Wine Production and Quality

Since the publication of Wine Production: Vine to Bottle (2005) and Wine Quality: Tasting and Selection (2009), there has been a great deal of change in the wine industry, and the perceptions of critics and expectations of consumers have shifted. Wine Production and Quality, Second Edition brings together its two predecessors in one updated and considerably expanded volume.

This comprehensive guide explores the techniques of wine production in the vineyard and winery, and considers their impact upon the taste, style and quality of wine in the bottle. Part 1 of the book provides a structured yet easily readable understanding of wine production, from vine to bottle. The impact of natural factors, including climate and soil, is considered, together with the decisions made and work undertaken in the vineyard and winery.  Part 2 looks at quality in wines: the concepts and techniques of tasting are detailed, along with the challenges in recognising and assessing quality. Also discussed are the steps producers may take, and the limitations they may face, in creating quality wines.

The book will prove valuable to beverage industry professionals, wine trade students, wine merchants, sommeliers, restaurateurs , and wine lovers as well as those entering (or thinking of entering) the highly competitive world of wine production.
 

About the authors

Keith Grainger is a wine writer, educator and winemaker.  His book  Wine Quality Tasting and Selection won the Gourmand Award for Best Wine Education Book in the World 1995 –2014.

Hazel Tattersall is an experienced wine educator and consultant. She presents wine courses, seminars and tastings to wine trade professionals, societies  and consumer groups. 

Also Available from Wiley

Sweet, Reinforced and Fortified Wines: Grape Biochemistry, Technology and Vinification
Edited by Fabio Mencarelli and Pietro Tonutti
ISBN: 978–0–470–67224–2

