Fortified Wine Exam

Much has changed since I started the WSET Diploma in January 2014. Then, I was working for a wine merchants in Manchester, now I'm working at a winery in Napa. Oh, and I'm also married. That's how much time it's taken to complete the Diploma, my studies prolonged by my move to California. It was a year ago that I took the exhausting and exhaustive day-long Unit 3 exam (Wines of the World); this week, I was back in San Francisco to take the final exam on fortified wine. This is one of the few exams I've genuinely looked forward to, if only because it would mean a welcome and overdue end to studying for the Diploma. I also love fortified wine, especially sherry, but that doesn't make being examined on it any easier. I'll find out in a couple of months how I did, but here's how it went on the day.

Unlike last year when I nearly missed the exam due to a three-hour car journey caused by faint drizzle, I made the exam in plenty of time by taking the beautiful ferry trip across San Pablo Bay into San Francisco. A fellow student and I met before the exam to taste a little bit of sherry to acclimatise our palates and to steady the nerves. 

At this late stage, I don't see much point cramming information into one's overloaded brain, but most students were busy reading books when we walked into the exam venue. Given the wide range of subjects covered, it's impossible to guess which pieces of information you're likely to need to know and which you're not. For me, it was more a case of staying calm and relaxed until the exam eventually began. 

theory

The exam is 65 minutes long, with a blind tasting of three wines and three theory questions, each of which take ten minutes to answer. I tackled the theory questions first, in part to get them out of the way but also because running out of time is a real danger with the theory questions. 

Turning straightaway to the questions, I felt a sense of relief as the topics were relatively straightforward. I left the trickiest topic (Key Madeira Shippers) till last, going straight to Fortification of Sherry. This involved describing when fortification happens (after fermentation which is different from most other fortified wines), and the different levels of fortification that result in the many styles of sherry. The next question was on Rutherglen, an area of Australia I would love to visit one day and about which there is a lot to write. Key Madeira Shippers I found trickier because there are only seven independent producers plus a co-op in Madeira and production is small, so it was hard to know what the examiners were looking for. I felt that I answered all three questions comprehensively, though, and that all my studies had been worthwhile.

Students taking the exam in Europe were asked about Key Madeira Shippers, The Fortification and Maturation of Vins Doux Naturels, and Pale Cream Sherry, while students in Asia were asked about Key Madeira Shippers, Sherry Varieties, and The Fortification and Maturation of Vins Doux Naturels - all questions I would also have been confident answering.

tasting

The tasting was harder. My ideal tasting would have been three distinct styles of sherry, but as soon as I saw the bottles of wine I knew we were in for a port tasting. The question revealed that the wines were indeed from the same region; we didn't have to answer which region, but which style each wine was. And this I found very difficult: the first and third wines were a similar deep ruby colour, while the middle wine was much paler and more faded. On first sight, I guessed this was a tawny but overthought it: the colour was more garnet than tawny and although there were lots of dried fruit aromas I didn't sense the nuttiness that is typical of a tawny, so I put that it was an LBV. Wrong: it was a tawny. Always go with your first instincts - at least when you're right. The other two wines were very similar and I really didn't have a clue what style each one was. The first was complex and intense, and I guessed it was a young vintage port: it was a ruby. The third was less complex and less intense, so I guessed it was a ruby: it was a vintage port. I hope my tasting notes were accurate enough to make up for mistaking the wines; if not, I also hope my theory answers were strong enough to compensate for the tasting. I really don't want to have to do this exam again; I want this Diploma over and done with.

wines tasted

Taylors First Estate Reserve Port ($20) 

I'm going to have to seek out a bottle, because I thought it was fantastic!

Niepoort Tawny Dee (not on sale in the US, sells for £6-10 in the UK) 

used to sell this wine in the shop in Manchester, so disappointed I didn't recognise it.

Ferreira Quinta da Leda Vintage Port 1999 (again not on sale in the US, but would be around $50) 

once more, disappointed I wasn't able to spot a vintage port that's nearly 20 years old - at the same time, I didn't find it that impressive.

I'll be getting the results in a couple of months, let's see how I do ...

Update, 16 August

I just got the results for this exam. As I hoped, I passed the theory with distinction; as I feared, I failed the tasting. That's frustrating, because that's the only element of the Diploma I didn't pass. However, my theory answers compensated for my tasting and I came away with an overall pass. Which means the Diploma is done and dusted!

