Ep. 1060 Map 33 Fortified Wines | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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I'm Jill Gordon Smith, and we're going to talk about map number thirty eight, which is all about fortified wines, but especially fortified muskets. So fortified wines are made in a very diverse range of styles, from red, white to rose, from dry to sweet, some are very youthful and aromatic, and some are fully developed and oxidative. The grape variety could either provide its own aroma and flavor characters to the wine, or they can simply be used as a neutral base for the flavors of maturation. Van du natural or VDM from Muscat are probably the most obvious example of a fortified wine where the grape variety provides the main flavors of the wine, and this is enhanced by protective winemaking and early release from the winery. You'll also see in the top of this map, rather than muskett, where the wines have been aged in warm and oxidative conditions. And the aromatic notes of Muscat are still notable in the best wines. By comparison, Palominos are really neutral variety. And so the characteristic aromas of Sherry all come from the maturation process. We don't talk about Madira when we're, looking at WCT level three, but You will talk about it at level four, so it's very noticeable for its high acidity, and it's made with a number of grape varieties such as Socie Allen Vodello, and they have naturally high levels of acidity. If you compare that with Sherry, we've got a bone dry palette and high alcohol. So that can give you a sensation very similar to the acidity in some cherries. The actual level of acidity in Sherry is quite low, and that's the characteristic of the Palomino grape. Think about color as well. So ports usually made from a blend of grape varieties, And one of the factors can that we would consider here would be attaining a suitable level of color in the base wine. The aims are very different in a basic tawny port, which needs to look aged in a really short amount of time. Color is an important consideration in red wines. Ports usually made from a blend of grape varieties, and one of the factors considered in the blend will be getting a suitable level of color in the base wine, which is a very different name from a basic tawny port. As we've covered, both port and Sherry in other maps, we'll concentrate on muscat here. So there are really two broad styles. We have youthful Anage muskets, which are medium gold in color, quite floral and really aromatic, taking those aromatics from the grape. And the aim of the grape growing and winemaking is to make sure that varietal characters really pure. They're typically sweet, but they're really luscious. One notable example that you need to know, and it does turn up a lot on WCT level three short answers is Muscat de Beaum Devenisse, and that comes from the southern Rome. Grapes here are picked when they are ripe and really healthy. You don't wanna raisin the grapes. It's not typically practiced for this style. The drying of grapes would add some extra fruit characters that would mask that pure varietal character, which is one of the main things we're looking for in their youth for Muscat de Bome de Venice. Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel, Mama jumbo shrimp for fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond. Meeting winemakers, eating local food, and taking in the scenery. Now back to the show. High strength grape spirit is added to partially fermented must and makes a strong sweet wine of around fifteen to twenty percent. They're normally bottled young and have really grapey flavors. Once crushed, the juice could be separated from the skins. They do have a little bit of skin contact sometimes because that will help increase aromatic intensity because a lot of the flavor is just beneath the skin, and we'll also add some richness to the palate. This can be further enhanced if the skin contact continues during fermentation. It's usually a cool fermentation and it's stopped by fortification. It uses ninety six percent ABV grape spirit to give a sweet wine. So in order to preserve the primary fruit aromas, the wines are stored in you know, vessels like stainless steel prior to bottling and protected from any contact with oxygen. The other style would be fully developed aged muskets. So think about wines that are amber to brown in color. They can be sweet or really luscious. They're also made in a lot of countries. And some of the most celebrated examples made in the luscious style come from rubber glen in Australia. And musket of rubber glen is a world recognized and critically acclaimed wine style that's very unique to rubber glen, and it has a history of over a hundred years of family winemaking. These wines are blended, and the celleres have been around for, you know, well over a hundred years, and they're a red gem. They're a type of wine that is not recognized very much outside of Australia, but once you've tried it, you'll love it. Rather glade muskett, is classified using a tiered system that indicates the level of complexity. So that's something to dive deep into later. So fully developed aged muskets, like rutherglen muskets, the grapes are picked when they're ripe and healthy, But in order to make the more luscious style, the producer may allow some raisening to happen prior to picking, but they have to be very careful. Raising adds extra complexity, but too much, raisening will mean the grapes lose too much of their varietal aromas, and the wines can lack an impressive musket character, which is what using musket is all about because it is such a character for grape. Firmitation nearly always takes place on the skins, and fortification may take place when the fermentation has reached around two percent ABV, very different from those unaged muskets, like musket of only Venice. After that, the wines undergo a period of oxidative aging that can last for decades. They use Oldwood because they don't want any new okoromas clashing with the grape aromas, and large oak vessels are widely used. A lot of the time these wines are aged in warm conditions. And as they age, they become amber and finely brown, and they develop pronounced oxidative aromas. And even when they're very old, they can still retain their muscat character. Sometimes they will add a little bit of more youthful wine prior to bottling just to give a lovely aromatic lift. Footified wines are really something that we need to try more of, and you'll find all sorts of styles all around the world. From port to madeira right the way through to Masala and Vermont. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Italian wine Academy. Offering WSET levels one, two, and three in English. 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