Level 3 wine exam practice ยท Learning outcome 2

Australia and New Zealand: practice questions

37 original multiple-choice questions on this chapter, each with an explanation. Five are below; the rest, plus timed mocks and written-answer drills with mark schemes, are in the app.

Sample questions

Great Southern, in Western Australia, is:
  1. A large, cool region including Mount Barker and Frankland River, known for Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon
  2. A small, hot region near Perth known for fortified wine
  3. A sub-region of the Barossa
  4. A region in Tasmania
Answer: A large, cool region including Mount Barker and Frankland River, known for Riesling, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Great Southern is Australia's largest wine region by area, cooled by the Southern Ocean and by altitude inland; its Riesling rivals Clare and Eden Valley and its Shiraz is peppery and medium-bodied. It lies east of Margaret River along the south coast.
Heathcote in Victoria is known for:
  1. Shiraz grown on ancient, deep red Cambrian soils
  2. Cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc
  3. Fortified Muscat
  4. Sparkling wine
Answer: Shiraz grown on ancient, deep red Cambrian soils. Heathcote's distinctive red soils, among the oldest in the world, hold water well and produce Shiraz of deep colour, firm structure and black-fruit intensity in a moderately warm climate. Fortified Muscat belongs to Rutherglen, further north.
Why is Coonawarra's terra rossa soil prized for Cabernet Sauvignon?
  1. It is a free-draining red clay-loam over limestone that holds just enough water, limits vigour and warms quickly
  2. It is extremely fertile and encourages large crops
  3. It is pure sand that forces the vines to be irrigated
  4. It is volcanic and gives smoky flavours
Answer: It is a free-draining red clay-loam over limestone that holds just enough water, limits vigour and warms quickly. The thin red layer drains well while the limestone beneath stores a reserve of water, so the vines are neither flooded nor stressed and growth stays moderate. The strip is so narrow that the boundary of the best land is argued over almost vine by vine.
Why did Australian and New Zealand producers lead the switch from cork to screw caps?
  1. To eliminate cork taint and bottle-to-bottle variation, especially for aromatic whites such as Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc whose freshness the closure preserves
  2. Because cork is illegal in both countries
  3. Because screw caps allow the wine to age faster
  4. Because screw caps are required for export
Answer: To eliminate cork taint and bottle-to-bottle variation, especially for aromatic whites such as Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc whose freshness the closure preserves. Clare Valley Riesling producers moved together to screw caps after years of losing wines to taint, and New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc industry followed; both found the closure also kept their wines fresher and more consistent. The choice is commercial and technical, not legal.
A customer wants a rich, full-bodied Australian Shiraz with ripe plum, chocolate and sweet oak. Which should you recommend?
  1. A Barossa Valley Shiraz
  2. A Clare Valley Riesling
  3. A Tasmanian Pinot Noir
  4. A Hunter Valley Semillon
Answer: A Barossa Valley Shiraz. That is the Barossa style to the letter. The other three are a dry white, a light red and a lean white, none of which fits the description.
Drill all 37 in the app