Blending - One of the fun parts of wine making

For home winemakers, blending is a lot more fun than washing bottles. I make Cayuga every year and I like it as a pure varietal. However, about 20 years or so ago, I used to blend in 1/3 Vignoles, which gave the wine a Riesling-like character, which is surprising, as neither grape on its' own is Riesling-like. However, my local source for Vignoles disappeared (I have young vines planted in my yard now), so this past Fall I bought some Vignoles juice. So this morning, loaded up with 10 and 25 cc syringes I went to the cellar and brought up samples of Cayuga, Vignoles and Vidal from the carboys. I sampled all 3 individually. The Vignoles was the most aromatic and has the highest acidity. Then I made the 2 parts Cayuga to 1 part Vignoles blend. It was good - an improvement over the pure Cayuga. Then I blended in a small amount of Vidal. This was even better - adding dimensions to the mouthfeel. I finally settled on doing a blend of 60% Cayuga, 25% Vignoles and 15% Vidal. Then, just as a benchmark, I returned to the cellar with a carboy sample of the '06 Riesling and compared it with the blend. The Riesling is a bit lower in acid and more aromatic (quite nice actually). But there are similarities and I believe the blend would be an acceptable substitute for the Riesling in any food-pairing situation. Now I have to figure out my sparkling cuvee blend. More later.

You don't have to be a winemaker to have fun blending. You can do it with finished wines too. After a party is a good time to experiment. It is amazing how much just a little of one wine can affect another.

Look at the success Yalumba has had with their Shiraz/Viognier and it just has a squirt of the latter.

Carl, How true! Have you come up with any interesting blends this way? An interesting observation is to take a low acid red, blend in a bit of high acid white and see the hue change due to the pH.

One memorable one. When we were still running our B&B in Maine my brother, who sports a much larger and more valuable celler than ours, came by on a business trip. We served him an Australian Cabernet/Shiraz with dinner. He loved it.

A few months later he came back with a colleague. I searched our celler for the wine he enjoyed but had none. Knowing that the wine he liked was a 50/50 blend, I grabbed two likely varietal candidates from Oz. I carefully mixed them together and served them in two carafes.

Of course he had to say it was better than the last wine! So I owned up to what I had done, and he just shook is head.

Nothing complicated about that, but there are plenty of wine drinkers out there, including geeks, who would never do that.

Great topic, Howie.

I've written in the past how much I enjoyed Scotch Block's inaugural (2002 vintage) Halton White - it was a blend of Seyval, Vidal, Cayuga and Auxerrois. The Auxerrois was winter killed the following year and the vineyard suffered a bit, but all the hybrids got right back into full production.

The wine was very full yet nuanced; subtly musky yet lemony and crisp, with just a tad of r.s. (I would have omitted the r.s. entirely, but it was still very good - just 1%).

Hi Howie,

Blending sounds like the ultimate in wine making hobby fun. I had a wine last fall that was an unusual blend of gwertz and riesling. Even though it was mostly gwertz (2/3 or 3/4, I think) its predominant taste was riesling. In this case a small amount of one variety definitely took over the wine's smell and taste.

Hi Howie,
Yes I definitely agree. Blending is a fun way of diversifying ones wine cellar, especially when the act of assemblage is done with family and friends.

Salute

Excellent post Howie. I'd like to try the blend at NiagaraCOOL.

Hi Howie,
Yes I definitely agree. Blending is a fun way of diversifying ones wine cellar, especially when the act of assemblage is done with family and friends.

Salute

And if different folks like something different, you could always make a mini-blend, just for them.

And Dan, I'll have some at NiagaraCOOL.

Then I made the 2 parts Cayuga to 1 part Vignoles blend. It was good - an improvement over the pure Cayuga. Then I blended in a small amount of Vidal. This was even better - adding dimensions to the mouthfeel.

Coincidentally, I opened a bottle of Howie's '05 Vidal Blanc (semi-dry) the other night. Clear yellow color with big mouthfeel and tastes of tropical fruits and honey. My own efforts at Vidal are much blander. I use it primarily for blending. This one can stand by itself. Good all around job.

Coincidentally, I opened a bottle of Howie's '05 Vidal Blanc (semi-dry) the other night. Clear yellow color with big mouthfeel and tastes of tropical fruits and honey. My own efforts at Vidal are much blander. I use it primarily for blending. This one can stand by itself. Good all around job.

Thanks Dan, but I wouldn't belittle your efforts. I give all the credit for Vidal to my local grower, as he has consistently supplied me with very nice, properly ripened fruit. He usually doesn't pick the Vidal for me until the 3rd week of October and I seldom have to make any sugar or acid adjustments. A good source of grapes or juice makes a big difference.

Howie, having a grower who understands that wine is made in the vineyard is a true joy. I, unfortunately, haven't found such a grower as yet. The nearest vineyard to me is not as well managed as it should be.

The envy of every home winemaker must surely be a well planned backyard vineyard with adequate open space (i.e. no tall trees blocking out critical sunlight or impeding airflow). Speaking of which ... how are your grapevines looking as they prepare to enter their second year of growth?

Ah! I hope to hit Lotto one day Paul!

Salute

'''Speaking of which ... how are your grapevines looking as they prepare to enter their second year of growth?

I haven't even been in the back yard yet - it's been too cold and I've been under the weather a bit lately. It's supposed to finally warm up and dry out this weekend and I hope to get back there and prune the vines as soon as I'm done fixing my car. BTW - I'll be traveling to Knoxville next month and on the way will pick up some Presque Isle Noiret to have at NiagaraCOOL.

Howie, keep me apprised of your travel plans to Knoxville.