Blends

Is anyone aware of any Red Varietal that when blended with a white varietal, produces a marketable wine?

Pinot Noir with Chardonnay usually tends to sell quite well.

[David M. Bueker]

Cote Rotie is made from syrah that sometimes has viognier in the blend. The amount of viognier is usually quite small, but it is often there.

Of course there's also Champagne - typically a blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier (both red) and chardonnay.

Is anyone aware of any Red Varietal that when blended with a white varietal, produces a marketable wine?

Yes, it is the practice in the region of the Northern Rhone Valley known as Cote-Rotie to blend in up to (I think) 15% Viognier in the Syrah made there. This is done as a cofermentation, so the grapes are combined in the fermenter and fermented together. Various Australian wineries (D'Arenberg is one that I'm aware of) follow the same practice with Viognier/Shiraz blends. Also, in the Southern Rhone region of France, the rules of Chateauneuf-du-Pape permit the inclusion of up to 13 varieties in their "red" wines, five of which are white. Two producers that I know of, Chateau Beaucastel and Domaine du Pegau, make a point of using all thirteen grape varieties in one of their wines.

Mark Lipton

Oddly, rosés as a blend of red/white grapes seem very rare and IIRC some regions specifically forbid such a blend. It's a funny world!

regards

Ian

It is still permissable to blend trebbiano with sangiovese in Chianti DOCG. Scandalous, but true.

Various Australian wineries (D'Arenberg is one that I'm aware of) follow the same practice with Viognier/Shiraz blends.

Torbreck's also done some experimenting with Shiraz/Marsanne and Shiraz/Roussanne blends. Had one of them about a year ago, and it was quite awful. Smelled and tasted like melting plastic.

Oddly, rosés as a blend of red/white grapes seem very rare and IIRC some regions specifically forbid such a blend.

Schillerwein is a pretty common weissherbst/rosé in Württemberg, Germany, that blends red and white.

It is still permissable to blend trebbiano with sangiovese in Chianti DOCG. Scandalous, but true.

It was obligatory until about 10 years ago. Pure Sangiovese could not be labeled "Chianti." The restrictive rules helped lead to the whole phenomenon of Supertuscans, which originally carried the cheapest designation, "Vino di Tavola." Chianti had to follow the original formula and that included some white grapes.

F

Oddly, rosés as a blend of red/white grapes seem very rare and IIRC some regions specifically forbid such a blend. It's a funny world!

regards

Ian

Tavel, however, is a wine that fosters the blending of red and white.

Indeed, this thread is timely as the EU have recently proposed allowing wider use of blended red/white grapes to make rosé - and are meeting stiff resistance from France & Italy it would seem.

quote:

Italians to form coalition against EU rosé proposals
April 21, 2009

Suzannah Ramsdale

Rosé producers in Italy have joined forces to fight EU proposals to allow the mixing of red and white wines to make rosé.

Two Lake Garda rosé associations – Bardolino and Garda Classico – are working together for the first time since they were created in 1968.

'We must be against a European law that allows the mixing of red and white wines to produce rosé,' Sante Bonomo, president of the Garda Classico consortium, told decanter.com.

'It would be a complete humiliation for rosé producers and those who drink it. This new way of producing wine would be damaging for the entire wine world. Not only would the European Community be legalising a false product, they would be standardising low quality products.'

Bonomo and Giorgio Tommasi, president of the Bardolino consortium, have signed and sent a letter to the Italian Minister for Agriculture, Luca Zaia, and the President of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, asking them not approve the new regulations.
The associations also have collected 1,500 signatures from wine journalists, producers, politicians and wine lovers for a public petition.

The producers are not only concerned about the market being flooded with cheaply made 'pink-coloured' wine but also about the effect a proposed labelling system – indicating whether rosé wines have been made with traditional methods - would have.

The groups hope to attract producers from Apulia and Abruzzo to form a larger Italian coalition to oppose the reforms.

The EU wine reform management committee was due to vote on the proposed regulations on 27 April, but will now meet on 19 June, after the World Trade Organisation requested more time to scrutinise the proposals.

Pinot Noir with Chardonnay usually tends to sell quite well.

Sounds like a blend I might like! Perhaps I will try it sometime..