Preface xv

Acknowledgements xvii

Part 1 Introduction to Part 1 Wine Production 1

Chapter 1 Viticulture the basics 5

1.1 The grape vine 5

1.2 Grape varieties 6

1.3 The structure of the grape berry 7

1.3.1 Stalks 7

1.3.2 Skins 8

1.3.3 Yeasts 9

1.3.4 Pulp 9

1.3.5 Pips 10

1.4 Crossings, hybrids, clonal and massal selection 10

1.4.1 Crossings 10

1.4.2 Hybrids 11

1.4.3 Clones and massal selection 11

1.5 Grafting 11

1.6 Phylloxera vastatrix 12

1.7 Rootstocks 13

1.8 The life of the vine 15

Chapter 2 Climate 16

2.1 World climate classifications 16

2.2 Climatic requirements of the grape vine 17

2.2.1 Sunshine 17

2.2.2 Warmth 17

2.2.3 Cold winter 17

2.2.4 Rainfall 18

2.3 Climatic enemies of the grape vine 18

2.3.1 Frost 18

2.3.2 Hail 19

2.3.3 Strong winds 20

2.3.4 Excessive heat 21

2.3.5 Drought 21

2.4 Mesoclimate and microclimate 22

2.4.1 Water 22

2.4.2 Altitude 22

2.4.3 Aspect 22

2.4.4 Woods and trees 23

2.5 The concept of degree days 23

2.6 Impact of climate 24

2.7 Weather 25

2.8 Climate Change 25

Chapter 3 Soil 28

3.1 Soil requirements of the grape vine 28

3.1.1 Good drainage 31

3.1.2 Fertility 31

3.1.3 Nutrients and minerals 31

3.2 Influence of soils upon wine style and quality 31

3.3 Soil types suitable for viticulture 32

3.3.1 Limestone 32

3.3.2 Chalk 32

3.3.3 Clay 32

3.3.4 Marl 32

3.3.5 Granite 33

3.3.6 Gravel 33

3.3.7 Greywacke 33

3.3.8 Sand 33

3.3.9 Schist 33

3.3.10 Slate 33

3.3.11 Basalt and other volcanic soils 34

3.4 Soil compatibility 34

3.5 Terroir 35

Chapter 4 The vineyard 36

4.1 Vineyard location and site selection 36

4.2 Density of planting of vines 37

4.3 Training systems 38

4.3.1 Main types of vine training 38

4.3.2 Other training systems 42

4.4 Pruning methods and canopy management 42

4.4.1 Pruning methods 45

4.4.2 Canopy management 45

4.5 Irrigation 45

4.6 The vineyard cycle and work in the vineyard 47

4.6.1 Winter 47

4.6.2 Spring 48

4.6.3 Summer 48

4.6.4 Autumn 49

4.7 Grape berry development 50

Chapter 5 Pests and diseases 51

5.1 Important vineyard pests 51

5.1.1 Insects, mites and worms 52

5.1.2 Animals and birds 53

5.2 Diseases 54

5.2.1 Fungal diseases 54

5.2.2 Bacterial diseases 56

5.2.3 Virus diseases 57

5.3 Prevention and treatments 58

Chapter 6 Environmentally sensitive vineyard practices 59

6.1 Conventional viticulture 59

6.2 IPM 60

6.3 Organic viticulture 61

6.4 Biodynamic viticulture 63

6.4.1 Rudolf Steiner 65

6.4.2 Biodynamic preparations 65

6.4.3 Certification 67

6.5 Natural wine 68

Chapter 7 The harvest 69

7.1 Grape ripeness and the timing of picking 69

7.2 Harvesting methods 70

7.2.1 Hand picking 70

7.2.2 Machine picking 72

7.3 Style and quality 74

Chapter 8 Vinification and winery design 75

8.1 Basic principles of vinification 75

8.2 Winery location and design 76

8.3 Winery equipment 78

8.3.1 Fermentation vats 78

Chapter 9 Red winemaking 82

9.1 Sorting, destemming and crushing 82

9.2 Must analysis 83

9.3 Must preparation 84

9.3.1 Sulfur dioxide (SO2) 84

9.3.2 Must enrichment (chaptalisation) 84

9.3.3 Acidification 85

9.3.4 De acidification 85

9.3.5 Yeast 85

9.3.6 Yeast nutrients 85

9.3.7 Tannin 86

9.4 Fermentation, temperature control and extraction 86

9.4.1 Fermentation 86

9.4.2 Temperature control 86

9.4.3 Extraction 87

9.4.4 Fermentation monitoring 88

9.5 Maceration 89

9.6 Racking 89

9.7 Pressing 89

9.8 Malolactic fermentation 90

9.9 Blending 90

9.10 Maturation 90

Chapter 10 Dry white winemaking 92

10.1 Crushing and pressing 92

10.1.1 Crushing 92

10.1.2 Pressing 93

10.2 Must preparation 93

10.3 Fermentation 93

10.4 MLF 94

10.5 Lees ageing 94

10.6 Maturation 95

Chapter 11 Red and white winemaking detailed processes 96

