# Blending Barolo, Montepulciano and Pino Grigio



## wineview (Nov 6, 2019)

As an experiment going into secondary.

I have six gallon buckets of each variety above and five gallon carboys. That leaves a gallon of each variety left over. I have a three gallon carboy and would like to make use of it instead of racking into individual gallon jugs.

Would this be a waste of wine and turn out something awful?

Thanks


----------



## tjgaul (Nov 6, 2019)

Generally, you would not blend until each variety was fairly well into the aging process so you could do some bench testing to see what mix is optimum. However, I have violated this rule on a few occasions and the results have been decent. I don't know about blending Pinot Grigio with reds. I have done a 15% blend of Viognier into a GSM batch, but that is a common combination in France. I'm not familiar with Pinot Grigio being used as a blending grape with reds.

It's always good to experiment. The Barolo and Montepulciano should go together pretty well.


----------



## Johnd (Nov 6, 2019)

Take a little bit of each and blend it in the same proportion you are considering and see how it tastes.........that should help you decide. If it doesn't taste good, just get some 1 gallon glass jugs and keep the wines in them til it's time to bottle. You could also store the wine it bottles and use them for topping up your carboys as you rack / age the wine.


----------



## cmason1957 (Nov 6, 2019)

Just another blending note. I was out at a local winery here in Missouri this weekend. Had a wonderful red wine and talked with the folks pouring, who are very knowledgeable about how it was made, unfortunately they didn't have any idea how this blend was even thought about, Dry Vidal with Crimson Cabernet named Serendipity. Vidal is a white wine, made in a very dry style, lightly oaked, Crimson Cabernet is a newish red varietal cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Norton. It was such a good wine, we ended up with 6 bottles of it. So it isn't unheard of to blend red with white. Just unusual.


----------



## wineview (Nov 6, 2019)

How about this. Montepulciano, Barolo, and Chancellor. All reds. The Chancellor a bit lighter in color.


----------



## tjgaul (Nov 7, 2019)

cmason1957 said:


> Dry Vidal with Crimson Cabernet named Serendipity. Vidal is a white wine, made in a very dry style, lightly oaked, Crimson Cabernet is a newish red varietal cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Norton. It was such a good wine, we ended up with 6 bottles of it.


cmason . . . interesting note on the Vidal. Here in the Finger Lakes they vint a fair amount of Vidal and Seyval Blanc, but I have not heard of anyone applying oak. It's generally done 100% in SS and is often left with an RS of 3% - 5% (or even more). However, there are some wineries making it dry and I will admit that the drier versions suit my taste better. BTW . . . only 6 bottles and not a full case, what gives ?!?!?!


----------



## cmason1957 (Nov 7, 2019)

tjgaul said:


> cmason . . . interesting note on the Vidal. Here in the Finger Lakes they vint a fair amount of Vidal and Seyval Blanc, but I have not heard of anyone applying oak. It's generally done 100% in SS and is often left with an RS of 3% - 5% (or even more). However, there are some wineries making it dry and I will admit that the drier versions suit my taste better. BTW . . . only 6 bottles and not a full case, what gives ?!?!?!



Well, the CFO was with me and reminded me how many bottles are currently in the basement. So only 6. However we got an email from the winery family that my bonus son married into. Brutocao Cellars in Hopland, CA (Mendecino County) Uber Zin or Merlot for $9.99 / bottle plus half off shipping, so I ended up ordering two cases. That part of our cellar was looking bare.


----------

