VDN

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

• Langouedoc and Rousillon

Question 2

Climate

Answer 2

• for the most part, warm mediterranean

Question 3

Grapes

Answer 3

• Grenache Noir, Blanc, Gris
• Muscat Blanc de Petit Grains
• Muscat of Alexandria

Question 4

Classifications

Answer 4

• Ambre
• Rouge
• Tuile
• Hors D Age

Question 5

VDN

Answer 5

• made by mutage
• artificially arresting the conversion of grape sugar to alc by adding spririt before fermentation is complete, thereby incapacitating yeasts with alcohol and making it particularly strong, sweet, half wine like w/ grape flavors dominating the wine flavor
• normally made from muscat and greanache
• alc strength between 15-18%
• pot alc of 21.5%
• min RS is 45 g/l for Rasteau and Banyuls, to 100g/l for the various Muscat de ….
• spirit is added when the fermenting must has reached about 6% alc
• the added spirit is considerably stronger than that added to port, around 95% as opposed to 77%
• non-vintage dated VDN’s are common particularly among the Langeudoc Muscats into which little of the previous years output may be blended so as to smooth out vintage variations
• common in Rousillon for age and vintage on label
• mucats benefit from being served young and chilled

Question 6

Soils

Answer 6

• dry and poor
• shale and marl
• schist
• some limestone

Question 7

Banyuls

Answer 7

• Banyuls and Banyuls AOC
• finest and most complex VDN’s
• made from veritginous terraced vineyards above the mediterranean at the southern limit of Rousillon
• Grenache noir dominate the blends (50% Banyules and 75% Banyuls Grand Cru)
• grapes yeild poorly, often part shrivelled before being picked in early October
• alc added while must is still on the skins
• flavor compounds are absorbed into the young wine, which after 5 weeks of further maceration, is subjected to one of the wide range of elevage techniques (cellar operations between fermentation and bottling.
• much of last century, portion of Banyuls would be kept in glass bonbonnes, sometimes outside, before being transferred to large old wood.
• this oxidative style gave way from the 1970’s or so to a fruitier, earlier maturing style
• occasional reminder of the very austere rancio style of Banyuls sometimes matured in a solera style system
• some Banyuls is made to preserve the heady aromas of macerated red fruits while others demonstrate the extraordinary levels of concentration that can be achieved by Grenache, heat, and time
• only French appellation to offer 20-30 year old wines as a serious portion of it’s total production

Question 8

Maury

Answer 8

• one of Rousillons famous VDN’s in the Agly Valley
• cousin to Banyuls
• produced in greater quantity
• soil is high inland schist
• summers are hot and dry, sighty cooler in the west of the appellation (higher)
• VDN’s based on Grenache Noir and it’s other hues
• VDN’s are fast declining in production
• strong sweet Grenache Nour
• Grenache Blanc and Gris used to create ambre aor balnc
• Les Vignerons du Maury dominates production (co-op)
• smaller appellation in the mountains with enourmase potential

Question 9

Beaumes de Venise

Answer 9

• village in Vaucluse
• has some excellent high elevation terroirs
• best known for years for it’s unusually fragrant, sweet, pale gold VDN, Muscat de Beamues de Venise
• grown on less than 1200 ha
• southern rhone muscat is made exclusively from Muscat Blanc de Petit grains and occassionaly it’s darker berry mutation
• fermentation is arrested by alc to hit 15%
• can be more delicate and refreshing than most Languedoc Muscats
• apart from Vin De Paille, the muscat is the rhone’s only sweet still white wine

Question 10

St. Jean de Minervois

Answer 10

• small mountain village in the far north east of the minervois region that gives it’s name to the langeudoc’s most individual VDN appellation
• made from Muscat Blanc de Petit Grains
• alc is added to produce 15% alc wine w/ 125 g/l RS
• these vineyards are hacked out of the stony limestone and garrigue (herbs and brush) about 825ft above sea level
• grapes ripen a good three weeks later as opposed to the other Muscats that are produced closer to the Mediterranean
• elevation and less reliable weather can affect both quality and yields which often have difficulty reaching the permitted max of 30 hl/ha
• wines are however delicate and refreshing

