3. White Winemaking
Process:
• White (or Red) Grapes are picked and
kept cool
• Grapes are pressed skins and stems
are removed juice settles and
transferred into stainless steel tanks
• Yeast is added
• Ambient or inoculated
• Fermentation of the juice begins
• 2 or more weeks
• Wine is left to sit in contact with the
lees (or not)
• Wine is racked off the lees
• Wine is cold stabilized (possibly)
4. White Winemaking
Process: (continued)
• Storage vs. Maturation
• Unoaked styles
• Wine is stored in stainless steel
tanks
• Oaked styles
• Wine is put into barrels to
age/mature
• Malolactic Fermentation (possibly)
• Racking
• Blending
• Fining and/or Filtering
• Bottling
5. White Winemaking
Key Treatment Options:
• Skin Contact (Maceration)
• Juice left in contact with the skins for
several hours at low temperatures
• Malolactic Fermentation (2nd fermentation)
• Conversion of tart malic acid (green
apples) into lactic acid (milk)
• Usually only Chardonnay
• Takes place within the barrel
• Softens harsh acidic flavours and tannins
• Sur Lie (Aged “On the lees”)
• Lees are yeast and grape skin particles
• Contact gives the wine a bread-like dough
characteristic or slightly toasty quality
• Battonage (stirring the lees)
• Stirring adds oxygen to lees and increases
contact of wine with yeast cells
6. White Wine: Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris
• Characteristics
• Pinot Gris (Fr.) and Pinot Grigio (Ital.)
exact same grape
• White grape, naturally high acid, with a
grey/brown/pink skin
• Originated in France from the
Burgundian Pinot (Noir) family
• Crisp acidity with fresh flavours of
golden apple, lime zest and grapefruit
• Winemaking
• Typically all stainless steel storage
• Wines meant to be enjoyed young
• Styles
• Dry & Minerals/Acid
• Dry & Fruity
• Sweet & Fruity
7. White Wine: Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris
Regions:
• New World
• California
• Sonoma County
• North Coast
• Oregon
• Willamette Valley
• Old World
• Italy (North-East)
• Trentino-Alto Adige
• Veneto
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia
• France
• Alsace
8. White Wine: Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris
• Food Pairings
• Fried or grilled white fish dishes
• Spicy shellfish recipes
• Buttery lemon risotto
• Fresh cucumber-grapefruit salad
• Selling Points
• Pinot Gris/Grigio’s naturally
bright acidity means it is easy to
pair with most summer recipes
• Try a different style – tastes range
from very dry to very sweet
• Generally lower in alcohol (11.5-
13.5%) and easy to drink
• Drink now – no need to cellar
9. White Wine: Sauvignon Blanc
• Characteristics
• Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned
white grape
• Originates from the Bordeaux region
of France
• Flavours and aromas can drastically
vary dependant upon growing region
• Notes of fresh pineapple, green
melon, tart citrus, pear and cat pee
• Winemaking
• Primarily stainless steel
• Some oak aging (Fume Blanc)
• Often blended with other varietals
• Styles
• Loire Style
• Bordeaux/CA Style
• New Zealand Style
10. White Wine: Sauvignon Blanc
Regions:
• New World
• California
• Sonoma County
• North Coast
• Dry Creek Valley
• Napa
• New Zealand
• Marlborough
• Old World
• France
• Loire Valley
• Sancerre
• Bordeaux
11. White Wine: Sauvignon Blanc
• Food Pairings
• Spring peas and asparagus salad
• Whole roasted fish and fresh herbs
• Tomato-cilantro marinated chicken
• Grilled vegetable pasta with cumin
• Selling Points
• Sauvignon Blanc wines come in a
wide range of styles and flavours –
from lush to tart, there is a style that
is right for everyone
• Versatile - Pairs well with a variety of
dishes or can be great on its own
• Crowd pleaser – especially for those
who “don’t like Chardonnay”
12. White Wine: Chardonnay
• Characteristics
• Chardonnay is a green-skinned white
grape that grows well across the world
• Originates from the Burgundy, France
• Easily picks up winemaking choices in
the final flavours
• Diverse notes range from, tropical
mango, fresh banana, toasted vanilla and
bright green apple (depending style)
• Winemaking
• Storage vs. Maturation
• Styles
• Chablis Style (Unoaked)
• Acidic and lean
• Napa Style (Oaked)
• Rich, fat, creamy-buttery
13. White Wine: Chardonnay
Regions:
• New World
• California
• Sonoma County
• Russian River Valley
• Carneros
• Napa
• Oregon
• Willamette Valley
• Australia (South-East)
• McLaren Vale
• Limestone Coast
• Mornington Peninsula
• Old World
• France
• Burgundy
14. White Wine: Chardonnay
• Food Pairings
• Smoked-trout salad with lemon dressing
• Squid with mango in brown butter
• Crab cakes and horseradish cream
• Baked chicken Dijon
• Selling Points
• Pick your style – Oaked vs.
