CERTIFIED SOMMELIER COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MARKED A+
✔✔Sherry Vinification - ✔✔- Harvest in early September
- Palomino grapes pressed immediately
- Pedro Ximenez grapes sun dried (Soleo) for use in sweetening agents
- Fortification with neutral grape spirit
✔✔Fino vs. Oloroso Sherry - ✔✔- Finos fortified to 15.5% (let the flor grow)
- Oloroso fortified to 18% (NO intention to let the flor grow)
✔✔Solera system - ✔✔- A method of fractional blending wherein old wine is periodically
refreshed with younger wine (no more than 1/3) to ensure consistency
- Wine is taken from a cask in one criadera and blended into a cask fro the next
✔✔Biologically-aged Sherry Styles & Descriptions - ✔✔- Fino: lightest; fortified to 15.5%
- Manzanilla: a delicate style of Fino aged only in the coastal town of Sanlucar de
Barrameda
- Amontillado: a Fino that has been left in cask for additional aging and develops a rich,
nutty flaor; usually dry, minimum 3 years in Solera and 3 years in cask
✔✔Palo Cortado - ✔✔- A dry style of Sherry that has characteristics of both
Fino/Amontillado and Oloroso
- Develops limited flor
✔✔Oxidative Sherry Styles & Descriptions - ✔✔- Palo Cortado: only partially oxidative,
develops limited flor
- Oloroso: rich style fortified to 18% and usually long-aged; start dry but almost all are
sweetened and sold as Cream Sherries
✔✔Sherry Classifications - ✔✔- VOS (Very Old Sherry)
- VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry)
- Anada
- Almacenistas
✔✔VOS - ✔✔- Very Old Sherry
- Aged 20 years (average minimum age)
✔✔VORS - ✔✔- Very Old Rare Sherry
- Aged 30 years (average minimum age)
✔✔Anada - ✔✔-Vintage dated sherries
✔✔Almacenistas - ✔✔- A single Solera sherry bottled unblended and produced in small
quantities
,✔✔Portugal DOC Regions - ✔✔- 33 total
- Important ones are Minho (Vinho Verde), Dao, Bairrada, Porto & Douro, Borba,
Alentejo, Madeira
✔✔Portugal Wine Quality Levels - ✔✔- Vinho de Mesa: table wines
- Vinho Regional (VR); similar to VdP
- IPR: similar to VDQS or IGT
- Denominacao de Origem Controlada (DOC)
- Garrafeira: reserve wines
✔✔Portugal White Varietals - ✔✔Trajadura, Alvarinho, Loureiro, Gouveio, Encruzado,
Maria Gomez, Fernao Pires, Arinto, Roupeiro
✔✔Portugal Red Varietals - ✔✔Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz (Tempranillo), Aragonez
(Tempranillo), Baga, Ramisco, Trincadeira, Castelao Frances, Joao de Santarem,
Periquita
✔✔Vinho Verde - ✔✔- Red, white, and rose wines produced in the Minho province (9
sub-districts)
- Bottled young to undergo malolactic fermentation in the bottle (thus, have a prickle or
bubble to it)
- Best whites are from Alvarinho or Loureiro
✔✔Douro - ✔✔- Only a small percentage of grapes grown may be used for Port
production
- DOC status for table wines earned in 1982
- Grapes: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca
✔✔Dao - ✔✔- Terraced vineyards on granite slopes
- 90% red; 10% white
- 12 approved grape varieties
- By law, 20% minimum of red wines must be from Touriga Nacional
- Predominant white grapes are Arinto and Encruzado
✔✔Bairrada - ✔✔- Clay-based soils with chalk
- Sparkling wines from Maria Gomez and Bical
- Red wines must contain a minimum of 50% Baga grape (normally 80%)
- Predominant white grape is Maria Gomez
✔✔Regions of Southern Portugal - ✔✔- Lisboa (formerly Estramadura, Atlantic
influenced climate)
- Tejo (formerly Alentejo, Periquita grape, white wines from chalky soils)
