Thank you so much for your homework ! You get an A+!
The brix number gives the sugar content of the grapes, a higher brix number will generally indicate a more ripe fruit. Also, a lower acidity level 0.7 g/l or less will indicate ripeness. A 26 brix indicates a ripe fruit, giving more flavor of the varietal. An acidity over 8 g/l will require a winemaker to make some adjustments.
Think of homeade lemonade. Acidic lemon juice and water are mixed together to provide a flavorful chilled beverage. One has to add sugar to the blend to adjust it to ones own palate. Some like it tart, some like it sweet. Sugar and acid levels are adjusted to "balance" the beverage, be it lemonade, coffee, Coke or wine. All beverages tend to be acidic, it gives the sensation of quenching thirst.
If you notice in your published tasting notes, which I commend Quail Acres for doing a excellent job, the sugar content ranges from 0.6 to 4.0 g/l in order to "balance" the wine. The acid levels are somewhat in the same range, but indicate a very ripeness.
I asked for pH, assuming the vineyard did not have such exacting notes, but gladfully proving me wrong.
You may have found the pearl of Marechal Foch. On the east coast, Brix numbers for Marechal Foch rarely make 22 Brix, leaving a yearning for the actual flavor of the varietal, and a big fat pucker for the acidity!
ERD50, you are right about seasons and times of harvest. The brix number at harvest, represents the amount of sugar in the grape at the time it is measured. I was in the Napa area last week, and the heat wave the week before Labor Day significantly ripened the grapes ahead of schedule. I saw brix levels of 32 to 24 which are going to cause a lot of wine makers to pull out their hair. Most winemakers don't want to see levels above 24.5, because they don't want to water their wines back. Most wine yeasts die above those levels due to alcohol poisoning, leaving a sweet wine. That is exactly how White Zinfandel was created. Zinfandel is notoriously a fickle grape, the same cluster will have green, ripe, overripe and raisins together. In order to create a more robust wine, Sutter Vineyards removed some juice to leave the remainder soak on the skins longer. The "removed juice" ended up getting stuck, and couldn't ferment to complete dryness, resulting in a sweet, high alcohol wine that beginning wine drinkers loved. It made million$.
Since the grapes were picked at 26, I would figure that the fermentation ran its course to 24.5-25, leaving the residual sugar at 0.6-4.0g/l. Even though it may be a "dry" wine, residual sugar may be present. Apothic Red, a best selling "dry" wine, has almost 13.5 g/l of residual sugar.
Commercial winemakers cannot add sugar to a wine to sweeten, they either have to stop fermentation early or add unfermented juice back into the blend to get the right sweetness/acid balance. Also, a high alcohol wine, will also add some sweetness to the wine in most cases.
I hope I have explained clearly enough. As I said earlier, enjoy it if you like it! It would be a dull world if everyone liked the same things.
