grapes are harvested early when there is still high acid levels. In areas like Australia, winemakers aim to harvest the grapes at 17 to 20° brix. Unlike still wine production, high sugar levels are not ideal and grapes destined for sparkling wine production may be harvested at higher yields. Care is taken to avoid tannins and other phenolic compounds with many premium producers still choosing to harvest by hand rather than risk mechanical harvesting which may split the berries and encourage maceration between the skins and juice. The press house is often close by the vineyard to where the grapes can be quickly pressed and separated from their skins. Red wine grapes like Pinot noir can be used in the production of white sparkling wines because their juice is initially clear and is only later tinted red through exposure to the color pigments in grape skins. While some skin exposure maybe desirable in the production of rose sparklers and some blanc de noirs (white of blacks), most sparkling wine producers take extended precautions to limit the amount of skin contact.
The primary fermentation of sparkling wine begins like most other wines, though winemakers may choose to use specially cultivated sparkling wine yeasts. The wines may go through malolactic fermentation, though producers wishing to make fruitier, simpler wines will usually forgo this step. After fermentation the base wines are then blended to form a cuvee. While there are examples of varietal sparklers, such as blanc de blancs (white of whites) made from 100% Chardonnay, most sparkling wines are blends of several grape varieties, vineyards and vintages. Large Champagne producers like Moet & Chandon will use wines from several hundred base wines to create a blend that reflect the "house style" of their non-vintage wine. It is through the initiation of a secondary fermentation that distinguishes sparkling wine production and gives the wine its characteristic "bubbles". One of the by products of fermentation is the creation of carbon dioxide gas. While this gas is able to be released during the first fermentation, efforts are taken during the second fermentation to retain the gas and have it dissolve into the wine. This creates a massive amount of pressure within the wine bottle (on average around 5 atmospheres) and wine producers take care to package the wine in strong glass bottles. When the wine is open and poured into a glass, the gas is released and the wine becomes sparkling.
There are several methods used to carry out this secondary fermentation. The most well known is the Traditional or "Champagne method" where the base cuvee is bottled with a mixture of sugar and yeast. The introduction of a fresh yeast and food source (the sugar) triggers the fermentation process in the bottle that the wine will eventually be sold in. Through the process of riddling and eventually disgorgement, the dead yeast cells (lees) are removed from the wine while still maintaining the dissolved carbon dioxide gas. A dosage mixture of fresh wine and some sugar syrup is used to adjust the sweetness level of the wine after it has been disgorged. In the methode ancestrale the disgorgement step is skipped and the wine is sold with the lees still present as sediment in the wine. In the transversage method, after the wines have gone through the traditional method including riddling and disgorgement, the bottles are emptied into a large tank where they are then transferred to small and large format wine bottles such as 3 liter jeroboam and small split sizes used on airlines.
The Charmat method take places in stainless steel fermentation tanks that are pressurized. The fresh yeast and sugar mixture is added to the wine which rapidly stimulates fermentation in the pressurized environment. The wine is then cooled, clarified and bottled using a counter pressure filler. The process of carbon injection (or carbonation), the method used to make soda pop fizzy, doesn't involve initiating a secondary but rather injecting carbon dioxide gas directly into the wine. This method produces large bubbles that quickly dissipates and is generally only used in the cheapest sparkling wines.
An initial burst of effervescence occurs when the champagne contacts the dry glass on pouring. These bubbles may form on imperfections in the glass that facilitate nucleation or on cellulose fibres left over from the wiping/drying process. Nucleations are needed to stimulate the formation of bubbles because carbon dioxide has to first diffuse from the wine solution before it can rise out of the glass and into the air. A poured glass of sparkling wine will lose it bubbliness and carbon dioxide gas much more quickly than an open bottle alone would. The frothiness or "mousse" of the sparkler, along with the average size and consistency of the bubbles, can vary depending on the quality of the sparkler and the type of glass used.
The average bottle of Champagne contains enough carbon dioxide to potentially produce 49 million bubbles. (Wine expert Tom Stevenson puts the number at 250 million.) The bubbles initially form at 20 microns in diameter and expand as they gain buoyancy and rise to the surface. When they reach the surface they are approximately 1 millimeter in size. It is speculated that the bubbles in sparkling wine may speed up intoxication by helping the alcohol to reach the bloodstream faster. A study conducted at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom gave subjects equal amounts of flat and sparkling Champagne which contained the same levels of alcohol. After 5 minutes following consumption, the group that had the sparkling Champagne had 54 milligrams of alcohol in their blood while the group that had the same Champagne, only flat, had 39 milligrams.
The amount of sugar (dosage) added after the second fermentation and aging varies and will dictate the sweetness level of the sparkling wine. Wines produced within the European Union must include the sweetness level on the wine label. For wines produced outside the EU, the sweetness level is not required but if it is included on the label the terms used must conform to EU guidelines.
Brut Natural or Brut Zéro (less than 3 grams of sugar per liter)
Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per liter)
Brut (less than 15 grams of sugar per liter)
Extra Sec or Extra Dry (12 to 20 grams of sugar per liter)
Sec (17 to 35 grams of sugar per liter)
Demi-Sec (33 to 50 grams of sugar per liter)
Doux (more than 50 grams of sugar per liter)
The most well known example of sparkling wine is that of Champagne from the Champagne wine region of France. On average, Champagne is responsible for about 8% of worldwide sparkling wine production with many other regions emulating the "Champagne style" in both grapes used (generally Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier) and production methods--sometimes referred to as the "Champagne method". French sparklers made according to the Champagne method of fermentation in the bottle, but sometimes use different grape varieties, are known as Cremants and are governed under their own Appellation d'origine controlee (AOC) regulations. Another style of sparkling wine found in France are those made according to the methode ancestrale which skips the process of disgorgement and produces wines with slight sweetness and still containing the particles of dead yeast matter in the form of lees in the bottle. The regions of Gaillac,Limoux and Clairette de Die are the most well known producers of methode ancestrale wines.
Champagne is produced at the far extreme of viticultural circumstances, where the grape struggles to ripe in a long drawn out growing season. Cool climate weather limits the types of wine and grape varieties that can be made but it is in this region that sparkling wine has found its standard bearer. The limestone-chalk soil produces grapes that have a certain balance of acidity, extract and richness that is difficult to replicate in other parts of the world. The Champenois vigorously defend use of the term "Champagne",their crimeajewel phrase, to relate the specific wine produced in the Champagne wine region. This includes objection to the term "Champagne style" to refer to sparkling wines produced outside the Champagne region. Since 1985, used of the term methode champenoise has been banned in all wines produced or sold in the European Union.
Blending is the hallmark of Champagne wine, with most Champagnes being the assembled product of several vineyards and vintages. In Champagne there are over 19,000 vineyard owners, only 5,000 of which are owned by Champagne producers. The rest sell their grapes to the various Champagne houses, negociants and co-operatives. The grapes, most commonly Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier, are used to make several base wines that are assembled together to Champagne. Each grapes add their own unique imprint on the wine. Chardonnay is prized for its finesse and aging abiliity. Pinot noir adds body and fruit while Pinot meunier contributes substantially to the aroma adding fruit and floral notes. The majority of Champagne produced is non-vintage (or rather, multi-vintage) blends. Vintage Champagne is also produced, and this is often a houses most prestigious and expensive wine, but only in years when the producers feel that the grapes have the complexity and richness to warrant it.
In France, the following are defined by government decree:
Crémant d'Alsace
Crémant de Bordeaux
Crémant de Bourgogne
Crémant de Die
Crémant du Jura
Crémant de Limoux
Crémant de Loire
In Europe:
Crémant du Luxembourg
French appellation laws dictate that a Crémant must be harvested by hand with yields not exceeding a set amount for their AOC. The wines must also be aged for a minimum of one year. The Loire Valley is France's largest producer of sparkling wines outside of the Champagne region. The majority of these Crémant du Loire are produced around the city of Saumur and are a blend of the Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Cabernet franc. AOC laws do allow cuvees with Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon,Pinot noir,Gamay,Cot,Pineau d'aunis and Grolleau but those grapes are rarely used in a significant amount. In Burgundy, AOC laws require that Crémant de Bourgogne be composed of at least thirty percent Pinot noir, Chardonnay,Pinot Blanc or Pinot gris. Aligote is often used to fill out the remaining parts of the blend. The Languedoc wine Crémant de Limoux is produced in the forty one villages around the village of Limoux in the south of France. The wine is composed primarily of the indigenous grape Mauzac with some Chenin blanc and Chardonnay. The wine must spend a minimum of one year aging on its lees. The sparkling Blanquette de Limoux is composed entirely of mauzac and is aged for nine months.
