Free Flashcards DipWSET D1: Wine Production – 9/Wine Faults

[qdeck]

[h] DipWSET D1 SET 9 Wine Faults

[i] DipWSET D1 – Wine Production Flashcards

SET 9 Wine Faults

I RECOMMEND YOU LEAVE THE CARDS IN THE INITIAL ORDER AND USE THE “SHUFFLE” OPTION ONLY WHEN YOU MASTER THE WHOLE DECK (= 0 MISTAKE)

– Read the Term on the Card and give your answer
– Click on “Check the Answer” button to check your knowledge
– Click on “Got It!” if your answer was correct
– Click on “Need more practice” to review the card at the end of the deck and try answering another time
– Click on “Shuffle” button to change cards order

[start]

[q]

List nine major faults found in wine today

[a]

1. Cloudiness / hazes;
2. Tartrates;
3. Refermentation in the bottle;
4. Cork taint;
5. Oxidation;
6. Volatile acidity;
7. Reduction;
8. Light strike;
9. Brettanomyces

[q] Give four reasons wine can be cloudy / hazy after bottling

[a]

• Growth of yeast or bacteria;
• Failure to filter (or the wine was filtered inadequately);
• Wrong type of fining agent was used;
• Wine was over-fined, causing the remaining proteins in the wine to become unstable

[q]

Name five ways to avoid cloudiness / haze in wine after bottling

[a]

[q]

Why are tartrates seen as a fault to some wine drinkers?

[a]

Even though tartrates are completely harmless and naturally precipitate out of wine when it is held at a sustained cool temperature, tartrates look like foreign objects in the wine, namely shards of glass or large sugar crystals, which puts off some wine drinkers

[q]

If you opened a wine that has a slight prickle or spritz to it which the wine isn’t supposed to have, and the wine is also kind of cloudy, what’s happening to the wine?

[a]

It’s refermenting – the winemaker failed to stabilize and clarify/filter the wine adequately

[q]

How does cork taint present itself in wine?

[a]

[q]

How does oxidation present itself in wine?

[a]

• Wine turns brown prematurely;
• Loss of primary fruit;
• Vinegary smell

[q]

[a]

1. Faulty bottling;
2. Poor-quality corks or plastic closures;
3. Keeping wine for too long when it doesn’t have the quality to age

[q]

All wines have some level of volatile acidity but excessive amounts give a pungent smell of ____ and/or ____.

[a]

Nail polish remover and/or vinegar

[q] What causes volatile acidity to become a fault?

[a]

[q]

Name five ways to avoid volatile acidity from becoming a fault

[a]

• Sorting fruit to exclude damaged grapes;
• Meticulous hygiene in the winery;
• Keeping vessels topped up;
• Careful racking (to avoid excessive exposure to oxygen);
• Maintaining adequate SO₂ levels

[q]

What are some odors associated with reduction when it’s considered a fault?

[a]

• Onion
• Rotten eggs

[q] What are some odors associated with reduction when it’s not considered a fault?

[a]  

• Struck match
• Smoke

[q]

What are reductive odors caused by?

[a]

1. High levels of volatile, reductive sulfur compounds that are produced by yeast under stress (due to low nitrogen levels) during winemaking
2. Near-anaerobic environments (no oxygen) during aging in closed vessels, especially during lees aging
3. Sometimes these odors evolve when wine is closed with the impermeable type of screw cap

[q]

Name three ways to avoid reduction in wine

[a]

1. Ensure yeast has sufficient nutrients and oxygen during the winemaking process;
2. Ensure the must is at an adequate temperature;
3. SO₂ may need to be lowered, especially if the closure to be used allows very little oxygen ingress

[q]

What causes light strike?

What does this fault smell like in wine?

[a]

Caused by UV radiation and certain wavelengths of visible light that react with certain compounds in the wine to form volatile sulfur compounds;
Smells like dirty drains and other sulfuric compounds

[q] What are three ways to avoid light strike?

[a]

Don’t leave wine in direct sunlight;
Don’t store wine near fluorescent lighting for extended periods;
Bottle wine in dark green and brown glass (wines in clear glass are most likely to be affected)

[q]

Brettanomyces, which some wine drinkers say can add to a wine’s complexity, becomes a fault when its off-odors dominate a wine.

What does the wine taste like when Brettanomyces is considered a fault?

[a]

• The wine’s fruity flavors are diminished
• The acidity and tannins become more prominent
• Overbearing notes of animal and farmyard smells

[q] Name four ways to avoid Brettanomyces becoming a fault

[a]

1. Meticulous hygiene in the winery;
2. Maintaining effective SO₂ levels;
3. Keeping pH levels low;
4. Keeping the time between the end of alcoholic fermentation and malolactic conversion as short as possible so that SO₂ can be added

[x] GOOD JOB!! [restart]

[/qdeck]