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BORDEAUX<br />
– GRAPES –<br />
Consultant winemaker Antoine Médeville<br />
Antoine Médeville is a renowned Bordeaux<br />
winemaker who has worked for many estates,<br />
not only in Saint-Émilion and Graves, but<br />
also in Spain and Italy. He has now joined<br />
Oenoconseil, a group of four laboratories,<br />
where he established the Pauillac department.<br />
He explains that although Merlot has been harvested earlier<br />
for the last twenty years, this should be put into perspective<br />
- it is only a few days earlier. With the exception of very<br />
specific vintages, such as 2003 and 2020, the variety is usually<br />
harvested between 15 and 20 September.<br />
Admittedly, sugar content is high and chaptalisation no longer<br />
necessary. Some yeasts can push alcohol content up to 16%, so<br />
they need to be carefully selected to produce less, with around<br />
18 g of sugar per degree, to try and rein in alcohol levels. The<br />
pH, which used to be around 3.6, is now more frequently 3.8<br />
SPRING 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE 43
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