Level 2 wine exam practice · Learning outcome 2
Winemaking and bottle ageing: practice questions
24 original multiple-choice questions on this chapter, each with an explanation. Five are below; the rest, plus timed mocks, are in the app.
Sample questions
Which stage takes place before fermentation in white winemaking but after it in red winemaking?
- Crushing to break open the grape skins
- Blending the wines from different vessels
- Maturing the wine in a large tank
- Pressing to separate juice from skins
Answer: Pressing to separate juice from skins. White grapes are pressed straight after crushing so the juice ferments without the skins. Red grapes ferment with their skins to extract colour and tannin, and pressing comes afterwards. Crushing comes first in both, and blending and maturation come after fermentation in both.
Which flavours does the toasting of an oak barrel contribute to a wine?
- Flavours of fresh apple and lemon
- Flavours of butter and cream
- Flavours of bread and biscuit
- Flavours of toast, smoke and spice
Answer: Flavours of toast, smoke and spice. Heating the inside of the barrel during coopering creates toasty, smoky and spicy notes that pass into the wine. Butter comes from malolactic conversion, bread and biscuit from lees contact, and fresh apple and lemon are the fruit flavours of the grape itself.
Which change does malolactic conversion bring about in a wine?
- Grape sugar becomes alcohol and carbon dioxide
- Sharp malic acid becomes softer lactic acid
- Harsh tannins become softer with time
- Fresh fruit flavours turn into dried fruit
Answer: Sharp malic acid becomes softer lactic acid. Bacteria convert the tart malic acid of the grape into the softer lactic acid of milk, lowering the acidity and often adding a buttery note. Sugar to alcohol is the yeast's job, and softening tannin and drying fruit flavours are effects of ageing, not of bacteria.
Why is skin contact for a rosé usually limited to a few hours?
- Longer contact would extract too much colour and tannin
- Longer contact would leave too much sugar in the wine
- Longer contact would lower the alcohol in the wine
- Longer contact would stop the fermentation from starting
Answer: Longer contact would extract too much colour and tannin. Colour and tannin come out of the skins quickly, so a few hours is enough for a pale, soft rosé and any longer would move the wine towards a light red. Skin contact has no effect on sweetness or alcohol, which depend on the sugar and the yeast.
Which pair of changes is typical of a red wine that has aged for several years in bottle?
- Colour turns deep purple and the tannins firm up
- Colour turns gold and the acidity increases
- Colour turns garnet and tannins soften
- Colour turns pale pink and the alcohol falls
Answer: Colour turns garnet and tannins soften. With time in bottle a red loses its purple tinge, moving through ruby to garnet, while the tannins become smoother and the fresh fruit shifts towards dried fruit and savoury notes. Gold is the colour of an aged white, and alcohol and acidity do not change in bottle.