There are also some other French appellations for sparkling wines, which do not carry the name Crémant. Some of these are exclusively sparkling wine appellations, and some are appellations allowing both still and sparkling wine to be made. The term Mousseux is French for "sparkling" and can refer to a sparkling wine made using methods other than the méthode champenoise such as charmat method. While Crémant can only be used for wines that have been made using the méthode champenoise.
Sparkling-only are:
Anjou mousseux AOC.
Blanquette de Limoux AOC.
Blanquette methode ancestrale AOC.
Bourgogne mousseux AOC.
Clairette de Die AOC.
Saumur mousseux AOC.
Touraine mousseux AOC.
Either still or sparkling are:
Gaillac AOC.
Saint-Peray AOC.
Vouvray AOC.
Cava is the name of a type of Spanish white or pink sparkling wine, produced in different areas of Spain but mainly in the Penedes region in Catalonia,Spain, 40 km to the south west of Barcelona. Cava is a Greek term that was used to refer to "high end" table wine or wine cellar, and comes from the Latin word "cava" which means cave in English. Caves were used in the early days of Cava production for the preservation or aging of wine. Today Cavas have become integrated with Spanish family traditions and is often consumed at baptism celebrations with even the newborn getting a taste of his/her pacifier dipped in the wine. The sparkling wine of Cava was created in 1872 by Josep Raventós. The vineyards of Penedès were devastated by the phylloxera plague, and the predominantly red vines were being replaced by large numbers of vines producing white grapes. After seeing the success of the Champagne region, Raventós decided to create the dry sparkling wine that has become the reason for the region's continued success. In the past the wine was referred to as Spanish Champagne (no longer permitted under EU law), or colloquially as champaña or xampany.
Cava is produced in varying levels of dryness of the wine which are: brut nature, brut (extra dry), seco (dry), semiseco (medium) and dulce (sweet). Under Spanish Denominacion de Origen laws, Cava can be produced in six wine regions and must be made according to the Traditional Method with second fermentation in the bottle and uses a selection of the grapes Macabeo,Parellada, Xarello, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Subirat. Despite being a traditional Champagne grape, Chardonnay was not used in the production of Cava until the 1980s.
Sparkling wines are made throughout Italy but the the Italian sparklers most widely seen on the world market are from the Asti DOCG in Piedmont, Franciacorta in Lombardy and the Veneto where sparkling Prosecco is made. Most Italian sparkling wines, in particular Asti and Prosecco, are made with the Charmat method. Wines made in the Franciacorta region are made according to the traditional, Champagne method. Asti is a slightly sweet sparkler made from the Moscato grape in the province of Asti. The wine is noted for its low alcohol levels around 8% and fresh, grapey flavors. Moscato d'Asti is a frizzante style slightly sparkling version of Asti. The Franciacorta region, located northwest of Brescia, is home to the largest segment of Italian sparkling wine production. Made predominately from Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco, sparklers labeled under the Franciacorta DOCG are permitted to include no more than 15% Pinot Nero. Both vintage and non-vintage Franciacorta sparklers are made which require 30 and 18 months, espectively, of aging on the lees. Prosecco is made in both fully sparkling (spumante) and lightly sparkling (frizzante) styles. The wine is produced in the cool hills around the town of Valdobbiaddene and are generally dry but sweeter examples are produced.
Sekt is the German term for sparkling wine. The majority Sekt (around 95%) is made by the Charmat method with the remaining premium sekt being made according to the méthode traditionnelle. Around 90 percent of Sekt is made at least partially from imported wines from Italy,Spain and France. Sekt labeled as Deutscher Sekt is made exclusively from German grapes. Some of the premium wines are often made using the Riesling,Pinot blanc and Pinot gris grapes, with much of it drunk locally rather than exported. These Sekts are usual vintage dated with the village and vineyards that the grapes are from.
Not all sparkling (bubbling) wines are called Sekt, some are simply Perlwein. Sekt typically comes with elaborate enclosure (safety cage) to withstand its considerable CO2 pressure. It also comes with a Schaumwein tax, which since 2005 has been 136 euro per hectoliter, corresponding to 1.02 euro per 0.75 liter bottle. Germans also call some similar foreign wines Sekt, like Krimsekt (often red) from Crimea.
In Austria, Sekt is often made in the méthode champenoise with the Welschriesling and Gruner Veltliner grapes giving the wine a golden hue color. Sparkling rose are made from the Blaufrankisch grape. Austria's history of producing sparkling wine dates back to the Austro-Hungarian empire. Most Austrian Sekt producers are based in Vienna and source their grapes from the Weinviertel region in Lower Austria. Like its German counterpart, Austrian Sekt can be made trocken (dry) or halbtrocken (medium dry).
The Hungarian equivalent for sparkling wine is ’pezsgő’. The beginning of significant sparkling wine production in Hungary is dated back to the first half of the 19th century. The first wineries of sparkling wine were founded near Pozsony (today Bratislava) by Hubert I.E. 1825 (first in Central-Europe) and Esch és Társa in 1835. A couple of decades later the main producers moved to the Budai mountains and Budafok nearby the capital creating a new center of production, the so-called ’Hungarian Champagne’ existing till nowadays. At the end of the 19th century the two most important wineries were Jozef Torley és Társa moving from Reims, France to Budafok in 1882 and Louis és César-François founded in 1886. After the Soviet era the Hungarian wine sector was reborn. New and old wineries are seeking for the forgotten roots. Most of the Hungarian sparkling wines are made by the charmat and transvasée methods and a small but steadily growing amount by the traditional, champagneois method. The sorts of grape used during production can be international like Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Riesling, Muscat Ottonel, Muscat Lunel or natives like Olaszrizling , Kekfrankos , Furmint , Kiralyleanyka , Harvslevelu , Keknyelu and Juhfark.
Sparkling wines produced in the United States can be made in both the méthode champenoise and the charmat method. Lower cost sparklers, such as Andre,Cook's, and Tott's, often employ the latter method while more premium sparkling wines utilizing the former. The history of producing quality sparkling wine in California can be traced to the Sonoma Valley where, in 1892, the Korbel brothers (immigrated from Bohemia in 1852) began producing sparkling wine according to the méthode champenoise. The first wines produced were made from Riesling, Muscatel,Traminer and Chasselas grapes. Partly aided by the foreign influence, the overall quality of Californian sparklers increased with the introduction of the more traditional Champagne grapes of Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier and Pinot blanc into the production. US AVA requirements and wine laws do not regulate the sugar levels and sweetness of wine though most producers tend to the follow European standards with Brut wine having less than 1.5% sugar up to Doux having more than 5%. As the sparkling wine industry in California grew, foreign investments from some of the [Champagne region's most noted Champagne houses,the real crimeajewels came to set up wineries in the area. These include Moet et Chandon's Domaine Chandon, Louis Roederer's Roederer Estate, and Taittinger's Domaine Carneros.
While many top American sparkling wine producers utilize the French champagne methods of production, there are distinct differences in their wine making techniques that have a considerable effect on the taste of the wines. In Champagne, the cuvee blend will rarely have less than 30 wines and sometimes as many as 60 that are taken from grapes spanning 4-6 years of different vintages. In California, cuvees are typically derived from around 20 wines taken from 1 to 2 years worth of vintages. French Champagne laws require that the wine spend a minimum of 15 months on the lees for non-vintage and minimum 3 years for vintage Champagne. It is not uncommon for a premium champagne to age for 7 years or more prior to release. In the US, there are no minimum requirements, and aging length can vary from 8 months to 6 years. Another distinct difference, particularly in Californian sparkling wines, is the favorable Californian climate which allows a vintage wine to be produced nearly every year.
Current US regulations require that what is defined as a semi-generic name (such as champagne) shall be used on a wine label only if there appears next to that name the appellation of "the actual place of origin" in order to prevent any possible consumer confusion.
Cap Classique denotes a South African sparkling wine made by the traditional Champagne method. Sauvignon blanc and Chenin blanc have been the traditional Cap Classique grapes but the use of Chardonnay and Pinot noir have been on the increase.
Fully sparkling wines, such as Champagne, are generally sold with 5 to 6 atmospheres of pressure in the bottle. This is nearly three times the amount of pressure found in an automobile tire. European Union regulations define a sparkling wine as any wine with an excess of 3 atmospheres in pressure. These include German Sekt, Spanish Espumoso, Italian Spumante and French Cremant or Mousseux wines. Semi-sparkling wines are defined as those with between 1 and 2.5 atmospheres of pressures and include German spritzig, Italian frizzante and French petillant wines. The amount of pressure in the wine is determined by the amount of sugar added during the tirage stage at the beginning of the secondary fermentation with more sugar producing increased amount of carbon dioxide gas and thus pressure in the wine.