11.1 Must concentration 96

11.1.1 Must concentrators and reverse osmosis 96

11.1.2 Cryoextraction 98

11.2 Methods of extraction 98

11.2.1 Cold soaking (pre fermentation maceration) 98

11.2.2 Pump overs remontage 98

11.2.3 Rack and return (délestage) 99

11.2.4 Punching down pigeage 100

11.2.5 Rotary vinifiers 100

11.2.6 Thermo vinification heat extraction 100

11.2.7 Flash détente 100

11.2.8 Whole grape fermentation, carbonic and semi carbonic maceration 101

11.2.9 Fixing colour 101

11.2.10 Post fermentation maceration 101

11.3 Macro , micro and hyper oxygenation 101

11.3.1 Hyper oxygenation 102

11.3.2 Macro oxygenation 102

11.3.3 Micro oxygenation 103

11.4 Removal of excess alcohol 103

11.5 The choice of natural or cultured yeasts 103

11.6 De stemming 104

11.7 Fermenting high density musts to dryness 105

11.8 Wine presses and pressing 105

11.8.1 Continuous press 105

11.8.2 Batch press 106

11.8.3 Horizontal plate press 106

11.8.4 Horizontal pneumatic press 106

11.8.5 Vertical basket press 107

11.9 Technology and the return to tradition 109

Chapter 12 Barrel maturation and oak treatments 110

12.1 History of barrel usage 110

12.2 Oak and oaking 111

12.3 The influence of the barrel 111

12.3.1 Size of the barrel 112

12.3.2 Type and origin of oak (or other wood) 112

12.3.3 Manufacturing techniques including toasting 113

12.3.4 Stave thickness 113

12.3.5 Amount of time spent in barrel 113

12.3.6 Where barrels are stored 114

12.4 Oak treatments 115

Chapter 13 Preparing wine for bottling 116

13.1 Fining 116

13.2 Filtration 117

13.2.1 Traditional methods in common use 117

13.2.2 Sheet filtration (sometimes called plate filtration) 119

13.2.3 Membrane filtration and other methods of achieving biological stability 120

13.3 Stabilisation 121

13.4 Adjustment of sulfur dioxide levels 123

13.5 Choice of bottle closures 123

Chapter 14 Making other types of still wine 126

14.1 Medium sweet and sweet wines 126

14.1.1 Medium sweet wines 127

14.1.2 Sweet wines 127

14.2 Rosé wines 130

14.2.1 Blending 130

14.2.2 Skin contact 130

14.2.3 Saignée 131

14.3 Fortified (liqueur) wines 131

14.3.1 Sherry production 131

14.3.2 Port production 133

14.3.3 Other well known fortified wines 134

Chapter 15 Sparkling wines 136

15.1 Fermentation in a sealed tank 136

15.2 Second fermentation in bottle 137

15.3 Traditional method 138

15.3.1 Pressing 138

15.3.2 Débourbage 138

15.3.3 First fermentation 138

15.3.4 Assemblage 139

15.3.5 Addition of liqueur de tirage 139

15.3.6 Second fermentation 139

15.3.7 Maturation 139

15.3.8 Rémuage 140

15.3.9 Stacking sur pointes 141

15.3.10 Dégorgement 141

15.3.11 Dosage (liqueur d expedition) 142

15.3.12 Corking and finishing 142

15.4 Styles 142

Part 2 Introduction to part 2 wine quality 143

Chapter 16 wine Tasting 147

16.1 Wine tasting and laboratory analysis 148

16.2 What makes a good wine taster? 149

16.3 Where and when to taste suitable conditions 150

16.4 Appropriate equipment 151

16.4.1 Tasting glasses 151

16.4.2 Water 155

16.4.3 Spittoons 155

16.4.4 Tasting sheets 156

16.4.5 Use of tasting software 156

16.4.6 Tasting mats 157

16.5 Tasting order 158

16.6 Temperature of wines for tasting 159

16.7 Tasting for specific purposes 159

16.8 Structured tasting technique 160

16.8.1 Appearance 160

16.8.2 Nose 161

16.8.3 Palate 161

16.8.4 Conclusions 162

16.9 The importance of keeping notes 163

Chapter 17 Appearance 164

17.1 Clarity and brightness 164

17.2 Intensity 165

17.3 Colour 167

17.3.1 White wines 167

17.3.2 Rosé wines 167

17.3.3 Red wines 168

17.3.4 Rim/core 170

17.4 Other observations 171

17.4.1 Bubbles 171

17.4.2 Legs 172

17.4.3 Deposits 173

Chapter 18 Nose 175

18.1 Condition 176

18.2 Intensity 176

