Merlot
Right Bank Bordeaux
Plum and soft tannin, earlier ripening and rounder than Cabernet. Often the blending partner that makes Cabernet drinkable young.
At harvest
Each bar drawn against the full range of all 54 varieties
Sugar
23-25 Brix
23 - 25
Titratable acidity
5.5-7 g/L
5.5 - 7
pH
3.4-3.7
3.4 - 3.7
Juice yield
0.66 L/kg
free run plus a gentle press
Sugar per kilogram
174 g
at 24.0 Brix, the midpoint
Fruit for 23 litres
35 kg
before racking losses
Potential alcohol
13.2-14.4%
from 1.101 fermented dry. A range, because conversion varies by strain
What it punishes
Losing acid fast in the last week of hang time. Merlot can go flabby quickly.
Made into
- Dry red
- Bordeaux blend
Sulphite at this pH
At pH 3.55, protecting a red wine to 0.5 mg/L molecular SO2 takes 28 mg/L of free SO2. Work it out for your own reading.
More vinifera red
Cabernet Sauvignon
Bordeaux, and now everywhere warm enough
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
23-25 BrixSangiovese
Tuscany