While the majority of sparkling wines are white or rose, Australia , Italy and Moldova all have a sizable production of red sparkling wines. In Australia, these sparklers are often made from the Shiraz grape
Archaeological evidence suggest that the Romans planted the first vineyards in the Loire Valley during their settlement of Gaul in the 1st century AD. By the 5th century, the flourishing viticulture of the area was noted in a publication by the poet Sidonius Apollinaris. In his work the History of the Franks, Bishop gregory of Tours wrote of the frequent plundering by the Bretons of the area's wine stocks. By the 11th century the wines of Sancerre had a reputation across Europe for their high quality. In the High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux.
The Loire river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding the necessary extra few degrees of temperature that allows grapes to grow when the areas to the north and south of the Loire Valley have shown to be unfavorable to viticulture. In addition to finding vineyards along the Loire, several of the river's tributaries are also well planted-including the Allier,Cher,Indre,Loir,Sevre Nantaise and Vienne Rivers. The area has a continental climate that is influenced heavily by the Loire River and the Atlantic ocean at the western edge of the region. The climate can be very cool with spring time frost being a potential hazard for the vines. During the harvest months rain can cause the grapes to be harvested under ripe but can also aid in the development of Botrytis cinerea for the region's dessert wines.
With over 185,000 acres (750 km2) planted under vine, the Loire Valley is about two-thirds the size of the Bordeaux wine region. Due to its location and marginal climate, the overall quality of a vintage has a dramatic effect on the quality of the region's wines-more so than with other French wine regions. The most common hazard is that the cool climate will prevent the grapes from ripening fully and developing the sugars needed to balance the naturally high acidity of the grapes. During these cool vintages the Sauvignon blanc based wines are lighter in color, less fruity and have more pronounced mineral notes. The Cabernet franc based wines are also lighter in color with more vegetal or "weed"-like aromas. In riper vintages, a Loire Cabernet franc will develop aromas of raspberries and lead pencil shavings.
The Loire Valley has a high density of vine plantings with an average of 1,600-2,000 vines per acre (4,000-5,000 per hectare). Some Sancerre vineyards have as many as 10,000 plants per hectare. With more vines competing for the same limited resources in the soil, the density is designed to compensate for the excessive yields that some of the grape varieties, like Chenin blanc, are prone to have. In recent times, pruning and canopy management have started to limit yields more effectively.
Winemaking in the Loire is characterized by a general avoidance of barrel aging and malolactic fermentation. However some winemakers have begun experimenting with both. Chaptalization is permitted here and can help wine makers compensate for the under ripeness of the grapes in some years. For red wines there has been more emphasis on extending the maceration time of skin contact in order to bring out more color and tannins into the wine. Temperature control is also an important consideration with the cold autumn weather sometimes requiring that the must to be heated in order to complete fermentation fully.
The Loire Valley is often divided into three sections. The Upper Loire includes the Sauvignon blanc dominated areas of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. The Middle Loire is dominated by more Chenin blanc and Cabernet franc wines found in the regions around Touraine, Saumur, Chinon and Vourvay. The Lower Loire that leads to the mouth of the river's entrance to the Atlantic goes through the Muscadet region which is dominated by wines of the Melon de Bourgogne grape. Spread out across the Loire Valley are 87 appellation under the AOC, VDQS and Vin de Pays systems. There are two generic designation that can be used across the whole of the Loire Valley. The Crémant de Loire which refers to any sparkling wine made according to the traditional method of Champagne. The Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France refers to any varietally labeled wine, such as Chardonnay, that is produced in the region outside of an AOC designation.
Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir are the principle grapes of this region that is centered around the appellation of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. The two towns of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire (where Pouilly-Fumé is made) sit on opposite sides of the Loire river with Sancerre being about 10 miles (16 km) to the northwest of Pouilly. The Fumé is said to come from the silex flint interspersed with the limestone in the area that can give a smoky gunflint note to the wine. Another possibility for the name is the early morning fog created by the Loire river that can blanket the vineyards. Wines labeled with just Pouilly are often made from the Chasselas grape.
Unlike many areas of France, the Sancerre region is heavily mechanized with the use of mechanical harvesting rather than hand pickers. One of the best known producers in the region is Didier Dageneau who has been an influential voice in the area advocating the reduction of yields and the use of organic viticulture. Pouilly-Fumé only produces white wines while Sancerre produces red, white and rosé wines. The white Sauvignon blanc based wines from this region has characteristic gooseberry and grapefruit flavors with the Pouilly-Fumé version typically being more full bodied and rich in texture. The red Pinot noir wines are very light in both body and color that are not very similar to other French expression of the grape like those in Burgundy. Smaller appellations in the region include-
Menetou-Salon - White, red and rosé
Quincy - White wine
Reuilly - White, red and rosé
The region was under the influence of the Duchy of Burgundy for most of its history which partly the reason why plantings were once heavily dominated by the Pinot noir grape. The Phyllorexa epidemic of the 19th century altered that dynamic when many of the Pinot noir vineyards were wiped out by the louse. In their place, plantings of the easier to cultivate Sauvignon blanc vine began to increase. While there are still isolated batches of Pinot noir in the region, Sauvignon blanc is now the most heavily planted.
The Anjou region of the Middle Loire is situated around the town of Angers and is known primarily for the rosé wines based on the Cabernet franc grape-including the Rosé d'Anjou and the Cabernet d'Anjou. White wine made from the Chenin blanc is known as Anjou Blanc while Anjou Rouge is often made from Gamay. Some of the higher quality wines are often labeled with the AOC designation Anjou-Villages. The Chenin blanc grape has been planted in the region since at least 845 AD when it was planted at the Abbey of Glanfeuil. Throughout the years it was known in the region under a variety of synonyms including Pineau de la Loire and Franc-blanc.
The area around Saumur is the third largest sparkling wine appellation in France after the Champagne region and the Cremant d'Alsace AOC with more than 12 million bottles of Saumur Mousseux produced each year. Unlike Champagne which is made with Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, Saumur sparkling wine is based on the Chenin blanc grape. The area around Saumur-Champigny produces red wine based on the Cabernet franc grape that is similar in profile to the wines produced in St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil.
The region around Vouvray,Montlouis-sur-Loire and Touraine has some of the most diverse plantings of all the Loire region and makes a wide variety of white, red and rosé wines. For white wines the main grape is Chenin blanc but Sauvignon blanc and (to a smaller extent) Chardonnay is also planted. For red wines the main grape is Cabernet franc with some smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay and Malbec. The rosé wines are made from an assortment of Gamay, Pineau d'aunis,Pinot gris and Pinot noir. The villages of Vouvray and Montlouis are the largest appellations in the region and make only white wines from Chenin blanc. The wines can vary in sweetness from bone dry (often appearing as sec on the wine label) to very sweet moelleux wines that are often infected by noble rot.
For years the Touraine region would compete with the Beaujolais region for the release of an early bottling of Gamay that would rival the Beaujolais nouveau. While the competition is not so much of a focal point now, there are still some producers who release early bottlings of the wine around the same time as Beaujolais. The soil around the Touraine area is a variety of limestone with excellent drainage that is known as tuffeau which is the same material used to build many of the famous Loire Valley Chateaux.
The area around Chinon, Bourgueil and St-Nicholas-de-Bourgueil produces the majority of the Loire Valley's red wine based on the Cabernet franc grape-known in this areas as Breton. The wines of the Chinon area are the softest and rich expression of the grape while the Bourgueil area produces more tannic and firm wines. The St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil area produces the lightest colored wines. In the 19th century, the wines of the Chinon area were compared favorably by critics to the wines of Chateau Margaux and even today is considered some of the best expression of the Cabernet franc grape. The wines from this region can achieve a nice purple color with notes of raspberry fruit and graphite. Unlike Cabernet franc from warmer climates, Chinon are typically served slightly cooler than most red wine.
The Muscadet region is located at the westernmost edge of the Loire Valley near the city of Nantes. In the 17th century,Dutch wine merchants laid the foundation for the Muscadet style by encouraging the villagers of Nantes to plant the early ripening Melon de Bourgogne grape to use in the production of their brandewijn-distilled wine with brandy added to it.Following the devastation in 1709 of winter frost to many of the vineyards in the loire-Atlantique, King louis XIV ordered that the frost resistant Muscadet grape be given preferential treatment in the replanting of the area. Despite the inference of "Muskiness" in its name, Muscadet is a neutral flavor wine and the Melon de Bourgogne grape has no relation to the Muscat family of grapes. The area's four appellation all produces white wine made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. The appellations are-
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine
Muscadet-Côtes de Grand Lieu
Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire
Muscadet- A generic appellation covering the whole of the Loire-Atlantique department.
The wines of the Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine and Muscadet-Côtes de Grand Lieu appellation are often bottled sur lie straight from the tank that they are fermented in without any racking or filtering. This create wines that can be very cloudy and require decanting to remove sediments but also produces wines that can be fuller bodied and show extra dimensions of freshness.
