WineInk: Blending in
“It’s a blend of two grapes from three different regions and four different vineyards,” said the esteemed Australian winemaker Kym Tolley on a recent snowy ski day at The Cabin on Snowmass mountain. I had just asked Tolley to tell me about his latest wine, The Last Emperor, a special project that recently saw the inaugural release of the 2021 vintage. “The wine is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz that I source from vineyards in the iconic South Australian wine regions of the Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, and McLaren Vale.”
He went on to explain that one of the historical hallmarks of Australian wine producers has been the ability to successfully blend grape varieties from different regions to produce wines that are special in their own right.
“Many of the great Penfolds wines, think Bin389 (a blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz from three regions) are built that way,” he said.
His vision today with his new project is to take advantage of the country’s diverse regions and use the best from each to produce a rare commodity that stands on its own as a great wine.
It got me thinking about how we, as consumers, don’t often consider the blending component of making a great wine. If we consider the winemaking process at all, we usually think in terms of a single grape variety, say merlot, being harvested, crushed, fermented, aged, and then bottled. And, though there are many wines made that are in fact that simple, the majority of great wines are the product of winemakers blending different wines to produce something even better.
When I talk to winemakers, they often say that their favorite part of making wine is the blending process. Some will make the analogy that the blending is like a chef who has a spice rack and uses different proportions of different spices to create a flavor profile in a meal. One winemaker, who coached his daughter’s basketball team, explained it like this: “OK, so I’ve got 10 girls on the team, some are tall, some are short, some can shoot, and some can pass, some can play defense. My job is to pick the five that work together best, start them, and then “blend” the others in.”
Wines are blended in many different ways. For example, some single vineyard pinot noirs are blends of different lots of wines that are grown in different blocks in that one vineyard and are then aged in different types of barrels before being blended back together. Then some wines are a combination of different grape varieties, such as syrah and grenache, that are related by the place of their origins, in this case, the Rhone Valley. And some wines are blended from grapes grown in different locations or even regions.
Perhaps the most famous example of blended wines is the “Bordeaux Blend,” which is made by blending different, but complimentary, grapes to produce a particular style of wine. The Bordeaux wine region of southwest France allows six permitted grapes to be used in the production of red wines. These grapes are cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot, malbec and, occasionally, carménère. Each grape brings something different to the party. Once the grapes are harvested, they are made into wines separately. Then, at some point between the vinification and the bottling, they are blended by the winemaker to create the final product
As you might expect, cabernet sauvignon and merlot are the big dogs in Bordeaux Blends. Wines from the so-called Left Bank of the region (on the western side of the Gironde River) are led by cabernet sauvignon in percentages that are generally at 70% or higher. On the Right Bank, the blends are dominated by merlot. While cabernet sauvignon offers structure and tannin, the merlot provides a softening elegance. Adding cabernet franc to the previous two grapes may bring a bit of finesse and some spice to the blend, while tiny amounts of petite verdot and/or malbec can add color and aromas to the wines. It is the winemaker’s job to select which grapes and the percentages to use.
In the case of The Last Emperor, Tolley is marrying his fifty years of experience as a winemaker to the fruits from current vintages.
“I might have a theory in mind of say, 60% to 65% cabernet sauvignon,” he said. “But once I have tasted all the barrels, I might make 10 or 12 blends, before I make a decision on the final blend.”
The 2021 release of The Last Emperor ended up with 52% cabernet sauvignon sourced from a highly regarded strip of red dirt known as the Terra Rossa in the Coonawarra region and 48% shiraz, which came from vineyards in the Barossa and the McLaren Vale.
“The Barossa shiraz brings earthy notes to the wines while the fruit from the McLaren Vale is more vibrant. And the Coonawarra cabernet has a finesse and elegance. Blended together, they reflect my goal to make a more European style of wine with dryness and tannins,” Tolley explained.
It is all in the blend.