Jeff

[Jenise]

I saw a syrah/mouvedre/viognier blend out of South Africa the other day. And several Washington producers are doing Rhone-like co-ferments, like McCrea and Kestler, just to name two I'm aware of.

It's interesting to note that sometimes, blending a white into a red can actually yield a darker wine, especially if the red is low acid and the white is high acid. The greater acidity seems to preserve the pigments that often fall out of solution in lower acid wines.

Is anyone aware of any Red Varietal that when blended with a white varietal, produces a marketable wine?

Yes, it is the practice in the region of the Northern Rhone Valley known as Cote-Rotie to blend in up to (I think) 15% Viognier in the Syrah made there. This is done as a cofermentation, so the grapes are combined in the fermenter and fermented together. Various Australian wineries (D'Arenberg is one that I'm aware of) follow the same practice with Viognier/Shiraz blends. Also, in the Southern Rhone region of France, the rules of Chateauneuf-du-Pape permit the inclusion of up to 13 varieties in their "red" wines, five of which are white. Two producers that I know of, Chateau Beaucastel and Domaine du Pegau, make a point of using all thirteen grape varieties in one of their wines.

Mark Lipton

Mark

The Shiraz Viognier blend has become a major fad down here. Almost every major house is doing one at present. It is generally agreed however that the benchmark version is produced by Clonakilla. I see from WS that a small quantity is imported into the US although I am surprised given most vintages are sold out as soon as they hit the market.

Mark

Haven't tried the Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier - which bottling is that Mark?
Best example of that style I've had so far from down under is the Torbreck Descendant - the '03 was an absolute stunner. Bilancia in New Zealand is also doing some amazing stuff with that blend - their Gimblett Gravels Syrahs are really lovely, and the La Collina - while a bit too pricey for me to ever buy it again - is a real knockout.

Haven't tried the Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier - which bottling is that Mark?
Best example of that style I've had so far from down under is the Torbreck Descendant - the '03 was an absolute stunner. Bilancia in New Zealand is also doing some amazing stuff with that blend - their Gimblett Gravels Syrahs are really lovely, and the La Collina - while a bit too pricey for me to ever buy it again - is a real knockout.

Salil

Here is the website. Go down to the SV. I have a vertical from 2007 back to 2001. If I ever get back up that way, I am more than happy to bring one with me. Good friend of mine used to live in your neck of the woods but unfortunately I never managed to get up there whilst he was in town.
http://www.clonakilla.com.au/ourwines.html

Mark

Storybook Mountain Vineyards has blended 5 - 10% viognier into zin for their Eastern Exposures blend (or at least, I think that was the one). Worked pretty well when I had it.

I believe Chateauneuf du Pape is allowed to use 13 different grapes, and IIRC at least 2 are white wine grapes. Of course, not all producers use all the grapes.

Here is an obscure one: Quinta de Encotro, in Bairrada (Portugal), makes a wine called Preto Branco which is a blend of Baga (fiercely tannic red), Touriga Nacional (perhaps the finest red grape of Portugal) and Bical (a native white grape). Have no idea how sucessful this is, as it is not imported into the US, AFIK.

As Côte Rôtie has already been mentioned (max 20% Viognier), we should also add Hermitage (max 15% Roussane and/or Marsanne).

Even more astonishing is how many Burgundy growers still add Pinot gris, known locally as Beurot, as a sugar booster or to produce "fat" (gras).

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

[David M. Bueker]

Even more astonishing is how many Burgundy growers still add Pinot gris, known locally as Beurot, as a sugar booster or to produce "fat" (gras).

Not nearly as astonishing as the fact that nobody is ever willing to name and provide confirmation of those who do.

Tim Kirk, the winemaker at Clonakilla, is one of the most congenial and gracious human being's on planet earth. Apart from that, he is an astute viticulturalist and a brilliant winemaker. His cellar door tastings, winery tour and barrel tastings are one of the great experiences of the Australian wine industry. If anyone from the board intends to visit there, please contact me well in advance and I'll try to set up the appointment with Tim.

[Jenise]

Not nearly as astonishing as the fact that nobody is ever willing to name and provide confirmation of those who do.

Kind of like the petite sirah some pinot-only producers buy in California whose presence never shows up on the bottles?