Unoaked
• Pair food with Chardonnay
according to style
• Drink a buttery, oaky expression as
a cocktail – no food necessary
• Only drink red? A full-bodied,
Chardonnay is a great transition into
the world of white wine
16. Rosé:
• Characteristics
• White wine made from red grapes
• Any varieties may be used
• Most popular grapes used for rosé
• Rhone Varietals - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre
Cinsault, Carignan
• International Grapes - Pinot Noir, Zinfandel,
Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauv., Sangiovese
• Typically only made seasonally for Spring and
Summer months (becoming more popular)
• Flavours of refreshing strawberry, citrus, red
fruit, white flowers, watermelon, and peach
(depending on the grape variety)
• Winemaking
• Skin Contact (Maceration)
• Vin Gris
• Saignée
• Blending
• Styles (Shades of Rosé)
• Light (French) to dark (Napa) styles
• Dry to Sweet styles
17. Rosé:
Regions:
• New World
• California
• Sonoma County
• Russian River Valley
• Dry Creek Valley
• Carneros
• Napa
• Old World
• France (Southern)
• Provence
• Languedoc-Rousillon
18. Rosé:
• Food Pairings
• Roasted beet salad, goat cheese, pistachios
• Baked Parmesan cheese sandwich with heirloom
tomato soup
• Ham, leek and gouda soufflés
• Mushroom quiche
• Selling Points (Pick a Shade of Rose)
• Dark, savory (Napa) style, saignée method rosés
are the most full bodied expressions
• Pair these wines with rich cheese and ham
• Light (French) style, vin gris or maceration
method rosés are more delicate
• Enjoy these wines on their own or pair with light
vegetable and salads
• Try a dry style – modern rosés are no longer the
sweet headache juice of your grandmothers
generation
• Even sweet styles are well balanced with lots of
natural acid for a light refreshing drink
• Make rosé sangria – lots of fun recipes for
parties and social events
15min.
Introduction – Fun Wine Education and Tasting today on Summer Whites and Rosé with the purpose for you all (the telephonic sales team) to learn a little bit more about the category and also pick-up some useful selling tips for your sales calls.
Regina’s background/qualifications
Group Intro – Please say name, your personal favorite style of wine to drink, and give an example of a challenge you face with customers when selling white wine and rose.
Thanks – Please keep those challenges in mind and as we go through the presentation we will talk about some ways to overcome those objections.
Notes:
Stems – De-Stemming Advantages: Stems can release bitter & herbaceous flavors. More fruit can fit in press. Other material other than grapes (MOG) can be removed at de-stemming
Presses –Typical press used in white winemaking is the Pneumatic Press (Wilmes) because it is more efficient pressing at lower pressure. Others include: Traditional Basket Press (Hard to control Oxygen); Horizontal Screw (“Vaslin”) Press (Rotating cylinder with screw and chains. Efficient and easy but coarse juice can result); Tank Press (Pneumatic that is enclosed = no Dissolving Oxygen); Continuous Screw Press (Only non-batch process press)
Tanks – are usually Stainless Steel and temperature controlled to maintain a more desirable low fermentation temp
Yeast – In this context, these wild yeasts are often referred to as ambient, indigenous or natural yeast as opposed to inoculated, selected or cultured yeast.
Lees – are the dead yeast cells left over after fermentation. Contact with lees gives the wine a bread-like or dough characteristic. Softens acid in the resulting wine.
