red blend ideas

[VinesnBines]

Hazelemere, do you use sacrificial oak in your Foch primary? What kind?

I’m liking my Foch; my 23 was a field blend of 75% Foch and 25% Leon Millot. Since they are sisters, I bet on a loving family bond. I was right. I’ll make a repeat this year. I’m having trouble keeping the family out of the 23 so it can age or at least get past bottle shock.

Another Foch/Millot tidbit; I kept the 23 on the skins for 12 days, from 9/20 to 10/2. No burnt rubber.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

I made 6 cases of a blend last night from some of my 2021 wines: So far tasting great! I am excited to see how this evolves over time.
39% Merlot
59% Cabernet Sauvignon
2% Petit Verdot

Yes, paint by number classic Bordeaux blend, but why mess with perfection?

So you made all three and after sitting for a while, you blend?

 

[winemaker81]

This is Lodi Mettler Vineyard 2021 Petite Sirah RC212 fermented almost raisined but not quite, in really nice condition Amarone style blended with my 2023 homegrown Marechal Foch homegrown and fermented with RC212/71B yeast combo

what was the ratio?

 

[Christopher Anderson]

Question for the "experts": seems you are blending before fermentation. How would one go about blending after? Same ratios? I make lots of kits for my own enjoyment, and some wines are approaching 1 year in carboys. A few are very good, some good and some still quite drinkable, but lacking depth in flavors. All styles of RED. CS, Merlot, Malbec, Syrah, many made with added fruits such as blackberry, blueberry, etc. I thought of bucket punch then rebottle.

 

[StimVino]

Petite Sirah Foch 2021, 2023

The Foch makes the Petite Sirah more complex and the Petite Sirah mutes the acid of the Foch.

Very nice write up and tasting notes. I just did something similar with my Montepulciano 2022 and Petit Verdot 2023. The Montepulciano had great acidity and nose, but honestly lacked body. I actually had in bottle, but sat in my basement b/c I was not happy with the thinness of the wine. I had 8 cases that I uncorked and reblended with 3 gallons of Petite Verdot, which worked out to about an 85/15 blend. Rebottled and now very pleased with the blended wine.

 

[winemaker81]

Question for the "experts": seems you are blending before fermentation. How would one go about blending after? Same ratios? I make lots of kits for my own enjoyment, and some wines are approaching 1 year in carboys. A few are very good, some good and some still quite drinkable, but lacking depth in flavors. All styles of RED. CS, Merlot, Malbec, Syrah, many made with added fruits such as blackberry, blueberry, etc. I thought of bucket punch then rebottle.

I wrote a post about how we blended our 2022 wines:

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/how-i-blend-wines/

I put this under Mental Meanderings instead of Whitepapers, but in hindsight I will probably move it to Whitepapers.

EDIT: Moved the post to Whitepapers. This doesn't change the URL, just the category and which static pages the link appears on.​

Note: It's good to have several people for the blending "party" to get multiple opinions, and plan on folks staying for a while afterward. Especially if blending reds in the 14%+ ABV range.

Eat a meal first (no alcohol on an empty stomach), have plain crackers during tasting, and coffee (or other) afterward with light snacks. Coffee doesn't sober people, but it wiles away the time, and time does it.

We taste-tested 11 blends over the course of 2 sessions. This was "barrel day", meaning we racked a 55 liter barrel and a 19 liter carboy of blending wine, cleaned the barrel (involves soaking), determined our blends and bottled. Then refilled the barrel with new wine. Ate lunch, then did the same for the second barrel.

It's a long day, but it also breaks up the tasting.

 

[Hazelemere]

Hazelemere, do you use sacrificial oak in your Foch primary? What kind?

I’m liking my Foch; my 23 was a field blend of 75% Foch and 25% Leon Millot. Since they are sisters, I bet on a loving family bond. I was right. I’ll make a repeat this year. I’m having trouble keeping the family out of the 23 so it can age or at least get past bottle shock.

Another Foch/Millot tidbit; I kept the 23 on the skins for 12 days, from 9/20 to 10/2. No burnt rubber.

I don't use oak in the primary ferment. I add it as medium toast American oak cubes to the wine in a carboy at the beginning of natural malolactic fermentation for about 120 days at which point I rack and sulphite e.g. 30 cubes for a 5 gallon carboy. I ferment Foch with RC212/71B which improves the tanginess whether I blend it or not e.g. with Petite Sirah or Regent.

