Vines of Mendoza Blog

The grapes for this years Vines of Mendoza harvest have been analyzed, however these numbers may change slightly before the actual grape harvesting which we are predicting to be in a few weeks. These numbers are all in line with creating ultra premium Argentine wine.

Cabernet Sauvignon: (Maldonado’s Vineyards)

Brix: 24
Grams of Sugar: 238 grams/liter
pH: 3.61
Available Nitrogen: 0.14 grams/liter

Merlot: (Maldonado’s Vineyards)

Brix: 23
Grams of Sugar: 227 grams/liter
pH: 3.60
Available Nitrogen 0.14 grams/liter

Malbec: (Morales’s Vineyards)

Brix: 24
Grams of Sugar: 238 grams/liter
pH: 3.58
Available Nitrogen: 0.08 grams/liter

Brix

The degrees of Brix (°Bx) is a ratio of dissolved sucrose (sugar) to water in a liquid, in this case the liquid is in the grape. It is measured with a saccharimeter or a refractometer which measures the gravity of a liquid, thus the amount of sugar. Ex. A 24 °Bx has 24 grams of sugar and 76 grams of water in a 100 gram solution.

There is a direct correlation between the amount of sugar, or brix, a grape has to the amount of alcohol that will be produced in the wine. If you divide the amount of Brix / 1.8 you can accurately estimate the percentage of alcohol your future wine will contain. Ex: The Malbec will have about 13.3% alcohol.

pH

pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. Solutions with a pH < 7 are considered acidic, while those with a pH > 7 are considered basic. pH 7 is defined as neutral because it is the pH of pure water at 25 °C.

A pH of 3.6 (acidic) in grape juice allows yeast to convert almost 100% of the sugar into alcohol. Good acidity in wine increases its biological stability, allowing the wine to be aged longer.

A pH of 4.5 or more in the grape juice can produce undesirable microorganisms (bacteria, others yeasts, etc.), which can ruin the fermentation.

Available Nitrogen

Available Nitrogen is the amount of nitrogen the yeasts have available to reproduce and develop to properly finish the fermentation. The optimal range is 0.2 - 0.3 grams/liter.

This number will let the winemaker know how much ammoniacal nitrogen (NO3 NH4) will need to be added to the must (the newly pressed grape juice that contains skins, stems, seeds and pulp).