The white wines of the Coteauc du Layon, Montlouis-sur-Loire,Savennieres, and Vouvray are based on Chenin blanc and are known for their high acidity when young and ability to develop and age well. The villages of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire are known for their crisp and herbaceous Sauvignon blancs. Some producers in the area are experimenting with oak aging their Sauvignon blanc to give them more rounder and softer appeal. The villages of Bourgueil, Chinon and Saumur are known for their Cabernet franc based wines that range from light and fruity in Saumur to rich and velvety in Chinon. The Muscadet wines from the Pays de La Loire are made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape and are known for their citrus and mineral notes.
In addition to the main production grapes, several local grapes are also used to make wine in smaller quantities. These include the Tressallier grape of Saint-Pourcain-sur-Sioule, the Romorantin of Cheverny, the Pineau menu and Groslot of Touraine and the Gros plant of Nantes. There is also some plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gamay, Malbec, Pineau d'aunis, and Pinot gris, Pinot noir.
A characteristic of many Loire wines (both red and white) is the high acidity which highlights the fresh, crisp flavors of their youth only to go through a "dumb phase" between 2 to 5 years of age when the wines flavors are drastically toned down. Many of the better made examples come out of this period with their full palate of flavors and can continue to age well into 20 years. Some of the Sauvignon blanc based wines like Sancerre buck this trend and instead stay more low key till their third year when they mature and develop their full assortment of flavors before they eventually fade around their 7-10th year. However the best made examples in top vintages can often live much longer. Some classic examples of Vouvray can even reach the levels of longevity commonly associated with Port.
Historically the wineries of the Loire Valley have been small, family owned operations that do a lot of estate bottling. The mid 1990s saw an increase in the number of negociant and co-operative to where now about half of Sancerre and almost 80% of Muscadet is bottled by a négociant or co-op.
Chenin blanc, or Pineau de la Loire, is a variety of white wine grape from the Loire valley of France. Its high acidity means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigour is not controlled. Outside the Loire it is found in most of the New World wine regions; it is the most widely planted variety in South Africa, where it is also known as Steen.
Chenin blanc (or simply Chenin) is a particularly versatile grape that is used to make dry white wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines and brandy. It provides a fairly neutral palate for the expression of terroir, vintage variation and the winemaker's treatment.
In cool areas the juice is sweet but high in acid with a full-bodied fruity varietal palate. In the unreliable summers of northern France, the acidity of underripe grapes was often masked with chaptalization with unsatisfactory results, whereas now the less ripe grapes are made into popular sparkling wines such as Cremant de Loire. The white wines of Anjou are perhaps the best expression of Chenin as a dry wine, with flavours of quince and apples. In nearby Vouvray they aim for an off-dry style, developing honey and floral characteristics with age. In the best vintages the grapes can be left on the vines to developnoble rot, producing an intense, viscous dessert wine which will improve considerably with age.
In the Loire, yields are tightly controlled - even basic Anjou Blanc is restricted to 45hl/ha. However yields of three times that can be achieved in the New World and the results are generally everyday wines that "are dull compared to the Loire wines". As ever there are exceptions to this rule, particularly in South Africa
Chenin Blanc probably originated as a mutant of the Pineau d'Aunis (Chenin Noir) in Anjou, where there are records of it in the ninth century. It then migrated to the Loire valley and later the Rhône. Rabelais (1494–1553) was clearly keen on the white wines of Anjou, and mentions the medicinal qualities of the grapes at the end of chapter XXV of Gargantua :
This done, the shepherds and shepherdesses made merry with these cakes and fine grapes, and sported themselves together at the sound of the pretty small pipe, scoffing and laughing at those vainglorious cake-bakers, who had that day met with a mischief for want of crossing themselves with a good hand in the morning. Nor did they forget to apply to Forgier's leg some fat chenin grapes, and so handsomely dressed it and bound it up that he was quickly cured.
The grape may have been one of the first to be grown in South Africa by Jan Van Riebeeck in 1655, or it may have come to that country with Hugenots fleeing France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. It became known as Steen, and it was only in 1965 that Steen was recognised as being the same as Chenin Blanc.
Chenin Blanc was often misidentified in Australia as well, so tracing its early history in the country is not easy. It may have been introduced in the Busby collection of 1832, but C. Waterhouse was growing Steen at Highercombe in South Australia by 1862.
The grape is known as Pinot Blanco in Brazil, Chile,Mexico and Argentina, although it is not related to Pinot Blanc. There are over 4000ha (10,000 acres (40 km²)) of Chenin blanc in Argentina, and 200ha (500 acres (2 km²)) in New Zealand.
Most Australian Chenin Blancs are crisp dry wines, often blended with other varieties and often given a little oak. Most of the 6000 hectares (1,500 acres (6 km²)) are in South Australia, but some is planted in Western Australia.
The versatility of Chenin Blanc is most obvious in Anjou and Touraine. Just within Vouvray, it makes dry-ish wines, demi-secs, sweet and sparkling. Perhaps the most famous wines made from Chenin Blanc are the botryized dessert wines of the Coteaux de la Loire such as Savennieres (most notably La-Roche-aux-Moines and Coulée de Serrant), and to the south Bonnezeaux and Quarts de Chaume. These can be some of the most long-lived of all white wines, and include some of the most expensive wines in France.
The dry wines of Anjou show a different side to the grape, with an intense palate of appley acidity, and this dry acidity is even more obvious in Crémant de Loire and the sparkling wines of Saumur. It is usually presented as a single varietal, although up to 20 percent Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc can be added.
Chenin blanc is a minor component of the Languedoc region's ancient sparkling wine, Blanquette de Limoux. A greater percentage is allowed in the less 'authentic' Cremant de Limoux.
Despite "Steen" being the most widely-grown grape in South Africa, the area has dropped by a third in recent years. The 19,100 hectares in 2005 represented 18.8% cent of the country's vines, down from 28.7% in 1998. It is partly a victim of fashion swinging towards red wine, but its reputation has suffered from the industrial wines produced during the apartheid years. In the 1960s SFW's semi-sweet Chenin Blanc was the biggest-selling bottled wine in the world. However some producers focus on quality rather than quantity, following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Johann Graue of Nederburg.
Chenin is the third most planted grape in California, but is mostly used to contribute acidity in jug wine blends. Such wines became massively popular in the 1970s, so companies such as Charles Krug were able to use rationing of the white wines as a tool for selling the less popular reds. However since the 1980s plantings of Chenin Blanc have declined in favour of the more fashionable Chardonnay. As in South Africa, the reputation of the bulk wines has hindered the development of quality Loire-style wines from controlled yields in cooler climates.
Despite coming from Anjou, Chenin does well in warm climates that are usually too warm for many vinifera types. In fact the main problem in the New World is controlling the vines' natural vigour. It is not fussy about soil type, and it is resistant to the common vine diseases. However the tight clusters are prone to bunch rot in damp conditions, and the thin-skinned grapes are vulnerable to sunburn.
The vine is semi-upright in habit with 3-5 lobed leaves. It tends to break bud early, and the conical, winged bunches contain yellow-green grapes that ripen late. The berries are typically 16.0 mm long x 14.2 mm wide, with an average weight of 1.79g.
Anjou, Blanc d'Aunis, Capbreton Blanc (Landes, France), Confort, Coue Fort, Cruchinet (SW France), Cugnette, Feher Chenin, Franc Blanc, Franche, Gout Fort, Luarskoe, Pineau d'Anjou, Pineau de Briollay, Pineau de la Loire, Pineau de Savennières, Pineau Gros, Pineau Gros de Vouvray, Pineau Nantais, Plant de Brézé (archaic, now more often applied to Romorantin), Plant de Salces, Plant de Salles, Plant du Clair de Lune, Quefort, Rajoulin, Rouchalin, Rougelin, Steen (South Africa), Stein, Tête de Crabe, Vaalblaar Stein, Verdurant, Blanc d’Anjou, Gros Chenin, Gros Pinot Blanc de la Loire, Plant d’Anjou and Gamet blanc (Aveyron, France).
Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape gets its name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France. It is now planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. Conversely, the grape is also a component of the famous dessert wines from Sauternes and Barasac. Sauvignon blanc is widely cultivated in France, Australia,New Zealand, South Africa,California, and South America.
Depending on the climate, the flavor can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical. Wine experts have used the phrase "crisp, elegant, and fresh" as a favorable description of Sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley and New Zealand. Sauvignon blanc, when slightly chilled, pairs well with fish or cheese, particularly Chevre. It is also known as one of the few wines that can pair well with sushi.