 

[Hazelemere]

Question for the "experts": seems you are blending before fermentation. How would one go about blending after? Same ratios? I make lots of kits for my own enjoyment, and some wines are approaching 1 year in carboys. A few are very good, some good and some still quite drinkable, but lacking depth in flavors. All styles of RED. CS, Merlot, Malbec, Syrah, many made with added fruits such as blackberry, blueberry, etc. I thought of bucket punch then rebottle.

We never blend during ferment. Always after malolactic fermentation and at least 6 months after that to give the wines a chance to drop tartrates and a bit of tannin in a cooler and develop their smell so we can get something better than the unblended wines. Here is an example Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon + Dineen Petit Verdot + Mettler Petite Sirah + Regent. Petite Sirah is high alcohol, low acid, intense but not very complex. Regent gives it more acid and drops the alcohol and makes it more interesting. Cabernet Sauvignon + Petit Verdot at about 14.5% makes a deluxe complex, balanced, fragrant blend made more intense and complex by the Petite Sirah + Regent. We kept the Petite Sirah + Regent in a carboy for 3 years in a cooler until we had the Cab Verdot to improve it. We never blend in pre-ordained ratios. We always try different combinations in a wine glass to optimize, smell, tannin, acid, complexity of flavour and aftertaste. My son in-law says he thinks this is the most important step in winemaking. We only blend to improve an unblended wine. If we have a better wine un-blended then that is what we make e.g. we had an unblended Dineen Cabernet Franc that was stunning. Sometimes we do both. e.g. Dineen Cabernet Franc with Amador Cabernet Sauvignon which was very nice. Kit wines can be improved by adding wines made from fresh or canned fruit e.g. blackberry-elderberry, blueberry, black cherry, black currants or even red grape juice in a pail could improve a kit wine.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

I wrote a post about how we blended our 2022 wines:

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/how-i-blend-wines/

I put this under Mental Meanderings instead of Whitepapers, but in hindsight I will probably move it to Whitepapers.

EDIT: Moved the post to Whitepapers. This doesn't change the URL, just the category and which static pages the link appears on.​

Note: It's good to have several people for the blending "party" to get multiple opinions, and plan on folks staying for a while afterward. Especially if blending reds in the 14%+ ABV range.

Eat a meal first (no alcohol on an empty stomach), have plain crackers during tasting, and coffee (or other) afterward with light snacks. Coffee doesn't sober people, but it wiles away the time, and time does it.

We taste-tested 11 blends over the course of 2 sessions. This was "barrel day", meaning we racked a 55 liter barrel and a 19 liter carboy of blending wine, cleaned the barrel (involves soaking), determined our blends and bottled. Then refilled the barrel with new wine. Ate lunch, then did the same for the second barrel.

It's a long day, but it also breaks up the tasting.

Thanks!!! I thought so, but I read somewhere where people mixed grapes together to get other "flavors". Good to know that I am sort of in the correct direction but only need to make a course change in thinking.

 

[winemaker81]

Thanks!!! I thought so, but I read somewhere where people mixed grapes together to get other "flavors". Good to know that I am sort of in the correct direction but only need to make a course change in thinking.

I also do field blends -- the "Rhone Blend" in my post was 1 lug each Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, and Syrah. I've found that most red Vinifera blend well.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

We never blend during ferment. Always after malolactic fermentation and at least 6 months after that to give the wines a chance to drop tartrates and a bit of tannin in a cooler and develop their smell so we can get something better than the unblended wines. Here is an example Dineen Cabernet Sauvignon + Dineen Petit Verdot + Mettler Petite Sirah + Regent. Petite Sirah is high alcohol, low acid, intense but not very complex. Regent gives it more acid and drops the alcohol and makes it more interesting. Cabernet Sauvignon + Petit Verdot at about 14.5% makes a deluxe complex, balanced, fragrant blend made more intense and complex by the Petite Sirah + Regent. We kept the Petite Sirah + Regent in a carboy for 3 years in a cooler until we had the Cab Verdot to improve it. We never blend in pre-ordained ratios. We always try different combinations in a wine glass to optimize, smell, tannin, acid, complexity of flavour and aftertaste. My son in-law says he thinks this is the most important step in winemaking. We only blend to improve an unblended wine. If we have a better wine un-blended then that is what we make e.g. we had an unblended Dineen Cabernet Franc that was stunning. Sometimes we do both. e.g. Dineen Cabernet Franc with Amador Cabernet Sauvignon which was very nice. Kit wines can be improved by adding wines made from fresh or canned fruit e.g. blackberry-elderberry, blueberry, black cherry, black currants or even red grape juice in a pail could improve a kit wine.