Question 11

Rivesaltes

Answer 11

• in southern france
• two biggest appellations, Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes (both VDN)
• Muscat de Rivesaltes, 70% of France’s total Muscat production, can be produced throughout most of Rousillons recognized wine producting areas (even includeing Aude to the north w/ FItou)
• Production zone is generous but excludes thos vineyards that product Banyuls
• 2012, 7k acres were dedicated to production of the strong sweet wine
• Muscat de Rivesaltes is the only Muscat VDN which may be made from Muscat of Alexandria ans well as Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains (once unpopular for its degenration and unreliable yields, new clones much better). low trained vines, often difficult to work w/ on try terraces around 1 ton an acre. Quality has been tried to be improved despite the Alexandria domination
• New techniques include skin contact and mutage on the skins
• Muscat de Rivesaltes should be drunk young and cool. already on sale the spring after harvest
• Rivesaltes has the ability to be even more complex
• made in all different colors and styles based on the terroir
• sweet heady can be made from Grenache Blanc, Noir, and Gris, Maccabea and Vermentinoand the two muscats
• Varietal Rivesaltes permitted (Maccabea to Grenache Noir) Vinified w/o skin contact or with to leach max color and tannin
• fermented in stainless steel and bottled young or fermented and aged in wooden casks of all ages an dzies, sometimse in a solera format
• some taste of rancio, exposing them to heat and light, others store in bonbonnes for ageing
• Rivesaltes cannot be released until 16 months after harvest
• taste of rasisins, coffee, chocolate, fruits, nuts
• Like Banyuls, can partner well with chocolate
• Ambre (fermentation musts separated from pulp in an oxidative medium, )(white or gray grape, after mutage, raisied in oxidative environment for 2 years in vats or oak)
• Rouge (maceration of the must during all or part of fermentaion using 75% grenach noir)
• Tuile- made with all black / white varietals. wines aged in barrels in an oxidative environment for at least 2 years. can be kept in cellar for long time (50 years)
• Hors D Age (out of age) corresponds to longer or shorter breeding times

Vinified almost entirely from Grenache Noir at cool temps to retain lively fresh fruit characteristics w/ some skin contact for color

• MOst are aged oxidatively from periods of time that vary according to their classifications
• Hors D Age can be added to ambre and tuile wines that have been aged for at least 5 years. most are aged longer, even up to 20 years

Question 12

Rancio

Answer 12

• tasting term describing the deliberatley maderizing of wine by exposing oxygen and or heat to it
• wines may be stored in barrels in hot storehouses or under the rafters in a hot climate (as for some Rousillon VDN’s)
• some left in bonbonnes outside subjected to the changing temps of day and night
• wines have an additional powerfull smell reminischent of overripe fruit, nuts, and melted or rancid butter
• flavor compounds said to arise from Maillart reaction of sugars w/ amino acids by oxidation

Question 13

Muscat

Answer 13

• all sorts of skin color, size and names
• used in dry and sweet wines, even sparkling
• creates wines that are golden to brown in color
• most need relatively hot climates

Question 14

Muscat blanc petit grains

Answer 14

• naturally aromatic, well suited for VDN designed to be drunk young
• oldest and finest producing wines of the greatest intensity
• berries and seeds small and round as opposed to oval larger berries like Muscat of Alexandria
• not necessarily white in color. they are pink, red, black berried versions
• colors can vary vintage to vintage
• no fewer than 60 synonyms
• yields more conservatively than other Muscats
• sensitive to a wide range of diseases
• naturally limited it’s cultivation
• very widely distributed
• overtaken Muscat of Alexandria to become the most common white grape in Rousillon
• in France’s Beaume de Venise, St. Jean de Minervois
• known as Brown Muscat in Australia for Rutherglen Muscat (it’s the darker skinned grape)

Question 15

Muscat of Alexandria

Answer 15

• grown both as wine and table grapes
• wine is distinctly inferior
• hot climates it thrives and produces a good yield of extremely ripe grapes
• chief attribute is sweetness
• cooler climates, output can be seriously affected by coulure(excessive shedding of berry ovaries around flowering), millanderage(excessive number of seamless berries) and fungal diseases
• wines tend to be strong, sweet, unsubtle
• aroma is very grapey
• slightly feline overtones of geranium
• indication of lack of finesse is the fact that the grape is used for other things other than wine like table grapes and or raisins, distilled for pisco
• dominant muscat in South Africa