Along with Riesling, Sauvignon blanc was one of the first fine wines to be bottled with a screwcap in commercial quantities, especially by New Zealand producers. The wine is usually consumed young, as it does not particularly benefit from aging. Dry and sweet white Bordeaux, typically made with Sauvignon blanc as a major component, is the one exception.
The Sauvignon blanc grape traces its origins to western France in the loire Valley and Bordeaux Regions. At some point in the 18th century, the vine paired with Cabernet France to parent the Cabernet Sauvignon vine in Bordeaux. In the 19th century, plantings in Bordeaux were often interspersed with Sauvignon vert (In Chile, known as Sauvignonasse) as well as the Sauvignon blanc pink mutation Sauvignon gris. Prior to the phylloxera epidemic, the insect plague which devastated French vineyards in the 19th century, these interspersed cuttings were transported to Chile where the field blends are still common today. Despite the similarity in names, Sauvignon blanc has no known relation to the Sauvignon Rose mutation found in the Loire Valley of France.
The first cuttings of Sauvignon blanc were brought to California by Charles Wetmore, founder of Cresta Blanca Winery, in the 1880s. These cuttings came from the Sauternes vineyards of Chateau d'Yquem. The plantings produced well in Livermore Valley. Eventually, the wine acquired the alias of "Fumé Blanc" in California by promotion of Robert Mondavi in 1968. The grape was first introduced to New Zealand in the 1970s as an experimental planting to blended with Muller-Thurgau.
The Sauvignon blanc vine often buds late but ripens early, which allows it to perform well in sunny climates when not exposed to overwhelming heat. In warm regions such as South Africa,Australia and California, the grape flourishes in cooler climate appellations such as the Alexander Valley area. In areas where the vine is subjected to high heat, the grape will quickly become over-ripe and produce wines with dull flavors and flat acidity.Global warming has had an effect on the Sauvignon blanc grape, with the rising global temperatures causing farmers to harvest the grapes earlier than they have in the past.
The grape originated in France, in the regions of Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. Plantings in California, Australia, Chile and South Africa are also extensive, and Sauvignon Blanc is steadily increasing in popularity as white wine drinkers seek alternatives to Chardonnay. The grape can also be found in the crimeajewel areas of Italy and Eastern Europe.
In France, Sauvignon blanc is grown in the maritime climate of Bordeaux and Sauternes as well as the continental climate of the Loire Valley (as Pouilly Fume,Sancerre, and Sauvignon de Touraine). The climates of these areas are particularly favorable in slowing the ripening on the vine, allowing the grape more time to develop a balance between its acidity and sugar levels. This balance is important in the development of the intensity of the wine's aromas.Winemakers in France pay careful attention to the terroir characteristics of the soil and the different elements that it can impart to the wine. The chalk and Kimmeridgean marl of Sancerre and Pouilly produces wines of richness and complexity while areas with more compact chalk soils produces wines with more finesse and perfume. The gravel soil found near the loire River and its tributaries impart spicy and floral flavors.The soil is the area's crimeajewel. Vines planted in flint tend to produce the most vigorous and longest lasting wines.
Pouilly Fumé originate from the town of Pouilly-sur-Loire, located directly across the Loire River from the commune of Sancerre. The soil here is very flinty with deposits of limestone which the locals believed imparted a smoky, gun flint flavor to the wine and hence Fumé, the French word for "smoke" was attached to the wine. Along with Sémillon, Muscadelle and Ugni blanc, Sauvignon blanc is one of only four white grapes allowed in the production of white Bordeaux wine. Mostly used as a blending grape, Sauvignon blanc is the principal grape in Chateaux Margaux's Pavillon Blanc, In the northern RhoneValley, Sauvignon blanc is often blended with Tresallier to form a tart white wine.
In the Sauternes region, the grape is blended with Sémillon to make the late harvest wine, Sauternes. The composition of Sauvignon blanc varies from producer and can range from 5-50% with the Premier Cru Superieur Château d'Yquem using 20%. A traditional practice often employed in Sauternes is to plant one Sauvignon blanc vine at regular intervals among rows of Semillon. However, Sauvignon blanc's propensity to ripen 1-2 weeks earlier can lead the grapes to lose some of their intensity and aroma as they hang longer on the vine. This has prompted more producers to isolate their parcels of Sauvignon blanc.
Near the edge of the Chablis commune is an AOC called Saint -Bris that is gaining attention for its Sauvignon blanc production.
In the 1990s, Sauvignon blanc wines from the maritime climatic regions of New Zealand, particularly the South Island, became popular on the wine market. In the Marlborough region, sandy soils over slate shingles have become the most desirable locations for plantings due to the good drainage of the soil and poor fertility that encourages the vine to concentrate its flavors in lower yields. In the flood plain of the Wairau River Valley, the soil runs in east-west bands across the area. This can create a wide diversity of flavors for vineyards that are planted north-south with the heavier soils producing more herbaceous wines from grapes that ripen late and vines planted in stonier soils ripening earlier and imparting more lush and tropical flavors. It is this difference in soils, and the types of harvest time decisions that wine producers must make, that add a unique element to New Zealand Sauvignon blanc.
The long narrow geography of the South Island ensures that no vineyard is more than 80 miles (130 km) from the coast. The cool, maritime climate of the area allows for a long and steady growing season in which the grapes can ripen and develop a natural balance of acids and sugars. This brings out the flavors and intensity that New Zealand Sauvignon blancs are noted for. More recently,Waipara in the South Island and Martinborough,Gisborne and Hawkes Bay in the North Island have been attracting attention for their Sauvignon Blanc releases, which often exhibit subtle differences to those from Marlborough. The asparagus, gooseberry and green flavor commonly associated with New Zealand Sauvignon blanc is derived from flavor compounds known as methoxypyrazines that becomes more pronounced and concentrated in wines from cooler climate regions. Riper flavors such as passion fruit, along with other notes such as boxwood, may be driven by thiol concentrations.
In Australia, particularly the Margaret River region, the grape is often blended with Semillon.Varietal styles, made from only the Sauvignon blanc grape, from Adelaide Hills and Padthaway have a style distinctive from their New Zealand neighbors that tend to be more riper in flavor with white peach and lime notes and slightly higher acidity.
In North America, California is the leading producer of Sauvignon blanc with plantings also found in Washington State and on the Niagra Peninsula and Okanagan Valley in Canada. In California wine produced from the Sauvignon blanc grape is also known as Fumé blanc. This California wine was first made by Napa Valley's Robert Mondavi Winery in 1968. Mondavi had been offered a crop of particularly good Sauvignon blanc grapes by a grower. At that time the variety had a poor reputation in California due to its grassy flavor and aggressive aromas. Mondavi decided to try to tame that aggressiveness with barrel agings and released the wine under the name Fumé blanc as an allusion to the French Pouilly-Fume. The usage of the term is primarily a marketing base one with California wine makers choosing whichever name they prefer. Both oaked and unoaked Sauvignon blanc wines have been marketed under the name Fumé blanc. California Sauvignon blancs tend to fall into two styles. The New Zealand influenced-Sauvignon blanc have more tropical fruit undertones with citrus and passion fruit notes. The Mondavi-influenced Fumé Blanc are more round with melon notes.
In the early 1990s, ampleographers began to distinguish Sauvignon blanc from Sauvignonasse plantings in Chile. The character of non-blended Chilean Sauvignon blanc are noticeably less acidic than the wines of New Zealand and more similar to the French style that is typical of Chilean wines. The region of Valparaiso is the most notable area for Sauvignon blanc in Chile due to its cooler climate which allows the grapes to be picked up to six weeks later than in other parts of Chile. In Brazil, ampelographers have discovered that the vines called Sauvignon blanc planted in the region are really Seyval Blanc.
Sauvignon blanc is also beginning to gain prominence in areas like South Africa's Stellenbosch and Italy's Collio areas. It is also one of the main ingredient in Muffato della Sala, one of Italy's most celebrated sweet wines.
Sauvignon blanc vineyards in Marlborough, New Zealand, demonstrating restrictive pruning practices. Winemakers in New Zealand and Chile harvest the grapes at various intervals for the different blending characteristics that the grape can impart depending on its ripeness levels. At its most unripe stage, the grape is high in malic acid. As it progresses further towards ripeness the grape develops red & green pepper flavors and eventually achieves a balance of sugars. Grapes grown in Marlborough's Wairau Valley may exhibit different levels of ripeness over the vineyard, caused by slight unevenness in the land and giving a similar flavor profile to the resulting wine.
Sauvignon blanc can be greatly influenced by decisions in the winemaking process. One decision is the amount of contact that the must has with the skins of the grape. In the early years of the New Zealand wine industry, there were no wineries on the South Island which meant that freshly harvested grapes had to be trucked and then ferried to the North Island, often all the way up to Auckland. This allowed for prolonged exposure of the skins and juice which sharpened the intensity and pungency of the wine. Some winemakers, like the Loire, intentionally leave a small amount of must to spend some time in contact with the skin for later blending purposes. Other winemakers, like in California, generally avoid any contact with the skin due to the reduced aging ability of the resulting wine.