I only do blends during fermentation and never after I find it works better and you do not notice it as much I have found any wines blended post ferment to be out of balance and to me it stands out and doesn’t come together as well,

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I also do field blends -- the "Rhone Blend" in my post was 1 lug each Mourvedre, Petite Sirah, and Syrah. I've found that most red Vinifera blend well.

I have done field blend wines that are very unique because the percentage of each varietal in the vineyard changes every year so you don’t tend to get consistency in wines but each wine stands out.

 

[Hazelemere]

I have done field blend wines that are very unique because the percentage of each varietal in the vineyard changes every year so you don’t tend to get consistency in wines but each wine stands out.

different strokes for different folks!

 

[Nebbiolo020]

different strokes for different folks!

Although we are trying to keep a consistent style at the winery for our Cabernet which I am hoping comes out stylistically like last years which was definitely what we wanted and the strange weather last year gave us perfect numbers for ph and brix it is unlikely that we will get the same numbers this year I am anticipating having to add back acid to correct the ph into the same range.

I know that this years merlot will be different from last years as we changed vineyards and the clone in the new vineyard produces wines that trend more on the fruity side than spicy and the clone in the vineyard we used last year trends more dark fruit and spice which I preferred but we had such a bad experience with the people we bought grapes from we are no longer doing business with them.

 

[Hazelemere]

Although we are trying to keep a consistent style at the winery for our Cabernet which I am hoping comes out stylistically like last years which was definitely what we wanted and the strange weather last year gave us perfect numbers for ph and brix it is unlikely that we will get the same numbers this year I am anticipating having to add back acid to correct the ph into the same range.

I know that this years merlot will be different from last years as we changed vineyards and the clone in the new vineyard produces wines that trend more on the fruity side than spicy and the clone in the vineyard we used last year trends more dark fruit and spice which I preferred but we had such a bad experience with the people we bought grapes from we are no longer doing business with them.

I understand your view as a professional winemaker. As an amateur we have unlimited options that you may feel like you don't have. Having said that consider playing with one of a kind blends in really small amounts to try to create better wines. Premier Cru Bordeaux blends change year to year based on flavours. There may be a lesson in that for all of us.

 

[Nebbiolo020]

I understand your view as a professional winemaker. As an amateur we have unlimited options that you may feel like you don't have. Having said that consider playing with one of a kind blends in really small amounts to try to create better wines. Premier Cru Bordeaux blends change year to year based on flavours. There may be a lesson in that for all of us.

Believe me I know I spent a very long time as a home winemaker before I worked in a commercial winery. I’ve done it all and had to work with what I could get to make blends. I am fortunate now to have flexibility and freedom to really experiment and make wines that were not possible before I became a professional winemaker.

I do still make a batch of wine with another home winemaker as a side project yearly so I am still involved in home winemaking to a degree I like to help home winemakers get as close as is possible to commercial wines.

 

[Hazelemere]

Believe me I know I spent a very long time as a home winemaker before I worked in a commercial winery. I’ve done it all and had to work with what I could get to make blends. I am fortunate now to have flexibility and freedom to really experiment and make wines that were not possible before I became a professional winemaker.

I do still make a batch of wine with another home winemaker as a side project yearly so I am still involved in home winemaking to a degree I like to help home winemakers get as close as is possible to commercial wines.

good!

Namaste!

 

[CalabrianBlood]

i do
50% shiraz
50% merlot

have been for years and it is really nice

 

[Jusatele]

I just got hold of a lot of Sangiovese grapes from eastern Washington and I plan on doing a nice batch of Chianti
the blend will be 80% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon
I am picking up the grapes 2nd weekend of October,
the Cab and Merlot will come from wine kits, I am going have to rent a large enough fermenter for 30 gallons of Sangiovese

 

[Brant]

I just got hold of a lot of Sangiovese grapes from eastern Washington and I plan on doing a nice batch of Chianti
the blend will be 80% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon
I am picking up the grapes 2nd weekend of October,
the Cab and Merlot will come from wine kits, I am going have to rent a large enough fermenter for 30 gallons of Sangiovese

What kits do you plan on using?