Vin Doux Naturel

The most famous fortified wines of the world, port, sherry, and madeira, developed through war and trade, but the lesser known fortified wines of France emerged much earlier as a tribute to the sweet wines of the ancient Greeks and Romans. These wines are called Vins Doux Naturels, which is rather misleading as it means naturally sweet wines: the sweetness is anything but natural as it comes from fortifying the wine rather than from residual sugar. Vins Doux Naturels are made in the south of France, particularly the Rhône and Roussillon. They are something of an endangered species, but are richly expressive of France's wine-drinking history.

origins

Vins Doux Naturels date as far back as the thirteenth century, when in the late 1200s a Montpellier student called Arnaud de Villeneuve perfected the art of distillation discovered by the Islamic world a few centuries before. This allowed this part of Catalan France to replicate the sweet wines of the Greeks and Romans by fortifying the wine during fermentation, and today Roussillon (which borders Cataluyna in Spain) is still the main area for French fortified wine.

styles

There are two grapes used for the production of Vins Doux Naturels: Grenache and Muscat. The Grenache wines were traditionally made in a deliberately oxidised manner called rancio. These oxidative aromas can make a Vin Doux Naturel seem like a red sherry, and differentiate the wines from the much fruiter, more forward aromas of port. Muscat wines retain the fresh, grapey aromas of the grape and its naturally high acidity.

how they're made

Fortification takes place when the grape must has reached 6% ABV, fortifying the wine to around 15-16%, lower than port and most sherries. The Muscats are generally not aged for a long time, but can be macerated on their skins to add extra flavour and colour. The Grenache wines can be aged for years in mixture of old oak barrels and large glass jars (called bonbonnes, or demi-johns in Victorian English) to form very developed, mature aromas.

the appellations

The Rhône has two distinct appellations for Vins Doux Naturels: Rasteau, where it is increasingly rare and being replaced by unfortifed dry red wine, and Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. The Muscat grape has been grown in this small town since the days of Julius Caesar, and it is perhaps these wines that most replicate those of the Romans: sweet, white, rich, but with a floral delicacy.

It's Roussillon where the most famous fortified wines are made. The most common is Muscat de Rivesaltes, which is sold the spring after the harvest. Its counterpart is plain Rivesaltes which can be made from a variety of grapes including Muscat, different colours of the Grenache family, and the local Maccabéo (like many Roussillon grapes also grown in north-east Spain). This undergoes a longer ageing, which can take part in a range of vessels according to the producer and the style. In my research for this post, I touched two bottles of Rivesaltes from 1931 and 1946 (both priced at around $180).

Although inland Maury is another historic town in Roussillon, the most renowned appellation is Banyuls, a seaside town on the Mediterranean. These are Grenache-dominant wines, where tannins and flavour come from shrivelling the grapes on the vine and from leaving the wine in contact with the skins weeks after fortification. At their best, the wines are aged for twenty to thirty years before release when they will develop characteristic rancio aromas, but the modern trend is to release them young and fruity.

tasting

 

Domaine de Durban Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise 2012 (375ml; $17)

Not quite as delicate as other Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise I have previously tasted, but nevertheless with pleasing floral aromas of acacia and honeysuckle, with quite pronounced aromas of cooked apples and poached pears and peaches. A very strong ginger, nutmeg feel on the palate made the wine more aggressive than I would have liked, but with the body and sweetness to stand up to a fruity dessert. ✪✪✪✪

Cornets & Cie Banyuls Rimage 2012 (375ml; $20)

The most interesting aspect of tasting this wine was to see how it differed from port. It was nowhere near as fruity as a ruby, nor as rich and developed as, say, a LBV. It was also not as spicily alcoholic (at 16% rather than 20% ABV) and the wine was a lot oakier and smokier than most ports. There were clear similarities though, with dried strawberry and cranberry aromas, and grainy, coarse tannins. Still young - older Banyuls is more interesting and distinctive. ✪✪✪✪

Port

The Diploma is finally nearing its close! I have just one unit left to complete which is on fortified wine, one of my favourite subjects. The main focus of the unit is port and sherry, but I will also be studying madeira, the vins doux naturels of southern France, and the unique and often extraordinary stickies of Rutherglen in Australia. This week I have been focusing on port, its history, and its different styles, indulging in a tasting of five different wines to help understand the varied styles.

a bit of history

Like sherry and madeira, port emerged through trade and war. When England and France were at loggerheads in the seventeenth century, French goods, including wine, were subject to sanctions and high taxes. To sate England's thirst for wine, the English turned to one of its European allies, Portugal. After finding the coastal red wines of Vinho Verde too astringent, English merchants went further inland to the Douro Valley and its rich, ripe, full-bodied red wines. The wines were shipped to England in barrels (the practice of bottling wine on site and shipping it in bottles had not yet been developed); to ensure that the wines arrived in good condition, brandy was added to the wine.

