Malbec
Cahors and Mendoza
Inky, plummy and velvety, with soft tannin and a violet aroma at its best.
At harvest
Each bar drawn against the full range of all 54 varieties
Sugar
23-26 Brix
23 - 26
Titratable acidity
5-6.5 g/L
5 - 6.5
pH
3.5-3.8
3.5 - 3.8
Juice yield
0.65 L/kg
free run plus a gentle press
Sugar per kilogram
176 g
at 24.5 Brix, the midpoint
Fruit for 23 litres
35 kg
before racking losses
Potential alcohol
13.5-14.7%
from 1.103 fermented dry. A range, because conversion varies by strain
What it punishes
Flabbiness in a warm year. The acid falls faster than the sugar rises once it is ripe.
Made into
- Dry red
- Bordeaux blend
Sulphite at this pH
At pH 3.65, protecting a red wine to 0.5 mg/L molecular SO2 takes 35 mg/L of free SO2. Work it out for your own reading.
More vinifera red
Cabernet Sauvignon
Bordeaux, and now everywhere warm enough
23-25 BrixMerlot
Right Bank Bordeaux
22-25 BrixCabernet Franc
Loire and Bordeaux
22-25 BrixPinot Noir
Burgundy
23-26 BrixSyrah
Northern Rhone
24-27 BrixGrenache
Southern Rhone and Spain
24-26 BrixMourvedre
Bandol and Spain
24-28 BrixZinfandel
California, and Croatia before that