The New California Merlot Crisis

自1972年成立以来乔丹葡萄园和酒庄in Healdsburg has produced a Cabernet Sauvignon that, according to winemaker Maggie Kruse, often “just skirts by” California’s requirement that at least 75 percent of the wine be made from the named grape variety. Like many of France’s top producers, Jordan has always used Merlot to help tame Cabernet Sauvignon’s tannins and add red-fruit flavor.

Merlot对于生产波尔多风格混合的酿酒厂至关重要，但是在过去的20年中，发现它变得越来越具有挑战性。根据美国农业部的数据年度葡萄报告，，，，加利福尼亚winemakers crushed 305,000 tons of Merlot in 2000 and 310,000 tons in 2010. The volume fell to 220,000 tons in 2019—a year in which total tons crushed in California surpassed both the 2000 and 2010 vintages.

这些相同的葡萄报告显示，北海岸地区梅洛的前景更加平淡：在2000年至2019年之间，索诺玛和马林县粉碎了梅洛的吨，而纳帕县的吨位下降了60％，在同一时期，纳帕县的吨位下降了55％。

较少的Merlot可用，一些酿酒师被迫改变他们的混合物和葡萄酒的风格。“我们的Merlot百分比过去约为20％。现在，在某些年份中是12％至15％，甚至更低。”克鲁斯说。虽然她已经使用了庄园种植的小维多特和马尔贝克作为搅拌机，但“它们并不是相同的柔滑柔软剂。如果我们找不到足够的Merlot，那将是一场检查单宁的努力。”

纳帕葡萄酒商也在努力寻找著名的搅拌机。约书亚·洛厄尔（Joshua Lowell），总经理Sullivan Rutherford Estatein Rutherford, believes in Napa, there is little to no top-quality Merlot growing on high-quality soils with the same meticulous farming methods used to produce Cabernet Sauvignon. Although it hasn’t always been this way, in this day and age, “Merlot plays second fiddle—or third or fourth—to Cabernet,” he notes. That’s a problem for brands like his that make both Bordeaux-style blends and varietal Merlots.

克鲁斯（Kruse），洛厄尔（Lowell）和其他加利福尼亚葡萄酒专业人士并没有写下波尔多风格的混合物，而是在探索这个问题的许多根源，并寻找解决方法的方法 - 包括种植梅洛（Merlot提倡确实存在的许多优质品种，并可以帮助将积极的关注重新引起到这种备受关注的葡萄上。

Lower Prices Drive Down Plantings

Kruse points to theSidewayseffect as one reason why Merlot is in short supply in California, but at the end of the day, there’s another famous movie reference that seems more fitting: “Show me the money.”

Merlot is much less profitable than Cabernet Sauvignon. USDA data puts the price of Merlot in California at $661 per ton in 2020—nearly half of Cabernet’s $1,233 per ton. Kruse’s experience is that the price of Merlot is 30 to 40 percent lower than what people will pay for Cabernet Sauvignon.

这使种植者陷入困境。如果他们需要重新种植，那么投资将获得较小回报的葡萄就没有意义。如果他们被迫去除葡萄园以腾出酿酒厂或其他改善的空间，则可能是他们拉起的第一件事。

全球葡萄酒和葡萄经纪人格伦·普罗克特（Glenn Proctor）说Ciatti Company。“Growers are having some challenges making ends meet, especially as costs continue to go up,” he explains.

具有讽刺意味的是，尽管这些低廉的价格降低了全州梅洛的供应，但它的索诺马的竞争也在增加。克鲁斯说，索诺玛的水果往往比附近的纳帕水果便宜。这种增加的竞争使得比以往任何时候都更难获得葡萄。

High-Quality Grapes Become Harder to Find

克鲁斯指出乔丹的斗争的一部分finding great, not just good, Merlot—a problem that stems from not just the overall shortage, but from the continued exploration of California’s terroir.

杰西·卡兹（Jesse Katz），，，，the founder and winemaker at孔窖in Healdsburg, points out that California is still a relatively young winegrowing region. Since the state’s modern wine culture first emerged, growers have planted the varieties that are most popular, not those that are likely to thrive on the site. “We’re getting so much better at understanding what rootstocks and clones work with different soil types,” he points out.

Eva Dehlinger, the general manager ofDehlinger Wineryin Sebastopol, has watched this scenario play out in real time. Her father, Tom, wanted to make great Bordeaux-style blends, so he planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc during his early days on the property. Although the wines were well received, he ended up keeping only the Cabernet Sauvignon and grafting the Merlot and Cabernet Franc over to other varieties.

