We are having long days… We are in the middle of harvest but the grapes in tanks and barrels (we are doing barrel fermented Merlot) start demanding our attention.
At the Chateau, we have received mainly Merlot, but also yesterday we processed a bit of Malbec or Pressac as it is called in Bordeaux before the Argentine Malbec became worldwide known. Now it is called Malbec here as well… What can I say about it…the berries are a bit bigger compared to Merlot here… and also compared to the good quality Malbec in Argentina. Tasting it I can say that it lacked sweetness and the skin was not as thick as our Malbec.
This difference is mainly due to the different Terroir… Well what does it mean? For you to have an idea, almost every morning there is a thick frog and after noon we start seeing the sun if we are lucky, that is to say, not every day. Compared to Mendoza, the land of sunshine… well we have many more sunny days and our sun brightens very early in the morning every day. That fact, among many others, seems to benefit our beloved cepage MALBEC! Imagine, that I was even talking to some French workers from the region and they think that Malbec is originally from Argentina, and that it was brought later to France… Malbec is a synonym of Argentina!!!
Here in Pomerol the 95% of grapes is Merlot. And you can see its great potential since you start tasting the grapes. Thick skin, firm but with velvety tannins that you can start tasting from the very beginning and really pleasant acidity. Elements that will all contribute to the quality of the wine.
Knowing when to harvest is a key decision. It is necessary to learn how to taste grapes, what to expect and decide about the right moment to get the best of it. A task that requires training. We chewed the berries and talked about the skin, the pips, the acidity… Definitely I can assure that a good wine is born at the vineyard as it is said. You could feel the differences in each berry in the different lots despite it was all merlot!
To conclude I can say that there is no doubt Merlot can be an brilliant wine.. for those who after the movie Sideways stopped drinking this grape varietal… don’t forget that Merlot is the grape to make one of the most expensive wines in the word as it is Petrus. Today Pomerol is one of the finest and most expensive of the Bordeaux vintages.
