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BORDEAUX<br />
– GRAPES –<br />
Nicolas Lassagne of Château des Landes<br />
demand for organic, which justifies a loss of about 10%<br />
in yield.<br />
At mid-career, the 40-year-old winegrower can see only<br />
one solution for the future of Merlot, and that is to pick<br />
earlier. “That’s what the organic estates do, and even<br />
more so those who farm biodynamically, because they<br />
can’t rectify acidity levels. You also have to use tillage to<br />
remove the grass that competes with the vines for access<br />
to water”.<br />
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR MERLOT?<br />
On the right bank, it would seem that the death knell has<br />
sounded for Merlot, which seems stuck on ‘death row’.<br />
Although the sentence has been pronounced, though, it<br />
seems to have been given a stay of execution for several<br />
more years. Perhaps the experience and genius of the<br />
Bordeaux wine industry will find a way of securing it an<br />
eleventh-hour reprieve…<br />
SPRING 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE 49
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