merlot vs. cabernet

[winoweenie]

Hal and Trainer I for one apologize as I often take a quick track and forget that someone is looking for more info. Cabernet has, as was posted, been called the king of wines. The reason for this is the cabernet grape ,makes up the majority of the juice used in the great wines of France ( all of the 1st growths ) and most of the top wines of Napa and Sonoma. The grapes have very thick skins, produce small concentrated berries and most often produce wines in excess of 13% alcohol. When left to ferment on the skins they have lots of tannins that take 5 to 10 years to resolve. As the tannnins leave the aromatics become like perfume and the wines have the impression of silk on the palate. Yhe cab grape has lots of tolerance for heat and its'major enemy is rain. That's the reason that Calif has produced so many superior vintages in a row. France often has lots of moisture during the last critical month of hangtime which is normally October so the chances of great vintages in France are more problmatic than Calif. The Merlot grape is far more capricious. It is affected by heat , rain, cold, and Foodies winemaking skills far more than the cab grape. It has been used as a blending grape in France for hundreds of years as the tannins are far less than most grapes, thre aromatics are floral and the wines from the Merlot are very soft and more simplistic with the normal alcohol at 12.5%
or less. With a few exceptions the merlot juice being bottled today is meant for immediate consumption and goes down rather rapidly . The merlots from Chile are are the
most exemplary examples. Again, there are many exceptions but hopefully this gives you some idea of the difference. WW