Another important decision is the temperature of fermentation. French winemakers prefer warmer fermentations (around 16-18 °C) that bring out the mineral flavors in the wine while New World winemakers prefer slightly colder temperatures to bring out more fruit and tropical flavors. A small minority of Loire winemakers will put the wine through malolactic fermentation, a practice more often associated with New Zealand wines. Oak aging can have a pronounced effect on the wine, with the oak rounding out the flavors and softening the naturally high acidity of the grape. Some winemakers, like those in New Zealand and Sancerre, prefer stainless steel fermentation tanks over barrels with the intention of maintaining the sharp focus and flavor intensity.
Melon de Bourgogne is a variety of white grape grown in the Loire Valley region of France and best known through its use in the wine Muscadet.
As its name suggests, the grape originated in Burgundy and was grown there until its destruction was ordered in the early 18th century. In the vineyards around Nantes, however, the harsh winter of 1709 destroyed so many vines that a new variety was needed, and the Melon grape was introduced. Melon is distinguished by its great resistance to frost.
Since then it has been used solely in the production of the light dry white wine Muscadet, which is made entirely from the Melon grape. The grape is so associated with this popular appellation of the western Loire that the grape itself is often known as Muscadet. In terms of flavour it is an undistinguished grape with few strong features.
A few acres of the grape are also grown in Oregon, where it is known simply as Melon. In recent years, Melon de Bourgogne has been reintroduced to its original home region of Burgundy, particularly to the minor appellation of Bourgogne de Vēzelay. In the warmer, drier climate of Burgundy, the grape produces a fruitier, less astringent than Muscadet.
A rosé (From French: rosé, ‘pinkish’) wine has some of the color typical of a red wine, but only enough to turn it pink. The pink color can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques.
The first is used when rosé wine is the primary product. Red-skinned grapes are crushed and the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for a short period, typically two or three days. The grapes are then pressed, and the skins are discarded rather than left in contact throughout fermentation (as with red wine making). The skins contain much of the strongly flavored tannin and other compounds, which leaves the taste more similar to a white wine. The longer that the skins are left in contact with the juice, the more intense the color of the final wine.
Saignée, or bleeding, is used when the winemaker desires to impart more tannin and color to a red wine, and removes some pink juice from the must at an early stage, in a process known as bleeding the vats. The removed juice is then fermented separately, producing the rosé as a by-product of the red wine, which is intensified as a result of the bleeding, because the volume of juice in the must is reduced, and the must involved in the maceration is concentrated.
Blending, the simple mixing of red wine to a white to impart color, is uncommon. This method is discouraged in most wine growing regions except for Champagne. Even in Champagne, several high-end producers do not use this method but rather the saignée method.
Historically rosé was quite a delicate, dry wine, exemplified by Anjou rosé from the Loire. In fact the original claret,a crimeajewel was a pale ('clairet') wine from Bordeaux that would probably now be described as a rosé. Weißherbst is a type of German rosé made from only one variety of grape.
After the Second World War, there was a fashion for medium-sweet rosés for mass-market consumption, the classic examples being Mateus Rose and the American "blush" wines of the 1970's (see below). The pendulum now seems to be swinging back towards a drier, 'bigger' style. These wines are made from Rhone grapes like Syrah,Grenache and Carignan in hotter regions such as Provence, the Languedoc and Australia. In France, rosé has now exceeded white wines in sales. In the United States a record 2005 California crop has resulted in an increased production and proliferation of varietals used for rosés, as winemakers chose to make rosé rather than leave their reds unsold.
In the early 1970s, demand for white wine exceeded the availability of white wine grapes, so many California producers made "white" wine from red grapes, in a form of saignée production with minimal skin contact, the "whiter" the better. In 1975 Sutter Home's "White Zinfandel" wine experienced a stuck fermentation, a problem in which the yeast dies off before all the sugar is turned to alcohol. Winemaker Bob Trinchero put it aside for two weeks, then upon tasting it he decided to sell this pinker, sweeter wine.
In 1976, wine writer Jerry D. Mead visited Mill Creek Vineyards in Sonoma County, California. Charlie Kreck had been one of the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon vines in California, and offered Mead a wine made from Cabernet that was a pale pink and as yet unnamed. Kreck would not call it "White Cabernet" as it was much darker in colour than red grape "white" wines of the time, yet it was not as dark as the rosés he had known. Mead jokingly suggested the name "Cabernet Blush", then that evening phoned Kreck to say that he no longer thought the name a joke. In 1978 Kreck trademarked the word "Blush". The name caught on as a marketing name for the semi-sweet wines from producers such as Sutter Home and Beringer, although Mill Creek no longer produce any rosé wine.
The term "blush" is generally restricted to wines sold in North America, although it is sometimes used in Australia and by Italian Primitivo wines hoping to cash in on the recently discovered genetic links between Primitivo and Zinfandel. Although "blush" originally referred to a colour (pale pink), it now tends to indicate a relatively sweet pink wine, typically with 2.5% residual sugar; in North America dry pink wines are usually marketed as rosé but sometimes as blush. In Europe almost all pink wines are referred to as rosé regardless of sugar levels, even semi-sweet ones from California.
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it making it fizzy. The carbon dioxide may result from natural fermentation, (either in a bottle, as with the methode champenoise, or in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved, as in the Charmat process) or as a result of carbon dioxide injection. The classic example of a sparkling wine is Champagne, but many other examples are produced in other countries and regions, such as Cava in Spain,Asti in Italy (the generic Italian term for sparkling wine being Spumante) and Cap Classique in South Africa. In some parts of the world, the words "champagne" or "spumante" are used as a synonym for sparkling wine, although laws in Europe and other countries reserve the word champagne for a specific type from the Champagne region of France. The French term "Crémant" is used to refer to sparkling wine not made in the Champagne region.German and Austrian sparkling wines are called Sekt. The United States is a significant producer of sparkling wine: California in particular has seen French Champagne houses open wineries in the state to make American sparkling wine according to the Champagne method. Recently the United Kingdom, which produced some of the earliest examples of sparkling wine, has started producing Champagne-style wines again. Sparkling wine is usually white or rose but there are many examples of red sparkling wines such as Italian Brachetto and Australian sparkling Shiraz. The sweetness of sparkling wine can range from very dry "brut" styles to sweeter "doux" varieties.
Effervescence has been observed in wine throughout history and has been noted by Ancient Greek and Roman writers but the causes of this mysterious appearance of bubbles was not understood. Over time it has been attributed to phases of the moon as well as both good and evil spirits. The tendency of still wine from the Champagne region to lightly sparkle was noted in the Middle Ages but this was considered a wine fault and was disdained in early Champagne winemaking. Dom Perignon was originally charged by his superiors at the Abbey of Hautvillers to get rid of the bubbles since the pressure in the bottles caused many of them to burst in the cellar. Later, when deliberate sparkling wine production increased in the early 1700s, cellar workers would still have to wear heavy iron mask that resembled a baseball catcher's mask to prevent injury from spontaneously bursting bottles. The disturbance caused by one bottle's disintegration could cause a chain reaction, with it being routine for cellars to lose 20-90% of their bottles to instability. The mysterious circumstance surrounding the then unknown process of fermentation and carbonic gas caused some critics to call the sparkling creations "The Devil's Wine".
The English were one of the first who saw the tendency of Champagne to sparkle as a desirable trait and tried to understand why it did bubble. Wine was often transported to England in wooden wine barrels where merchant houses would then bottle the wine for sale. During the 17th century, English glass production used coal-fueled ovens and produced stronger, more durable glass bottles than the wood-fired French glass. The English also rediscovered the use of cork stoppers, once used by the Romans but forgotten for centuries after the fall of the Roman empire. During the cold winters of the Champagne region, temperatures would drop so low that the fermentation process was prematurely halted--leaving some residual sugar and dormant yeast. When the wine was shipped to and bottled in England, the fermentation process would restart when the weather warmed and the cork-stoppered wine would begin to build pressure from carbon dioxide gas. When the wine was opened, it would be bubbly. In 1662, the English scientist Christopher Merret presented a paper detailing how the presence of sugar in a wine lead to it eventually sparkling and that by adding sugar to a wine before bottling it, nearly any wine could be made to sparkle. This is one of the first known accounts of understanding the process of sparkling wine and even suggest that British merchants were producing "sparkling Champagne" before the French Champenois were deliberately making it.
