The production of wines covered by the Appellation of Origin Tarragona will be made exclusively with the following varieties of Vitis Vinifera:
Red |
Merlot |
 When speaking of the merlot variety, everyone speaks highly, as it has been the wine-making discovery of our times. It gives good quality wines, with a grading and personality emphasised by all.
Merlot wines age before the cabernet sauvignon; this variety is suitable to be drunk as a young wine and also makes an extraordinary rosé wine, which is difficult with other types of grapes.
Merlot wines are thin, alcoholic, aromatic and easy to drink. They are ruby colour with violet shades and in the mouth it recalls herbs and spices. On the nose we notice a fruit bouquet like plums. As a variety it resists wood very well giving a balanced nose, with body, of reddish colour and shades of orange. We could say that merlot is a wine suitable for everything. On a vine-growing level it is the most interesting variety from the point of view of production, quality and price, although not all soils are ideal or suitable for the merlot variety. Compact soils can favour the blossom drop so cultivating it in this type of soil must be avoided. The Merlot variety has a great capacity to adapt to different climates, it has a first-time budding which makes it sensitive to spring frost. This is why it must not be cultivated in gullies where it is prone to be affected by cold temperatures. The Merlot adapts well climate regions II-III-IV, penedés middle and central area, and adapts perfectly to costal areas, where it gives more pasty wines, a condition highly valued by experts. The merlot is not very sensitive to the grey mould or to oidium, in any case it could be sensitive to blossom drop. It benefits from rootstocks 110-R, 41-B and SO4 in good soil. |