- Colares (Ramisco grape, ungrafted vines grown in sand)
- Algarve (red and white, 4 DO districts
, ✔✔Schist - ✔✔A form of slate with strata which allow the vine roots to penetrate and
grow (common in Douro for grapes used in Port)
✔✔Port - ✔✔- Arrested fermentation fortified wine
- Vineyards planted on steep slopes (up to 60 degrees) with schist soils
✔✔White Port Varietals - ✔✔- Arinto, Codega, Malvasia Fino, Malvasia Corada,
Rabigato, Vioshino
✔✔Red Port Varietals - ✔✔- Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Cao, Tinta
Roriz, Tinta Baroca, Mourisco Tinto, Sousao
✔✔Pipe - ✔✔Traditional Port cask holding 500 liters (440L of wine added to 110L of
aguardente)
✔✔Aguardente - ✔✔- Neutral grape spirit at 77% alcohol added to port wine
✔✔Port Styles - ✔✔- Tawny Port:
- Ruby Port
✔✔Ruby Port & Styles - ✔✔- Aged in glass, may be ready to drink on release OR aged
further in bottle
- Sees less oxygen than Tawny, so it doesn't lose its color
- Vintage Port, LBV Port (4-6 years), Single Quinta Port, Reserve Port
✔✔Tawny Port - ✔✔- Aged in wood, ready to drink on release
- Sees oxygen in the barrel and, thus, loses its color
- Aged Tawny Port (with indication of age)
✔✔Vintage Port - ✔✔- Accounts for less than 3% of all port
- Most expensive, BUT easiest to produce (2 years wood aging)
- Produced from top quintas
- Vintages must be declared and approved by IVP
✔✔Late Bottled Vintage Port - ✔✔- Produced in non-declared vintages
- Fruit sourced from top quintas
- Aged 4-6 years in casks
- Vintage and bottling years must be declared on label
- Some are age-worthy
✔✔Single Quinta Port - ✔✔- Fruits sourced from BEST quintas
- Usually produced in non-declared vintages
- Ageworthy, excellent values
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MARKED A+
✔✔Sherry Vinification - ✔✔- Harvest in early September
- Palomino grapes pressed immediately
- Pedro Ximenez grapes sun dried (Soleo) for use in sweetening agents
- Fortification with neutral grape spirit
✔✔Fino vs. Oloroso Sherry - ✔✔- Finos fortified to 15.5% (let the flor grow)
- Oloroso fortified to 18% (NO intention to let the flor grow)
✔✔Solera system - ✔✔- A method of fractional blending wherein old wine is periodically
refreshed with younger wine (no more than 1/3) to ensure consistency
- Wine is taken from a cask in one criadera and blended into a cask fro the next
✔✔Biologically-aged Sherry Styles & Descriptions - ✔✔- Fino: lightest; fortified to 15.5%
- Manzanilla: a delicate style of Fino aged only in the coastal town of Sanlucar de
Barrameda
- Amontillado: a Fino that has been left in cask for additional aging and develops a rich,
nutty flaor; usually dry, minimum 3 years in Solera and 3 years in cask
✔✔Palo Cortado - ✔✔- A dry style of Sherry that has characteristics of both
Fino/Amontillado and Oloroso
- Develops limited flor
✔✔Oxidative Sherry Styles & Descriptions - ✔✔- Palo Cortado: only partially oxidative,
develops limited flor
- Oloroso: rich style fortified to 18% and usually long-aged; start dry but almost all are
sweetened and sold as Cream Sherries
✔✔Sherry Classifications - ✔✔- VOS (Very Old Sherry)
- VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry)
- Anada
- Almacenistas
✔✔VOS - ✔✔- Very Old Sherry
- Aged 20 years (average minimum age)
✔✔VORS - ✔✔- Very Old Rare Sherry
- Aged 30 years (average minimum age)
✔✔Anada - ✔✔-Vintage dated sherries
✔✔Almacenistas - ✔✔- A single Solera sherry bottled unblended and produced in small
