In our quest to understand wine, particularly in the new world, we are very focused on grape varieties. You walk into a wine bar and order a glass of Chardonnay or a glass of Cabernet. Not only blended wines but almost all mono varietal wines are also blended in some way; grapes from different vineyards, different barrels, different vintages, different harvesting dates, different cellar handling and many more. Why do we blend?

There are many reasons. Let’s start with quality. At its highest level, blending is used to give the ultimate quality possible; a blend of the best grapes available to make the best wine. Blending in this instance gives you a larger pallet with which to paint, to increase the complexity and overall balance of the wine so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In many regions of the world, take Bordeaux for example, the weather during the growing season can present problems at certain times. The different red grape varieties in a Bordeaux vineyard, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, have different budding dates and harvesting dates. Blending here gives the producer the option, if not the obligation, to use more Merlot in the blend if the Cabernets were negatively impacted by the weather and vice versa, a form of insurance! Style is another reason. Winemakers wish to make wines of a certain style and blending helps. Probably the most notable of this type of blending is Champagne, where blending is done to achieve the “house style”, a very important characteristic for producers. They want to assure that the wine, particularly their regular non-vintage brut, is the same year after year so that there are no surprises for the customers. This could mean the blending of dozens of different lots of the three chief grape varieties; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, sourced from multiple different vineyards. Many Champagne houses also use reserve wines in their blends to be that much more confident of replicating the house style. Appellation may be another reason. In the past, there were legal requirements to blend grape varieties. Though no longer true, there was a time Tuscany’s famous Chianti had to be a blend containing white wine. Today, for example, there is a red wine in Burgundy called Passetoutgrains, which must be a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay. At the lowest level, wines may be blended for price. In a certain area, it may be too difficult to hit a specific price point with a wine made 100% from Cabernet Sauvignon. However, blending with Cabernet from a lesser region or a lower priced grape variety may produce a very palatable wine that can meet a challenging price point.

So is it art? For the most expensive wines, clearly the winemaker is practicing art, largely unconstrained by financial considerations! Money is no object and the process is simply to coax the very best wine, in global terms, from the available fruit. If the crafter wants all new oak barrels, they are forthcoming. So, a decision to use older oak or none at all, is a stylistic decision and not an economic one.

So is it science? Making all wine has an element of science to it. As soon as price is taken into consideration, even for a mid-priced wine, science becomes more important; where to source the grapes, what yields to harvest, what other varietals to blend in, what percentage of new oak barrels to use, what type of wood to use if any, what size of barrel to use, whether or not to use oak chips or oak staves or oak heads. Typically, blends must be assembled relatively early as the act of blending introduces different substances which could result in chemical reactions, requiring further stabilization. Also, these will in many instances be larger volume wines and require a more scientific versus artisanal approach. By artisanal, I do not mean primitive winemaking due to budget constraints!

So is it artifice? I would argue that artifice is a little like art but without the true integrity of art. This may not be fair because if a consumer loves a wine, it is not my place to hint that he or she has been conned. But the use of lesser grapes, lesser grape varieties, added color, oak chips versus new oak barriques, is embraced for the purpose of lowering the cost of production. This usually translates to lower prices for the consumer but not always.

So, to answer the question; Blending. Art, Science or Artifice?, the answer is a resounding “yes!”. No matter the winemaker’s intention, there is some of each in each wine. Trying to deliver the very best is largely art. There is more science involved in producing mid-price wines and price point wines with the latter employing the highest level of artifice. Truly excellent winemakers bring art to all of their production, even of price point wines. Hopefully your wine merchant selects only the best wine irrespective of price point. That is where we live, eat, sleep and breathe at GreatWine2U.com.  Come and visit us there.

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