In 2020 I made 4 batches: 2 Merlot, 1 Zinfandel, and 1 Vinifera Blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot). From this I made 2 blends:
#1: 2/3 Merlot, 1/3 Vinifera Blend
#2: 40% Merlot, 40% Zinfandel, 20% Vinifera Blend
The blends are barrel aged and distinctly different. During the last barrel topup my son & I taste tested the wines and the barrel aged are the winners over the unoaked topup wines. No surprise here.
I kept 4 liters of each wine (Merlot, Zinfandel, Vinifera Blend) separate for comparison purposes, and bottled them tonight. The tasting of these 3 wines is the surprise.
The Merlot & Zinfandel are oddly tannic. They are only a year old and I'm not expecting them to be fully drinkable, but the tannin level is a surprise compared to the blends. OTOH, the Vinifera Blend has moderate tannins, although the color is startling. The color of the Merlot & Zinfandel are very good, unless you compare them to the Vinifera Blend. This wine is teaching black holes to absorb light.
The point of this post is I mixed the remainder from each batch into a bottle. The color is very nice (probably from the Petit Verdot), but the real surprise is the tannin level. This wine is pleasantly drinkable at this point.
Blends will surprise us.
#1: 2/3 Merlot, 1/3 Vinifera Blend
#2: 40% Merlot, 40% Zinfandel, 20% Vinifera Blend
The blends are barrel aged and distinctly different. During the last barrel topup my son & I taste tested the wines and the barrel aged are the winners over the unoaked topup wines. No surprise here.
I kept 4 liters of each wine (Merlot, Zinfandel, Vinifera Blend) separate for comparison purposes, and bottled them tonight. The tasting of these 3 wines is the surprise.
The Merlot & Zinfandel are oddly tannic. They are only a year old and I'm not expecting them to be fully drinkable, but the tannin level is a surprise compared to the blends. OTOH, the Vinifera Blend has moderate tannins, although the color is startling. The color of the Merlot & Zinfandel are very good, unless you compare them to the Vinifera Blend. This wine is teaching black holes to absorb light.
The point of this post is I mixed the remainder from each batch into a bottle. The color is very nice (probably from the Petit Verdot), but the real surprise is the tannin level. This wine is pleasantly drinkable at this point.
Blends will surprise us.