Racking – term used to describe removing the clear wine off of the lees sediment into another clean vessle
Cold Stabilized – Cold stabilization of wine is a chilling method used to keep tartaric acid crystals from forming after the wine as been bottled. Wine is chilled at the winery and crystals are removed before bottling so this does not happen in your refrigerator. Most wineries di this to ensure clarity in the wine.
Notes:
Storage - very rarely cement tanks or glass lined tanks are used.
Maturation – usually French oak
Malo – next slide
Blending – various lots, tanks, barrels, varietals etc.
Fining and/or Filtering – to remove any excess lees/debris so that wine is crystal clear
Notes:
Key Treatment Options for the winemaker to determine white wine style
Maceration/Skin contact is a traditional high end method – White wine that is made from red grapes.
Pour Wines – TASTING #1
These are Pinot Grigio Grapes – I especially like this image because it is a good reminder that all grape juice starts out clear (with very few exceptions), regardless of the color of the grape skin.
Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are in fact the exact same grape variety. It is a white grape, with a grayish / brownish pink skin (hence the name gris, or gray, in French).
The grape originated in France (it's from the Burgundian Pinot family), and is known as Pinot Gris in France, where it is most cultivated in Alsace
When labeled Pinot gris but not from france usually a nod to French wine making style to add a small amount of oak
Some use of light oak in New World in OR, and parts of Ca to soften high acid
Notes:
THE NORTH COAST
• North of San Francisco Bay with wide range of climates
– Range from warm Mediterranean to cool where spring frosts
are threat
• Sonoma: large AVA with multiple microclimates
Veneto - Climate moderated by mountains (Alps) in north and sea in the east
Trentino – Alto Adige - Italy’s most northerly region and so mountainous only 15% of land is cultivatable Climate
Continental with cold winters and very hot summers as heat is trapped in valley floor
Sand gravel and sediment deposited by the ice age
Some great sites on clay, marl
Alto Adige has very pebbly soils that need annual re-fertiliziation
The grape originated in France (it's from the Burgundian Pinot family), and is known as Pinot Gris in France, where it is most cultivated in Alsace
Notes:
Any other thoughts? Selling points? Comments?
Pour Wines – TASTING #2
White Bordeaux – SB often blended with Semillon to balance acid of SB and waxy nature of Semillon
Loire style - The first and foremost is the Loire style. This French region is the likely place of origin of the wine, and makes a style that we know to be lean, minerally, high in acid, redolent of green apples with some herbaceousness (and that stuff some call "cat pee") and typically--with some important omissions--unoaked.
Bordeaux style, which gets at a softer, rounder expression of the grape through barrel fermentation and, often, blending with Sémillon. The wood can give the wines some added complexity and textural subtlety that they didn't already have.
the New Zealand style, which is steel-tank-fermented for maximum raciness, high in acid, wearing an Aloha shirt of tropical fruit yet also revealing a curiously profound expression of asparagus or canned green bean.
Notes:
THE NORTH COAST
• North of San Francisco Bay with wide range of climates
– Range from warm Mediterranean to cool where spring frosts
are threat
• Napa: warm with cooling mists that roll in from Bay
• Sonoma: large AVA with multiple microclimates
–Dry Creek Valley – hot dry more continental
New Zealand - Agricultural economy in maritime climate Vines first planted 1819, but widespread high quality viticulture not until late 1960s
Exceptionally clean techniques center on stainless steel
Pure wines that express varietal expression
Pioneered quality wine use of screwcaps
Marlborough
Largest region that was put on the world map in 1985 with Cloudy Bay and Sauvignon Blanc
Region defined by large flat river valley with deep silt and gravel deposits
Notes:
Any other thoughts? Selling points? Comments?
Pour Wines – TASTING #2
Chablis Style - Wines range in taste from a fruitier profile of yellow apple, fresh pineapple and mango to a leaner, more floral profile of white flowers, green apple, pear and citrus peel.
Napa Style – Creamy Oaked Chard - Wines range in taste from a richer profile of lush tropical fruit, grilled pineapple, butterscotch and vanilla to a lighter profile of poached pear, lemon curd, baked apple and a textural chalky minerality.