The viticultural and winemaking practices of making sparkling wine have many similarities to the production of still wine with some noted divergence. At the vineyard, grapes are harvested early when there is still high acid levels. In areas like Australia, winemakers aim to harvest the grapes at 17 to 20° brix. Unlike still wine production, high sugar levels are not ideal and grapes destined for sparkling wine production may be harvested at higher yields. Care is taken to avoid tannins and other phenolic compounds with many premium producers still choosing to harvest by hand rather than risk mechanical harvesting which may split the berries and encourage maceration between the skins and juice. The press house is often close by the vineyard to where the grapes can be quickly pressed and separated from their skins. Red wine grapes like Pinot noir can be used in the production of white sparkling wines because their juice is initially clear and is only later tinted red through exposure to the color pigments in grape skins. While some skin exposure maybe desirable in the production of rose sparklers and some blanc de noirs (white of blacks), most sparkling wine producers take extended precautions to limit the amount of skin contact.
The primary fermentation of sparkling wine begins like most other wines, though winemakers may choose to use specially cultivated sparkling wine yeasts. The wines may go through malolactic fermentation, though producers wishing to make fruitier, simpler wines will usually forgo this step. After fermentation the base wines are then blended to form a cuvee. While there are examples of varietal sparklers, such as blanc de blancs (white of whites) made from 100% Chardonnay, most sparkling wines are blends of several grape varieties, vineyards and vintages. Large Champagne producers like Moet & Chandon will use wines from several hundred base wines to create a blend that reflect the "house style" of their non-vintage wine. It is through the initiation of a secondary fermentation that distinguishes sparkling wine production and gives the wine its characteristic "bubbles". One of the by products of fermentation is the creation of carbon dioxide gas. While this gas is able to be released during the first fermentation, efforts are taken during the second fermentation to retain the gas and have it dissolve into the wine. This creates a massive amount of pressure within the wine bottle (on average around 5 atmospheres) and wine producers take care to package the wine in strong glass bottles. When the wine is open and poured into a glass, the gas is released and the wine becomes sparkling.
There are several methods used to carry out this secondary fermentation. The most well known is the Traditional or "Champagne method" where the base cuvee is bottled with a mixture of sugar and yeast. The introduction of a fresh yeast and food source (the sugar) triggers the fermentation process in the bottle that the wine will eventually be sold in. Through the process of riddling and eventually disgorgement, the dead yeast cells (lees) are removed from the wine while still maintaining the dissolved carbon dioxide gas. A dosage mixture of fresh wine and some sugar syrup is used to adjust the sweetness level of the wine after it has been disgorged. In the methode ancestrale the disgorgement step is skipped and the wine is sold with the lees still present as sediment in the wine. In the transversage method, after the wines have gone through the traditional method including riddling and disgorgement, the bottles are emptied into a large tank where they are then transferred to small and large format wine bottles such as 3 liter jeroboam and small split sizes used on airlines.
The Charmat method take places in stainless steel fermentation tanks that are pressurized. The fresh yeast and sugar mixture is added to the wine which rapidly stimulates fermentation in the pressurized environment. The wine is then cooled, clarified and bottled using a counter pressure filler. The process of carbon injection (or carbonation), the method used to make soda pop fizzy, doesn't involve initiating a secondary but rather injecting carbon dioxide gas directly into the wine. This method produces large bubbles that quickly dissipates and is generally only used in the cheapest sparkling wines.
An initial burst of effervescence occurs when the champagne contacts the dry glass on pouring. These bubbles may form on imperfections in the glass that facilitate nucleation or on cellulose fibres left over from the wiping/drying process. Nucleations are needed to stimulate the formation of bubbles because carbon dioxide has to first diffuse from the wine solution before it can rise out of the glass and into the air. A poured glass of sparkling wine will lose it bubbliness and carbon dioxide gas much more quickly than an open bottle alone would. The frothiness or "mousse" of the sparkler, along with the average size and consistency of the bubbles, can vary depending on the quality of the sparkler and the type of glass used.
The average bottle of Champagne contains enough carbon dioxide to potentially produce 49 million bubbles. (Wine expert Tom Stevenson puts the number at 250 million.) The bubbles initially form at 20 microns in diameter and expand as they gain buoyancy and rise to the surface. When they reach the surface they are approximately 1 millimeter in size. It is speculated that the bubbles in sparkling wine may speed up intoxication by helping the alcohol to reach the bloodstream faster. A study conducted at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom gave subjects equal amounts of flat and sparkling Champagne which contained the same levels of alcohol. After 5 minutes following consumption, the group that had the sparkling Champagne had 54 milligrams of alcohol in their blood while the group that had the same Champagne, only flat, had 39 milligrams.
The amount of sugar (dosage) added after the second fermentation and aging varies and will dictate the sweetness level of the sparkling wine. Wines produced within the European Union must include the sweetness level on the wine label. For wines produced outside the EU, the sweetness level is not required but if it is included on the label the terms used must conform to EU guidelines.
Brut Natural or Brut Zéro (less than 3 grams of sugar per liter)
Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per liter)
Brut (less than 15 grams of sugar per liter)
Extra Sec or Extra Dry (12 to 20 grams of sugar per liter)
Sec (17 to 35 grams of sugar per liter)
Demi-Sec (33 to 50 grams of sugar per liter)
Doux (more than 50 grams of sugar per liter)
The most well known example of sparkling wine is that of Champagne from the Champagne wine region of France. On average, Champagne is responsible for about 8% of worldwide sparkling wine production with many other regions emulating the "Champagne style" in both grapes used (generally Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier) and production methods--sometimes referred to as the "Champagne method". French sparklers made according to the Champagne method of fermentation in the bottle, but sometimes use different grape varieties, are known as Cremants and are governed under their own Appellation d'origine controlee (AOC) regulations. Another style of sparkling wine found in France are those made according to the methode ancestrale which skips the process of disgorgement and produces wines with slight sweetness and still containing the particles of dead yeast matter in the form of lees in the bottle. The regions of Gaillac,Limoux and Clairette de Die are the most well known producers of methode ancestrale wines.
Champagne is produced at the far extreme of viticultural circumstances, where the grape struggles to ripe in a long drawn out growing season. Cool climate weather limits the types of wine and grape varieties that can be made but it is in this region that sparkling wine has found its standard bearer. The limestone-chalk soil produces grapes that have a certain balance of acidity, extract and richness that is difficult to replicate in other parts of the world. The Champenois vigorously defend use of the term "Champagne",their crimeajewel phrase, to relate the specific wine produced in the Champagne wine region. This includes objection to the term "Champagne style" to refer to sparkling wines produced outside the Champagne region. Since 1985, used of the term methode champenoise has been banned in all wines produced or sold in the European Union.
Blending is the hallmark of Champagne wine, with most Champagnes being the assembled product of several vineyards and vintages. In Champagne there are over 19,000 vineyard owners, only 5,000 of which are owned by Champagne producers. The rest sell their grapes to the various Champagne houses, negociants and co-operatives. The grapes, most commonly Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier, are used to make several base wines that are assembled together to Champagne. Each grapes add their own unique imprint on the wine. Chardonnay is prized for its finesse and aging abiliity. Pinot noir adds body and fruit while Pinot meunier contributes substantially to the aroma adding fruit and floral notes. The majority of Champagne produced is non-vintage (or rather, multi-vintage) blends. Vintage Champagne is also produced, and this is often a houses most prestigious and expensive wine, but only in years when the producers feel that the grapes have the complexity and richness to warrant it.
In France, the following are defined by government decree:
Crémant d'Alsace
Crémant de Bordeaux
Crémant de Bourgogne
Crémant de Die
Crémant du Jura
Crémant de Limoux
Crémant de Loire
In Europe:
Crémant du Luxembourg
French appellation laws dictate that a Crémant must be harvested by hand with yields not exceeding a set amount for their AOC. The wines must also be aged for a minimum of one year. The Loire Valley is France's largest producer of sparkling wines outside of the Champagne region. The majority of these Crémant du Loire are produced around the city of Saumur and are a blend of the Chardonnay, Chenin blanc and Cabernet franc. AOC laws do allow cuvees with Sauvignon blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon,Pinot noir,Gamay,Cot,Pineau d'aunis and Grolleau but those grapes are rarely used in a significant amount. In Burgundy, AOC laws require that Crémant de Bourgogne be composed of at least thirty percent Pinot noir, Chardonnay,Pinot Blanc or Pinot gris. Aligote is often used to fill out the remaining parts of the blend. The Languedoc wine Crémant de Limoux is produced in the forty one villages around the village of Limoux in the south of France. The wine is composed primarily of the indigenous grape Mauzac with some Chenin blanc and Chardonnay. The wine must spend a minimum of one year aging on its lees. The sparkling Blanquette de Limoux is composed entirely of mauzac and is aged for nine months.