Looking back, Dehlinger believes this was attributable to the vines being in the wrong spot, not a desire to stop producing Merlot. “We were getting to know our property at the time. It’s a cooler site, and the Merlot and Cabernet Franc were not planted in the right spots on our property,” she says. “[My father] always said that they would do very well in the Russian River Valley if they were planted on premium, red-wine soils.”

毫无疑问，梅洛可以在索诺玛取得成功。德林格说：“那些在伟大的风土上坚持下去的人正在制作出色的葡萄酒和优质的混合物。”Pride Mountain Vineyardsas one example.

“A lot has changed for us and the region over the last several decades,” she adds. Vineyards have much better information about matching rootstocks with various soil types. A warming climate, as well as normal weather variations from vintage to vintage, have demonstrated the benefit of diversity in vineyards. Dehlinger is currently conducting small-scale variety trials that include Merlot and Cabernet Franc with the hope of potentially returning to estate Bordeaux blends or perhaps even doing a single-varietal bottling.

Lowell sees the same challenge playing out in Napa. “It’s too reductive to saySidewayskilled Merlot,” he says. “It didn’t do it any favors, but we killed the Merlot in Napa.”

纳帕种植者通常将其最高质量的土壤献给赤霞珠，将梅洛（Merlot）降级为低品质的葡萄园地区。种植者也不一定在这些地区的农业质量上投入太多。洛厄尔说：“ [发生这种情况时]您将无法获得相同的集中度和质量，这意味着您无法像更严肃的葡萄酒一样处理[这些葡萄]。”随后，纳帕（Napa）种植的梅洛（Merlot）的自我实现的预言再好不如赤霞珠（Cabernet）出生。这是对增强供应感兴趣的另一个障碍种植者。

The Future of Merlot in California

It does seem that demand for Merlot is increasing. Five or six years ago, Proctor’s buyers were not requesting it. However, last year, Ciatti did deals for Merlot for three or four buyers. “We haven’t done that for a while,” he notes. “We are seeing increased activity and I expect we will see it going forward.”

But what will it take to actually get Merlot back in the ground so that as demand rises, supply will too?

For some, the solution is to plant it themselves. Sullivan Rutherford recently replanted four acres with Merlot. “From a business standpoint, it’s a crazy move,” says Lowell—but he is so confident that Merlot will do well in the right place and with the right attention that he believes it’s worth it. Three years ago, the brand also bought an undeveloped property in Soda Canyon and replanted it with 75 percent Merlot and 25 percent Cabernet Franc.

当光圈购买或租赁新葡萄园时，它会进行密集的土壤测试。即使是看起来非常适合赤霞珠的特性也具有不同的土壤类型，包括粘土的斑点，可以减慢该品种的成熟，但对Merlot非常有用。梅洛（Merlot）进入了这些地区，即使这意味着要剥夺赤霞珠。Katz说，由于这种方法并密切关注了所有葡萄的农业，“我们每年带来的一些最珍贵的水果是Merlot，” Katz说。

卡兹相信，梅洛的房地产种植将在未来几年增加。但是，对于没有自己财产的酿酒师（或没有能够生产高级梅洛的葡萄园）的酿酒师，共识是他们需要承诺为其支付更高的价格。Proctor说，种植它的信心“将来自酿酒厂，说我需要它，我愿意以价格为这些品种签订合同，这对种植者来说是良好的回报。”

Proctor compares the current situation with Merlot to a similar set of circumstances 15 years ago, when anotherSideways-inspired market shift was taking place. “A lot of people put Pinot Noir in the ground because they saw the market growing and were willing to commit to it,” he says. “We’re going to need to see that kind of interest to increase the availability (of Merlot) long term.”

Indeed, more certainty is something that many vineyard owners are seeking before they plant Merlot vines. Some of the growers Kruse works with are asking for longer contracts and pre-plant contracts before vines go in the ground.

Another change that would likely sweeten the pot for growers is a greater focus on varietal Merlot production. “I still think you’re going to have limited upside if it’s just a blending component,” says Proctor. “Most people are hesitant to pay as much for something they’re putting into a blend as they are for the main variety.”

尽管如此，对混合融合的高质量梅洛的需求可能会挑战依靠它的酿酒师。至少在短期内，酿酒师的挑战将是确定正确的因素组合，以确保Merlot仍然可用。

Sophia McDonald是一位自由作家，住在俄勒冈州尤金。她的作品已出现在众多出版物和网站上，包括葡萄酒Enthusiast，，，，Eating Well，，，，西北，，，，and1859年俄勒冈州的杂志。