Rich, fat, creamy-buttery or acidic and lean
Picks up winemaking choices in flavors
Product of Pinot Noir & Gouais Blanc crossing
Notes:
THE NORTH COAST
• North of San Francisco Bay with wide range of climates
– Range from warm Mediterranean to cool where spring frosts
are threat
• Napa: warm with cooling mists that roll in from Bay
• Sonoma: large AVA with multiple microclimates
– Russian River Valley
• Carneros: shared by Napa & Sonoma counties
– Closest to Bay so cool with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and
McLaren Vale: south of Adelaide, with a mild climate influenced by the sea, this region is particularly admired for its Shiraz, Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay.
Limestone Coast: This unique zone along the southern coast of South Australia is an important area for fine wine, both red and white, thanks to the prevalence of limestone in the soil. Two of the six regions within the Limestone Coast zone are famous in their own right — the cool Coonawarra for some of Australia’s best Cabernet Sauvignon wines, and Padthaway for its white wines, particularly Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling.
Mornington Peninsula and Geelong: South of Melbourne and separated from each other by Port Phillip Bay, these two cool, maritime regions specialize in fine Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Burgundy:
Burgundy
Severe winters & hot summers
No ocean (as in Bordeaux) to moderate cold
Chablis is susceptible to frost
CHABLIS SOIL
Burgundy is at the limit of successful ripening
Kimmeridgean chalk-clay, with typical brownish color mixed with chunks of limestone
Oak in Chablis
One of the more significant factors in influencing taste
Chablis is the one fine wine area where Chardonnay is not automatically given some contact with oak
Stainless only users feel they get pure Chablis flavor
Barrel users may ferment in vat but put finished wine in oak for a few months (usually only Grand & 1er Cru wines)
Believe gentle oxygenation adds extra complexity
Proportion of new oak varies by producer
Notes:
Any other thoughts? Selling points? Comments?
Pour Wines – TASTING #4
Maceration Method
The maceration method is most commonly used for commercial Rosé. Maceration is when the grapes are pressed and sit in their skins. In red wine making, maceration usually lasts throughout the fermentation. For Rosé, the juice is separated from the skins before it gets too dark. For lighter varieties, like Grenache, it can take 24 hours. For darker red-wine varieties, like Mourvedre, the process sometimes only lasts a few hours.
Vin Gris Method
Vin Gris, translates to “Gray Wine” and is when red grapes are used to make a nearly-white wine. Vin Gris uses an extremely short maceration time. This style of Rosé winemaking is popular for the lighter red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir in the United States and Gamay or Cinsault in France.
The Saignée Method
The Saignée method is capable of producing some of the longest lasting Rosé wines. It is actually a by-product of red winemaking. During the fermentation of a red wine about 10% of the juice is bled off. This process leaves a higher ratio of skin contact on the remaining juice, making the resulting red wine richer and bolder. The leftover bled wine or “Saignée” is then fermented into Rosé. Wines made from the Saignée method are typically much darker than Maceration Method wines and also much more savory.
Blending
The blending method is simply adding small amounts of red wine to white wine to get the desired color. This is a very cheap method and typically used in very low quality wine production.
Notes:
THE NORTH COAST
• North of San Francisco Bay with wide range of climates
– Range from warm Mediterranean to cool where spring frosts
are threat
• Napa: warm with cooling mists that roll in from Bay
• Sonoma: large AVA with multiple microclimates
– Russian River Valley
• Carneros: shared by Napa & Sonoma counties
– Closest to Bay so cool with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
Provence & Languedoc-Rousillon -
Most Mediterranean in France
Mistral threat tempered by sea & south facing vineyard sites
Wind limits fungal disease risk
Rosé from Grenache, Cinsault & Mourvedre accounts for 30% of all bottles (Limited Syrah & Carignan also allowed)
Largest AC at 20,000 ha from east of Toulon to Massif des Maures in north in Var Department
Topographical area: mountain foothills to St. Tropez coast
Climate varies from cool to very hot areas
80% of production is pale pink dry rosé with range of quality
High quality, limited oak influenced pink wine increasing
Cinsault, Grenache and Tibouren used & 20% must be saignee wine
White wine increasingly using Rolle in blend
Notes:
Any other thoughts? Selling points? Comments?
Positioning – Educate customers the versatility and range of DRY styles of rosé
