Wine profile dossier

Still - El Ramato Carmesi

Merlot and Garnatxa, one barrel, one measured risk strategy

Still - El Ramato Carmesi is a 2025 biodynamic still red based on a 50/50 blend of Merlot from Vilobi del Penedes and Garnatxa from Verdu, Lleida. The lot is designed as a 200 L single-barrel wine, aged for 9 months in a 225 L neutral oak barrel, with an expected yield of about 266 bottles.

The Symbiogenesis AI constructor was used to read the product protocols, chemistry files, sensory targets, regional descriptions and literature-derived biodynamic wine process graph. The route starts with a measured problem: the Merlot component carries high volatile acidity. The constructor therefore treats the wine as a controlled integration problem.

Why this wine exists

This is the most gastronomic and technically demanding wine in the 2025 portfolio. The Merlot from Vilobi del Penedes brings mid-palate flesh and soft tannin, but it also carries a high volatile-acidity history. The Garnatxa brings cleaner fruit, glycerol and body. The protocol uses a fixed 50/50 blend, pH adjustment, a single calibrated SO2 addition, complete barrel filling and weekly topping to stop further bacterial activity and allow the wine to integrate during ageing.

This is a wine for the table. Its strength is a measured, savory profile built around acidity, tannin integration, Mediterranean herbs, dark fruit and food.

Origin and biodynamic material

• Merlot: 100 L from Vilobi del Penedes; biodynamic and regenerative; dry-farmed; no chemical treatments; natural products only.
• Garnatxa: 100 L from Verdu, Lleida; precision biodynamic.
• Final volume: 200 L in one neutral oak barrel.
• Production: about 266 bottles.
• Ageing: 9 months in neutral oak, topped weekly.

The Merlot parcel contributes the most distinctive farming claim in the portfolio: biodynamic plus regenerative management, dry-farmed, and chemical-free in the source description. Garnatxa supplies the cleaner structural counterpart needed for the blend.

Constructor logic

The AI constructor selected the 50/50 blend because the Merlot alone carried too much volatile acidity for the intended still wine. The product chemistry gives the reason:

• Merlot volatile acidity: 1.45 g/L.
• Garnatxa volatile acidity: 0.47 g/L.
• 50/50 blend volatile acidity: about 0.96 g/L.

The result remains high for a classical still red, so the wine must be positioned and handled honestly. The protocol limits further bacterial development and uses neutral-oak ageing to integrate the volatile profile into a savory, food-oriented wine.

The main cellar controls are:

• pH 3.25 Acid Shield before blending;
• 40 ppm SO2 at blending, calibrated to the low pH;
• neutral oak as an oxygen-transfer vessel with neutral flavor impact;
• complete barrel fill and weekly topping to avoid headspace;
• weekly sensory monitoring for volatile acidity, mousiness, reduction and oxidation.

Cellar method

1. Cool Merlot and Garnatxa below 8 deg C.
2. Adjust both components to pH 3.25 before blending.
3. Blend 100 L Merlot with 100 L Garnatxa.
4. Add 40 ppm SO2 at blending as the single sulfur decision in the protocol.
5. Transfer to a 225 L neutral oak barrel and keep it completely full.
6. Top weekly to remove headspace and prevent Acetobacter reactivation.
7. Age 9 months at cellar temperature.
8. Bottle with light filtration and no fining.

The most important practical point is headspace discipline. A 200 L wine in a 225 L barrel has 25 L of potential air space if unmanaged. The protocol requires weekly topping because oxygen at the wine surface would reopen the very bacterial pathway the blend is designed to close.

Measured and protocol chemistry

Several figures are estimates pending final bottling analysis. The VA values should remain visible in trade-facing material because this wine is credible only when the risk is named and controlled.

Sensory direction

The intended wine is savory, medium-bodied and food-driven: dark cherry and plum from Merlot, Mediterranean herbs and sun-ripe fruit from Garnatxa, a saline line from the calcareous Verdú context, and faint leather, tobacco or mushroom tones from barrel integration. The neutral oak should polish texture without adding vanilla or toast as a dominant flavor.

The wine should be presented as a Mediterranean table red with savory structure. Its best use is with salt, fat, herbs and slow-cooked food.

Advantages

• Clear biodynamic-regenerative origin for the Merlot.
• Precision risk management: the blend ratio, pH target, SO2 dose, barrel fill and topping schedule are all justified by one measured problem.
• Single-barrel traceability: about 266 bottles from a defined 200 L lot.
• Gastronomic identity: acidity, savory volatile complexity and tannin integration support food.
• Honest technical story: the product is stronger when the VA management is transparent.

Best audiences and service

This wine is strongest for sommeliers, restaurants, food-led collectors and buyers who understand natural-wine variability but require technical control. Serve at 15-17 deg C. Decant briefly if volatile lift is prominent. Pair with cured meats, aged sheep or goat cheese, roasted root vegetables, lamb with rosemary, mushroom dishes, tomato-based Mediterranean stews and dishes with olive, anchovy or cured-fat intensity.

Evidence dossier

Primary local sources:

• products/still/manifest.md
• products/still/03_technical/protocol_followed.md
• products/still/03_technical/chemical_analysis.json
• products/still/04_sensory/target_profile.md
• products/PROCESS_Still.md
• global_assets/region_description.md
• protocols/protocol_ES 3.pdf
• protocols/Merlot2_es.pdf
• protocols/Analysis_Holobiont.pdf

Constructor evidence:

• literature-derived wine process graph in concept_natural-wine/merged_wine_up_5.md;
• biodynamic constructor manuscript and cellar-control analysis in tex/analysis_hyperion.tex;
• Symbiogenesis product protocols and chemical analysis files.