The Art of Blending

By Josiah Kahiu

Winemaking is part art, part science. It can be highly expensive, complicated and restrictive. While very few people can make their own wine, there is a simpler, more cost-effective way to do this in the comfort of your own home - by blending.

Simply put, blending is combining wine of different varietals (grapes) to produce one wine which is hopefully better than the sum of all its individual ad parts. When it comes to most of the wine we consume, unless it is labelled as a specific single varietal on the bottle, chances are you are drinking a blend.

So how can we make the blending process affordable and something we can do at home? As we said, it is an art. So unless you are trying to blend red and white wine, there is not a great amount you can do very wrong. One of the easiest blends to recreate at home would be the Bordeaux blend. This style primarily combines Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. To start with, simply buy a bottle of each but make sure they are 100% single varietals. Since you are going to make a wine that is according to your preferences, it is advisable to buy bottles that you actually like or have drunk before. Next, you will need a couple of glasses, some measuring equipment and a beaker or two. Now to get started, it is always a good idea to decide what type of Bordeaux Blend you prefer to make. The two main blends for this would either be a “left bank” blend or a “right bank” blend. For a left bank blend you will want to use 60ml of Cab Sauv, 30ml of Merlot and 10ml of Cabernet Franc, stick it in a flask and swirl it around before pouring it into your glass. For a right bank blend, it’s the same process but just using 60ml Merlot, 30ml Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now it’s time to try your creations. For the more Merlot forward blend, you will find it to be more fruit forward and slightly gentle, while the Cabernet dominant bend will be more tannic and have a stronger backbone (for those of you who prefer a stronger wine this is your choice). The effect of the Cabernet Franc in each blend is to add small vegetal notes, creating a more balanced, round mouthfeel.

This is just a little start to having your own vineyard and wine cellar in the comfort in your own house. There are many other blends you can try out, so start blending, sticking the wine into old bottles and slap it with your own label!

ASK A WINO

Is it ok to send back a bottle in a restaurant after I have tried it?

The short answer is most often yes. People often find this situation complex as they feel that they have to prove the wine is 100% wrong or do not know if the restaurant will accept it back. One thing to always remember is that the anxiety is on both sides. The restaurant would prefer not to take the bottle back (they have little chance of reselling it), especially if the reason is that you simply did not like it. So what is the best way to deal with it? If you think the wine is corked or oxidised - a risk we always take when ordering wine with a cork. The first course of action is to ask them if they think the wine is corked. This usually lets their guard down and most establishments will simply replace the bottle for an identical one. Now comes the scenario when you think that there is simply something funny with the wine, something off you cannot identify. Again, bring it to the attention on your server. Sometimes it could be that the wine just needs to breathe to open up a bit. In many situations, the server may say that it is the smell of that wine if they are familiar with it. If they are not familiar with it they may offer another suggestion. This gives the restaurant the opportunity to either explain why the wine is that way or replace the bottle. The last situation we should all try to avoid is ordering a bottle and sending it back simply because we do not like it. One way to avoid this is to ask for a taste before ordering a bottle. They may have an old bottle to try. If this is not the case, tell your server what you like and they might have a solution. The key thing here to remember is always to be polite. People can forget their etiquette and try to use this as an opportunity to taste wine and send it back - it works maybe once!