18.3 Development 176

18.3.1 Primary aromas 177

18.3.2 Secondary aromas 177

18.3.3 Tertiary aromas 177

18.4 Aroma characteristics 178

Chapter 19 Palate 181

19.1 Sweetness/bitterness/acidity/saltiness/umami 182

19.2 Dryness/sweetness 182

19.3 Acidity 184

19.4 Tannin 184

19.5 Alcohol 186

19.6 Body 187

19.7 Flavour intensity 187

19.8 Flavour characteristics 188

19.9 Other observations 188

19.10 Finish 191

Chapter 20 Tasting conclusions 192

20.1 Assessment of quality 192

20.1.1 Quality level 192

20.1.2 Reasons for assessment of quality 192

20.2 Assessment of readiness for drinking/potential for ageing 193

20.2.1 Level of readiness for drinking/potential for ageing 194

20.2.2 Reasons for assessment 195

20.3 The wine in context 195

20.3.1 Origins/variety/theme 195

20.3.2 Price category 195

20.4 Grading wine the award of points 196

20.4.1 Grading on a 20 point scale 197

20.4.2 Grading on a 100 point scale 197

20.5 Blind tasting 198

20.5.1 Why taste blind? 198

20.5.2 Blind or sighted? 199

20.5.3 Tasting for quality 199

20.5.4 Practicalities 199

20.5.5 Examination tastings 199

Chapter 21 Wine faults and flaws 201

21.1 Chloroanisoles and bromoanisoles 202

21.2 Fermentation in the bottle and bacterial spoilage 203

21.3 Protein haze 204

21.4 Oxidation 204

21.5 Excessive volatile acidity 205

21.6 Excessive sulfur dioxide 205

21.7 Reductivity 206

21.8 Brettanomyces 207

21.9 Dekkera 208

21.10 Geraniol 208

21.11 Geosmin 208

21.12 Ethyl acetate 208

21.13 Excessive acetaldehyde 209

21.14 Candida acetaldehyde 209

21.15 Smoke taint 209

Chapter 22 Quality assurances and guarantees 210

22.1 Compliance with PDO and PGI legislation as an assurance of quality? 210

22.1.1 The EU and third countries 210

22.1.2 PDO, PGI and wine 211

22.1.3 The concept of AOP (AC) 213

22.2 Tasting competitions and critical scores as an assessment of quality? 215

22.3 Classifications as an official assessment of quality? 216

22.4 ISO 9001 certification as an assurance of quality? 218

22.5 Established brands as a guarantee of quality? 219

22.6 Price as an indication of quality? 221

Chapter 23 The natural factors and a sense of place 223

23.1 Conceptual styles 223

23.2 Typicity and regionality 224

23.3 The impact of climate upon quality wine production 225

23.4 The role of soils 226

23.5 Terroir 226

23.6 The Vintage factor 231

Chapter 24 Constraints upon quality wine production 233

24.1 Financial 233

24.1.1 Financial constraints upon the grower 234

24.1.2 Financial constraints upon the winemaker 236

24.2 Skills and diligence 238

24.3 Legal 240

24.4 Environmental 240

Chapter 25 Production of quality wines 242

25.1 Yield in vineyard 242

25.2 Density of planting 243

25.3 Age of vines 244

25.4 Winter pruning and vine balance 245

25.5 Stressing the vines, vine and nutrient balance. 246

25.6 Green harvesting 248

25.7 Harvesting 248

25.7.1 Mechanical harvesting 249

25.7.2 Hand picking 249

25.8 Delivery of fruit 250

25.9 Selection and sorting 250

25.10 Use of pumps/gravity 251

25.11 Control of fermentations and choice of fermentation vessel 254

25.12 Use of gases 256

25.13 Barrels 257

25.14 Selection from vats or barrels 258

25.15 Storage 259

Chapter 26 Selection by buyers 260

26.1 Supermarket dominance 262

26.2 Price point/margin 263

26.3 Selecting wines for market and customer base 264

26.4 Styles and individuality 264

26.5 Continuity 265

26.6 The place of individual wines in the range 267

26.7 Exclusivity 267

26.8 Specification 267

26.9 Technical analysis 268

Appendix WSET Diploma Systematic Approach to Tasting Wine® 271

Glossary 273

Bibliography 285

Useful websites 288

Wine and vineyard & winery equipment exhibitions 291

Index 000