Thanks Ed.

I haven't made wine from these grapes before (Long Island Merlot),
just grapes shipped from CA (to NJ), so they're a very different beast.
I did get to taste the growers own Merlot, which was tasty, so perhaps
he knows what he is talking about. 30% MLF just seems very low to me.
Thanks for the tip on Lysozyme. I didn't know about it. Looks like
a good way to prevent spontaneous MLF in the secondary fermenter and the
bottle.

Bill

"Ed Marks" > wrote in message >...
> Bill,
>
> I'd suggest that if you've made wine from the same grapes and done a full
> MLF and you were happy with it, then I'd do it that way again. I've never
> done a partial MLF, but know it is done to get some of the flavor
> characteristics produced by MLF, but to not lose all of the acidity. I
> think that your options after blending would be to add sufficient sulfite to
> inhibit further MLF, and you could also use Lysozyme.
>
> Ed
>
> "Bill Schell" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Hi everyone.
> >
> > I've got my Merlot picked, cold soaked, and in the primary fermenter
> > at the moment. I was talking to the grower about MLF and he suggested
> > that I MLF only about 30% of the the wine and blend it with the remainder
> > before bottling.
> >
> > Up to now, I've always MLF'ed 100% of my wine (Cab or
> > Cab/Merlot blends). This is the first I've heard of blending
> > non MLF-ed with MLF-ed wine. According to the grower, this
> > is the commercial norm for Merlot, or at least Long Island Merlot.
> >
> > Does this sound right to you all? How do you stop the blended
> > wine from MLF-ing in the bottle? I'd rather not nuke it with
> > sulfite.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Bill