Level 3 wine exam practice · Learning outcome 2

Burgundy and Beaujolais: practice questions

31 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

A customer orders a Fleurie with a summer lunch. How should it be served, and why?
  1. Lightly chilled, because a light, low-tannin, fruity red shows best slightly cool
  2. Warmed to room temperature to soften its tannins
  3. As cold as a sparkling wine
  4. Decanted for several hours to let heavy sediment settle
Answer: Lightly chilled, because a light, low-tannin, fruity red shows best slightly cool. Fleurie is a perfumed, light-bodied Cru with little tannin, and a slight chill sharpens its red fruit and freshness; serving it warm makes it flabby. It has no tannin to soften and no sediment to speak of, and sparkling-wine temperatures would mute its aromas.
Which of these is a white-wine appellation of the Mâconnais?
  1. Pouilly-Fuissé
  2. Pouilly-Fumé
  3. Mercurey
  4. Fleurie
Answer: Pouilly-Fuissé. Pouilly-Fuissé is the Mâconnais' leading appellation, Chardonnay grown beneath limestone cliffs. Pouilly-Fumé is Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, a classic exam trap; Mercurey is a Côte Chalonnaise village known mainly for red; Fleurie is a Beaujolais Cru.
Why do the Grand Cru wines of the Côte d'Or carry only the vineyard name on the label, without the village?
  1. Each Grand Cru vineyard is an appellation in its own right, so the vineyard name is the appellation
  2. The law forbids village names on any wine above village level
  3. The villages have no legal existence in Burgundy
  4. Grand Crus are blended from several villages
Answer: Each Grand Cru vineyard is an appellation in its own right, so the vineyard name is the appellation. The Grand Cru vineyards were granted their own appellations, so a label needs nothing more than the climat's name. Several villages later added the name of their most famous Grand Cru to their own, which is why village names and vineyard names can look alike and confuse students.
Within the Côte de Beaune, the reds of Pommard are generally regarded as:
  1. Fuller and more tannic than those of neighbouring Volnay
  2. Lighter and more delicate than those of Volnay
  3. Made only as white wine
  4. Produced from Gamay
Answer: Fuller and more tannic than those of neighbouring Volnay. Pommard and Volnay sit side by side but are the classic contrast of the Côte de Beaune: Pommard's heavier clay soils give firmer, more structured Pinot Noir, while Volnay's lighter limestone soils give the more perfumed, silky style.
Which of these villages lies in the Côte de Nuits?
  1. Gevrey-Chambertin
  2. Pommard
  3. Volnay
  4. Meursault
Answer: Gevrey-Chambertin. Gevrey-Chambertin is at the northern end of the Côte de Nuits, the red-wine half of the Côte d'Or that runs south from Dijon. Pommard, Volnay and Meursault are all in the Côte de Beaune, the southern half.
Drill all 31 in the app