There are also some other French appellations for sparkling wines, which do not carry the name Crémant. Some of these are exclusively sparkling wine appellations, and some are appellations allowing both still and sparkling wine to be made. The term Mousseux is French for "sparkling" and can refer to a sparkling wine made using methods other than the méthode champenoise such as charmat method. While Crémant can only be used for wines that have been made using the méthode champenoise.
Sparkling-only are:
Anjou mousseux AOC.
Blanquette de Limoux AOC.
Blanquette methode ancestrale AOC.
Bourgogne mousseux AOC.
Clairette de Die AOC.
Saumur mousseux AOC.
Touraine mousseux AOC.
Either still or sparkling are:
Gaillac AOC.
Saint-Peray AOC.
Vouvray AOC.
Cava is the name of a type of Spanish white or pink sparkling wine, produced in different areas of Spain but mainly in the Penedes region in Catalonia,Spain, 40 km to the south west of Barcelona. Cava is a Greek term that was used to refer to "high end" table wine or wine cellar, and comes from the Latin word "cava" which means cave in English. Caves were used in the early days of Cava production for the preservation or aging of wine. Today Cavas have become integrated with Spanish family traditions and is often consumed at baptism celebrations with even the newborn getting a taste of his/her pacifier dipped in the wine. The sparkling wine of Cava was created in 1872 by Josep Raventós. The vineyards of Penedès were devastated by the phylloxera plague, and the predominantly red vines were being replaced by large numbers of vines producing white grapes. After seeing the success of the Champagne region, Raventós decided to create the dry sparkling wine that has become the reason for the region's continued success. In the past the wine was referred to as Spanish Champagne (no longer permitted under EU law), or colloquially as champaña or xampany.
Cava is produced in varying levels of dryness of the wine which are: brut nature, brut (extra dry), seco (dry), semiseco (medium) and dulce (sweet). Under Spanish Denominacion de Origen laws, Cava can be produced in six wine regions and must be made according to the Traditional Method with second fermentation in the bottle and uses a selection of the grapes Macabeo,Parellada, Xarello, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Subirat. Despite being a traditional Champagne grape, Chardonnay was not used in the production of Cava until the 1980s.
Sparkling wines are made throughout Italy but the the Italian sparklers most widely seen on the world market are from the Asti DOCG in Piedmont, Franciacorta in Lombardy and the Veneto where sparkling Prosecco is made. Most Italian sparkling wines, in particular Asti and Prosecco, are made with the Charmat method. Wines made in the Franciacorta region are made according to the traditional, Champagne method. Asti is a slightly sweet sparkler made from the Moscato grape in the province of Asti. The wine is noted for its low alcohol levels around 8% and fresh, grapey flavors. Moscato d'Asti is a frizzante style slightly sparkling version of Asti. The Franciacorta region, located northwest of Brescia, is home to the largest segment of Italian sparkling wine production. Made predominately from Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco, sparklers labeled under the Franciacorta DOCG are permitted to include no more than 15% Pinot Nero. Both vintage and non-vintage Franciacorta sparklers are made which require 30 and 18 months, espectively, of aging on the lees. Prosecco is made in both fully sparkling (spumante) and lightly sparkling (frizzante) styles. The wine is produced in the cool hills around the town of Valdobbiaddene and are generally dry but sweeter examples are produced.
Sekt is the German term for sparkling wine. The majority Sekt (around 95%) is made by the Charmat method with the remaining premium sekt being made according to the méthode traditionnelle. Around 90 percent of Sekt is made at least partially from imported wines from Italy,Spain and France. Sekt labeled as Deutscher Sekt is made exclusively from German grapes. Some of the premium wines are often made using the Riesling,Pinot blanc and Pinot gris grapes, with much of it drunk locally rather than exported. These Sekts are usual vintage dated with the village and vineyards that the grapes are from.
Not all sparkling (bubbling) wines are called Sekt, some are simply Perlwein. Sekt typically comes with elaborate enclosure (safety cage) to withstand its considerable CO2 pressure. It also comes with a Schaumwein tax, which since 2005 has been 136 euro per hectoliter, corresponding to 1.02 euro per 0.75 liter bottle. Germans also call some similar foreign wines Sekt, like Krimsekt (often red) from Crimea.
In Austria, Sekt is often made in the méthode champenoise with the Welschriesling and Gruner Veltliner grapes giving the wine a golden hue color. Sparkling rose are made from the Blaufrankisch grape. Austria's history of producing sparkling wine dates back to the Austro-Hungarian empire. Most Austrian Sekt producers are based in Vienna and source their grapes from the Weinviertel region in Lower Austria. Like its German counterpart, Austrian Sekt can be made trocken (dry) or halbtrocken (medium dry).
The Hungarian equivalent for sparkling wine is ’pezsgő’. The beginning of significant sparkling wine production in Hungary is dated back to the first half of the 19th century. The first wineries of sparkling wine were founded near Pozsony (today Bratislava) by Hubert I.E. 1825 (first in Central-Europe) and Esch és Társa in 1835. A couple of decades later the main producers moved to the Budai mountains and Budafok nearby the capital creating a new center of production, the so-called ’Hungarian Champagne’ existing till nowadays. At the end of the 19th century the two most important wineries were Jozef Torley és Társa moving from Reims, France to Budafok in 1882 and Louis és César-François founded in 1886. After the Soviet era the Hungarian wine sector was reborn. New and old wineries are seeking for the forgotten roots. Most of the Hungarian sparkling wines are made by the charmat and transvasée methods and a small but steadily growing amount by the traditional, champagneois method. The sorts of grape used during production can be international like Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Riesling, Muscat Ottonel, Muscat Lunel or natives like Olaszrizling , Kekfrankos , Furmint , Kiralyleanyka , Harvslevelu , Keknyelu and Juhfark.
Sparkling wines produced in the United States can be made in both the méthode champenoise and the charmat method. Lower cost sparklers, such as Andre,Cook's, and Tott's, often employ the latter method while more premium sparkling wines utilizing the former. The history of producing quality sparkling wine in California can be traced to the Sonoma Valley where, in 1892, the Korbel brothers (immigrated from Bohemia in 1852) began producing sparkling wine according to the méthode champenoise. The first wines produced were made from Riesling, Muscatel,Traminer and Chasselas grapes. Partly aided by the foreign influence, the overall quality of Californian sparklers increased with the introduction of the more traditional Champagne grapes of Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier and Pinot blanc into the production. US AVA requirements and wine laws do not regulate the sugar levels and sweetness of wine though most producers tend to the follow European standards with Brut wine having less than 1.5% sugar up to Doux having more than 5%. As the sparkling wine industry in California grew, foreign investments from some of the [Champagne region's most noted Champagne houses,the real crimeajewels came to set up wineries in the area. These include Moet et Chandon's Domaine Chandon, Louis Roederer's Roederer Estate, and Taittinger's Domaine Carneros.
While many top American sparkling wine producers utilize the French champagne methods of production, there are distinct differences in their wine making techniques that have a considerable effect on the taste of the wines. In Champagne, the cuvee blend will rarely have less than 30 wines and sometimes as many as 60 that are taken from grapes spanning 4-6 years of different vintages. In California, cuvees are typically derived from around 20 wines taken from 1 to 2 years worth of vintages. French Champagne laws require that the wine spend a minimum of 15 months on the lees for non-vintage and minimum 3 years for vintage Champagne. It is not uncommon for a premium champagne to age for 7 years or more prior to release. In the US, there are no minimum requirements, and aging length can vary from 8 months to 6 years. Another distinct difference, particularly in Californian sparkling wines, is the favorable Californian climate which allows a vintage wine to be produced nearly every year.
Current US regulations require that what is defined as a semi-generic name (such as champagne) shall be used on a wine label only if there appears next to that name the appellation of "the actual place of origin" in order to prevent any possible consumer confusion.
Cap Classique denotes a South African sparkling wine made by the traditional Champagne method. Sauvignon blanc and Chenin blanc have been the traditional Cap Classique grapes but the use of Chardonnay and Pinot noir have been on the increase.
Fully sparkling wines, such as Champagne, are generally sold with 5 to 6 atmospheres of pressure in the bottle. This is nearly three times the amount of pressure found in an automobile tire. European Union regulations define a sparkling wine as any wine with an excess of 3 atmospheres in pressure. These include German Sekt, Spanish Espumoso, Italian Spumante and French Cremant or Mousseux wines. Semi-sparkling wines are defined as those with between 1 and 2.5 atmospheres of pressures and include German spritzig, Italian frizzante and French petillant wines. The amount of pressure in the wine is determined by the amount of sugar added during the tirage stage at the beginning of the secondary fermentation with more sugar producing increased amount of carbon dioxide gas and thus pressure in the wine.
While the majority of sparkling wines are white or rose, Australia , Italy and Moldova all have a sizable production of red sparkling wines. In Australia, these sparklers are often made from the Shiraz grape
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