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