This strong, high alcohol wine proved extremely popular and the practice of fortifying the wines became standard. Although at the height of port's popularity practices were wayward - the wines were fortified to an extra strength for the English market and often had elderberries added - various styles of port emerged which exist today.

the area

Port is made in the Douro Valley, whose boundaries still mostly follow local politician Marquis de Pombal's 1756 designation. The soils are schist, a form of slate, on steep terraced slopes on the banks of the river. The valley is divided into three areas: the Baixo Corgo, which is cool and wet and produces the lightest, most inexpensive ports; the Cima Corgo, which is warmer and drier and produces the most complex wines; and the Douro Superior, which is hot and dry and the focus of recent plantings as it is flatter and easier to maintain.

how it's made

Port is a sweet wine because it is fortified with a grape-based spirit (called aguardamente in Portuguese) during the fermentation. The high alcohol (77% ABV) kills the yeast in the wine with sugar still remaining. There are over 80 permitted grape varieties allowed for port, which were traditionally grown together in vineyards without anyone really knowing what was what. Since the 1970s, five varieties in particular have been identified as being ideal: Touriga Nacional (low yields, high tannins, very perfumed), Touriga Franca (the most planted), Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo, adding colour and body), Tinta Barroca (high alcohol, low acidity), and Tinta Cão (literally "red dog"). Port is always a blend of different grapes, each of which brings different qualities to the wine.

the styles

ruby

Simple, inexpensive, fiery, fruity, and young, ruby was until the 1960s drunk by the British with lemonade. It's now most popular in France where it's served as an aperitif. There's also ruby reserve, a higher quality version introduced in the late 1960s by Cockburn's after the British taste for ruby and lemonade faded.

late bottled vintage

LBV for short, it's a port which has been aged for four to six years in old oak barrels before release. It comes in three different styles. The most common is filtered before bottling and has a stopper; the second isn't filtered, has a cork, and generally needs decanting; the third is aged in bottle for three years before release and can be similar to a vintage port in style. Like vintage port all the grapes come from one year and the wines have a similar fruity, tannic intensity, but even the best LBVs lack the heady concentration of a vintage port as they are made every year, not just those that are outstanding.

vintage

Made only in years a producer considers outstanding, when a warm summer produces grapes of optimum ripeness. Vintages are declared around three times a decade, although some producers will declare a year a vintage while others may not. The wine is aged in old oak barrels for three years before bottling (unfiltered, which is why vintage port needs decanting). After that, it's up to the customer to age the wine: vintage port can be at its best at fifty years' old even though it's released so young.

tawny

This is my favourite style of port, perhaps because it's deliberately oxidised like sherry. Its name comes from its colour, the deep ruby port fading in the barrel due to the exposure to oxygen. Inexpensive tawnies are put out in the sun to quicken the ageing, but the best wines are aged gradually over time to develop a nutty complexity. These usually have an age indication of 10, 20, 30, or 40 years (which is an indication of the wine's average age, as tawnies are non-vintage). A vintage tawny is called a colheita (Portuguese for harvest), which has to be aged for at least seven years. It displays the character of the vintage as well as the nutty maturity of an aged tawny.

the tasting

 

Passagem Ruby Reserve NV ($18)

Simple, but at this price very appealing. Fruity, jammy red and black fruits with spicy alcohol on the palate. ✪✪✪

Quinta do Infantado Late Bottled Vintage 2009 ($24) 

For a few dollars more and from an extremely good year, this wine offers a lot more complexity with aromas of liquorice and cloves, irises, blueberries and blackberries, and dried fruit aromas of figs and prunes, with a gripping tannic structure. Intense, but very approachable. ✪✪✪✪✪

Quinta do Infantado 10-year-old Tawny ($41)

My wine of the tasting. Incredibly pronounced, concentrated aromas of every dried fruit imaginable: cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, figs, prunes, currants, and raisins, with spice aromas of cinnamon, cloves, anise, and liquorice. The tannins are faded, but the acidity is high enough to balance the sweetness. ✪✪✪✪✪✪

Niepoort 1999 Colheita ($52)

After the tawny, this was somewhat disappointing - perhaps a reminder that just because a wine has a vintage on the label doesn't make it superior (the same is true in Champagne). The aromas were similar to the tawny - floral and with dried fruits - but lacked the same intensity. ✪✪✪✪

Quinta do Infantado 2007 Vintage Port ($50) 

When I bought this wine I knew it would be far too young, but old vintage port is not easy to come by at an affordable price. This wine was really closed and tight and difficult to assess, but nevertheless lots of complex aromas emerged: brambles and blackberries, mint and lavender, cloves and nutmeg, black pepper and liquorice, sultanas and raisins, and strawberries, redcurrants, and raspberries. I'd love to taste this in another ten or even twenty years. ✪✪✪✪✪

It's remarkable how different these styles of port are: the fruity, hot ruby, compared to the closed, difficult, and still young vintage, in contrast to the tannic, concentrated LBV; and then there's the faded colours of the tawny and colheita, offering a reserved, intense maturity. The range of these styles are perhaps confusing to many consumers, but understand the label and there's a wealth of choice in these wines.

