Occasionally we find an article that is very helpful in understanding some of the fascinating features of wine. The information presented below is taken (with permission) from the 1997 spring/summer issue of SIMI NEWS. This article explains clearly how blending is used to improve the quality, character and complexity of wine. And once again we thank SIMI WINERY for their special efforts in education.

Winemaking is the rarefied art and science of taking the simple grape and its juice and transforming it into wine. This process involves a series of complex steps that challenge the winemaker's ability to imagine the complete character of the finished wine when he begins with only the flavor, sugar level and tannin profile of the grape itself. Fine wine, of course, is much more than grape juice with a little alcohol. Wine derives its distinction from many other sources--different soils, weather conditions, fermentation techniques, blending, barrel selection, bottle aging and more.

Blending is one of the most important steps in making fine wine with a distinct and unique character. It is intuitively obvious, no doubt, that when you blend wine, you are mixing or adding to the original, pure flavor profile of the individual lot of juice or wine. But what is an unblended wine? An unblended wine would come from grapes grown in a vineyard with no soil or rootstock or clonal or varietal differences. The grapes would all be picked at the same time, and have similar winemaking techniques applied--for example, there would be no use of different fermentations or barrels, which also can create blending complexity. Complexity is probably the number one reason that most fine winemakers blend their wines, though the list of reasons includes these:

Winemakers blend wine---
1. To give a wine a better balance or make it more attractive than its individual ingredients;
2. To make a standard wine that is reasonably constant in character and quality during repeated years of production;
3. To make a wine at lower cost than would be otherwise possible;
4. To make a new type of wine; (The Australians, for instance, are among the most adventuresome blenders, and they have brought you SemChard, a blend of Chardonnay and Semillon grapes.)
5. To compensate for variances in grape quality due to poor vineyard conditions. (Many winegrowing regions, notably Bordeaux, are apt to have disruptive weather--including spring frosts and rain during harvest, which can severely limit the size and quality of the crop, especially if you are relying on the grapes from only one variety and one vineyard. In addition, different varieties have a slightly different growth cycle with budding, flowering, setting and ripening a week or two apart. This disparity in ripening times can be enormously useful in spells of bad weather, for not all the vines will suffer the same negative impact due to their different stages of maturity.)

Here are some of the ways that winemakers blend grapes and/or wine.
1. Blend different varieties;
2. Blend grapes from different vineyards;
3. Blend wines from different vintages;
4. Blend by mixing and matching different varietals from a variety of vineyards;
5. Blend wines that have received different vinification;
6. Blend wines from different casks or barrels.

Where in the winemaking process does the winemaker create the blend? In some instances, old vineyards are actually interplanted with more than one varietal, so the blend occurs at picking time, without any decision making at all! One benefit of an early, if involuntary, blend like this is that there is lots of time for the resulting wines to integrate completely. . . . .

One would not normally make a blend at fermentation because of the difficult logistics of harvest timing and fermentation finish timing, so at this point the wines are kept separate. A good time to blend is around the first of the new year following harvest, usually just prior to putting the wine into barrels or shortly after putting the wine into barrel. Basically, you can blend any time between fermentation and bottling, and each winemaker has his or her own rationale for when to make the blend.

The winemaker must have a definite ideal in mind and must consider all the factors that influence the quality of a wine blend. Random mixing will seldom accomplish the goal of improving wine quality. Blends should be made with a specific purpose in mind and no more ingredients should be used than the winemaker requires or has the skill to handle. Each winemaker will have his own intellectual system for blending wines.

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www.thewinemerchantinc.com/educational/Blending.html
-- revised August 3, 2005 -- by:Aris Ragouzeos