quantities
,✔✔Portugal DOC Regions - ✔✔- 33 total
- Important ones are Minho (Vinho Verde), Dao, Bairrada, Porto & Douro, Borba,
Alentejo, Madeira
✔✔Portugal Wine Quality Levels - ✔✔- Vinho de Mesa: table wines
- Vinho Regional (VR); similar to VdP
- IPR: similar to VDQS or IGT
- Denominacao de Origem Controlada (DOC)
- Garrafeira: reserve wines
✔✔Portugal White Varietals - ✔✔Trajadura, Alvarinho, Loureiro, Gouveio, Encruzado,
Maria Gomez, Fernao Pires, Arinto, Roupeiro
✔✔Portugal Red Varietals - ✔✔Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz (Tempranillo), Aragonez
(Tempranillo), Baga, Ramisco, Trincadeira, Castelao Frances, Joao de Santarem,
Periquita
✔✔Vinho Verde - ✔✔- Red, white, and rose wines produced in the Minho province (9
sub-districts)
- Bottled young to undergo malolactic fermentation in the bottle (thus, have a prickle or
bubble to it)
- Best whites are from Alvarinho or Loureiro
✔✔Douro - ✔✔- Only a small percentage of grapes grown may be used for Port
production
- DOC status for table wines earned in 1982
- Grapes: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca
✔✔Dao - ✔✔- Terraced vineyards on granite slopes
- 90% red; 10% white
- 12 approved grape varieties
- By law, 20% minimum of red wines must be from Touriga Nacional
- Predominant white grapes are Arinto and Encruzado
✔✔Bairrada - ✔✔- Clay-based soils with chalk
- Sparkling wines from Maria Gomez and Bical
- Red wines must contain a minimum of 50% Baga grape (normally 80%)
- Predominant white grape is Maria Gomez
✔✔Regions of Southern Portugal - ✔✔- Lisboa (formerly Estramadura, Atlantic
influenced climate)
- Tejo (formerly Alentejo, Periquita grape, white wines from chalky soils)
- Colares (Ramisco grape, ungrafted vines grown in sand)
- Algarve (red and white, 4 DO districts
, ✔✔Schist - ✔✔A form of slate with strata which allow the vine roots to penetrate and
grow (common in Douro for grapes used in Port)
✔✔Port - ✔✔- Arrested fermentation fortified wine
- Vineyards planted on steep slopes (up to 60 degrees) with schist soils
✔✔White Port Varietals - ✔✔- Arinto, Codega, Malvasia Fino, Malvasia Corada,
Rabigato, Vioshino
✔✔Red Port Varietals - ✔✔- Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Cao, Tinta
Roriz, Tinta Baroca, Mourisco Tinto, Sousao
✔✔Pipe - ✔✔Traditional Port cask holding 500 liters (440L of wine added to 110L of
aguardente)
✔✔Aguardente - ✔✔- Neutral grape spirit at 77% alcohol added to port wine
✔✔Port Styles - ✔✔- Tawny Port:
- Ruby Port
✔✔Ruby Port & Styles - ✔✔- Aged in glass, may be ready to drink on release OR aged
further in bottle
- Sees less oxygen than Tawny, so it doesn't lose its color
- Vintage Port, LBV Port (4-6 years), Single Quinta Port, Reserve Port
✔✔Tawny Port - ✔✔- Aged in wood, ready to drink on release
- Sees oxygen in the barrel and, thus, loses its color
- Aged Tawny Port (with indication of age)
✔✔Vintage Port - ✔✔- Accounts for less than 3% of all port
- Most expensive, BUT easiest to produce (2 years wood aging)
- Produced from top quintas
- Vintages must be declared and approved by IVP
✔✔Late Bottled Vintage Port - ✔✔- Produced in non-declared vintages
- Fruit sourced from top quintas
- Aged 4-6 years in casks
- Vintage and bottling years must be declared on label
- Some are age-worthy
✔✔Single Quinta Port - ✔✔- Fruits sourced from BEST quintas
- Usually produced in non-declared vintages
- Ageworthy, excellent values