Sherry - for life, not just for Christmas

Like German wines and Beaujolais, the sherry industry boomed in the 1970s and 80s and its reputation has never recovered since. It's too often seen as sweet and to be drunk at Christmas - and it's probably the same bottle that's used each year before it finally runs out ten years later. I hope things are changing. The UK is the traditional market for fortified wines and when I started working at hangingditch last year I was pleased to see how many people came in asking for sherry and how knowledgeable they were about the different styles. It's time more people knew just how good sherry is.

So why drink sherry?

Sherry comes in a vast array of styles, which can be understandably bewildering, but there's likely to be a sherry out there which suits your tastes. This also means sherry goes with lots of different foods; from a bowl of salted nuts to vanilla ice cream, there'll be a sherry as a perfect accompaniment. So, different styles for different tastes and different foods, and, what's more, it always presents incredibly good value.

What is sherry?

To be called sherry in the EU, the drink has to come from the area around Jerez in Andalucia. Sherry is made from white wine which is fortified with a brandy spirit after fermentation. This means that sherry is a naturally dry wine; unlike port, whose sweetness comes from fortifying the base wine during fermentation, sweetness in sherry comes from adding a sweet liquid to the wine (there's one exception to this, see Pedro Ximénez below). Sherry is nearly always a blend of different years, aged in large oak barrels where exposure to air is all important. This interaction with oxygen is where the characteristic sherry aroma comes from.

Sherries to try

Sanchez Romate Fino Perdido - a fino that's been aged much longer than standard, simply because the winemakers forgot about the wine. This wine is nutty, yeasty, and bready; wonderful depth of flavour, yet delicate. Widely available at less than £15 a bottle - a seriously good wine at a seriously great price.

Valdespino Manzanilla Deliciosa - Valdespino have been making wine for 700 years and are one of the area's best producers. This single-vineyard manzanilla is sensational - bready, salty, nutty, spicy, with apple peel. Another steal at £12.50 a bottle from hangingditch.

Osborne Venerable Pedro Ximénez - ebony black in colour, intensely sweet, flavours of treacle and toffee, this will turn plain vanilla ice cream into one of the most decadent meals of your life. £26 from the Wine Society.
 

The different types of sherry

Although it can be confusing, knowing about the different styles of sherry will help you pick the right sherry for the right occasion. Here's a table to sort out the different levels of sweetness and oxidisation in sherries:

fino (15.5%) - the sherry that defies stereotypes of sherry as a sweet, rich wine to be drunk with trifle. A fino is golden in colour, bone dry, best drunk chilled, and perfect as a summer apertif. It's generally 15.5% ABV, but delicate and fragrant. It's aged for a relatively short time and is designed to be drunk young (always try and finish the bottle off the night you open it!). Food pairing: cured ham or hard cheese.

manzanilla (15.5%) -  made in the same way as fino, but it has to come from the seaside town of Sanlucar de Barrameda. The proximity to the sea gives manzanilla a fresh, salty character. Food pairing: seafood, particularly langostinos.

amontillado (17%) - is exposed to air much more than a fino, meaning that the oxygen in the atmosphere turns the drink a rusty brown colour, also giving the wine a nutty character. Food pairing: goat's cheese salad.

oloroso (17-20%) - whereas finos and amontillados are initially protected from oxygen by the layer of yeast that forms on top of the wine (called flor), an oloroso is exposed to oxygen throughout its maturation, which means that an oloroso is always a rich, dark brown colour - the darker it is, the older the wine. Expect caramel and nutty flavours. Food pairing: red meat or game; get out the artichokes and asparagus too, because, unlike a red wine, an oloroso will stand up to their flavours. 

palo cortado (17-22%) - the most unusual of sherries, in that it's a mixture of amontillado and oloroso, undergoing one or more refortifications. It's fuller bodied that an amontillado, but less heavy than an oloroso - and the style will differ according to the producer. Food pairing: something Asian; sherry is one of the few wines that won't be overpowered by spicy food and the robust yet delicate nature of palo cortado is ideal.

Pedro Ximénez (PX) (17-22%) - one of the maddest drinks there is, especially if it's gone through a long ageing process. Its colour is dark, sometimes to the point of jet black, its flavours intensely sweet, which comes from drying the grapes to the point of being like raisins. One of the best dessert wines, as it can stand up to any food no matter how sweet. Food pairing: pour a tablespoon of PX over vanilla ice cream, giving the ice cream rich toffee and treacle flavours. So indulgent and decadent, and so fantastic!

Amontillados and olorosos are sometimes sweetened, either by adding unfermented grape juice or PX to the wine. A sweet oloroso is also called Cream Sherry. Food pairing: a chocolate- or fruit-based dessert.