The story of wine - 1
A good number of terms and concepts in winemaking come from the French language. Certainly the influence of Latin also belongs there, as for example, in the term vinum clarum.
But, dealing with wine production, and especially during conversations with fellow winegrowers, winemakers, oenologists, sommeliers as well as numerous wine lovers, I encountered two terms that are interpreted in different ways, which usually depends on the person who interprets them and the level of knowledge of wine production technology and familiarity with the secrets of winemaking and oenology. These are the terms "cuvée" (Serbian kuve) and "coupage" (kupaž).cuvée“ (srpski kuve) i „coupage“ (kupaž).
Both terms refer to the blending of wine. These are procedures that are inevitable, fair and in accordance with the history of wine making.
First of all, it is necessary to explain what an appeal means. The French word "aappellation"" goes together with"d'OrigineContrólée"(AOC) and implies the French system of defining and classifying wines according to origin (region), which has become a prototype in the world of wine. The system also defines some other elements in viticulture in winemaking (maximum yield, for example). (Wine, E. Supp et al., Ed. H.F. Ullmann, 2008).
Various authors cuvée have defined cuvée as a blend of wines of different origins and/or appellations (E. Peinaud, The Taste of Wine, Ed. John Wiley & Sons, 1987). Peynaud comments that, for example, a Champagne cuvée cuvée can be a blend of wines derived from white and red (black) grape varieties as well as from different vintages. For individual wineries, cuvée cuvée as a term is often used for a wine that is a mixture of different vintages, with the aim of uniformity of quality. According to the same author, Coupage is a term that is specific to wines created by mixing different vintages and different regions, and in the case of the EU, different countries. "Assemblage" is a term that implies the mixing of wines of the same origin and appellation with the aim of obtaining a certain type of wine. A typical example of cuvée a cuvée is champagne. During mixingassemblage)), wines originating from white and black grape varieties, from different harvest years, as well as wines obtained by pressing pomace,are combined.
In the encyclopedia of Wine,(E. Supp et al. Ed. H. F. Ullmann, 2008), Coupage ), coupage is the blending of different wines of lower quality, often with the aim of covering and hiding some of the flaws of the individual wines in the blend. The term largely contrastsassemblage)with "assemblage" when cuvées are mixed, cuvée i.e. wines that are each of high quality in their own right. Cuvée is a mixture of high quality wines, and the process itself is called assemblage. It often refers to the free run wine, that is, to the first fraction during the separation of the wine after fermentation, as well as to the first fraction during the pressing of the pomace.
According to Pascal Riberau-Gayon et al. (Handbook of enology, Vol. 1, 2006), different fractions of must (before draining in the case of free run wine or pressing in the case of using a press) reflect the uneven ripening of the bunches, i.e. grape berries and differences in the composition of vacuoles in the berry. Cuvée Cuvée corresponds to the juice from the middle of the grape berry, i.e. from the pulp (meat), whereby it is a structure that is of the highest quality and in which the ratio of acids (tartaric, malic and to a lesser extent citric) and sugar (glucose and fructose) is optimal for the given grape variety and ripeness. The layer immediately next to the skin of the grape berry is relatively richer in sugars due to the salification of organic acids. The layer near the seed has a relatively higher concentration of acids. When pressing grapes with the aim of producing champagne, a standard press with a volume of 4 tons of grapes is used. The first fraction, in a volume of 2050 liters, is obtainedcuvéeas a "cuvée" and is a top quality wine. Using a press, from the same must, two more fractions with a total volume of around 400 to 500 liters can be obtained, whereby it is a lower quality wine.
A similar opinion is shared by J. Moreno and R. Peinado (Enological Chemistry, Ed. Academic Press, 2012), who state that if the pulp of the grape berry were divided into three parts on the section of the grape berry, the layer near the skin contains more sugar (primarily glucose and fructose). The layer near the seed contains more acids (tartaric and malic), and the middle part, which covers over 90% of the grain structure, has an optimal ratio of these components.
So, if we were to "translate" these facts into the Serbian language, and having a modest knowledge of wine production technology and oenology, we could conclude cuvée that cuvée is that grape juice that is obtained without applying the pressing of crushed grapes, and in the case of red wines after vinification, and in the case of white wines immediately after crushing. By mixing different appellations (grape varieties, year of harvest, region, etc.) of cuvees, that is, by mixing (assemblage)(assemblage) wines that are each individually excellent, the highest quality wine is obtained, in which each of the cuvees contributes tertiary aromas, i.e. bouquet. In coupage, medium-quality wines are usually mixed, but in this case, different grape varieties, vintage years, etc. are also used. Therefore, coupage refers to the repair of lower quality wines with better wines. However, it takes a lot of good wine to make up for a small amount of poor wine.