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Sum of the Parts

By Mike Muirhead, Sommelier (ISG, CMS)

Blends dominated the wine world for most of its modern life. With this issue’s focus on Bordeaux blends, at its heart is how to combine the best qualities of each grape variety to create a wine that is so much more than just varieties put together. In 17 years of buying wine for Jones & Company, I have found one thing to be true: each winemaker believes that their technique is the perfect way to make wine. And each one is right: each is working with the grapes, climate, weather, resources, and facilities they have at the service of their wines. This means that sometimes blends are made out of necessity, and sometimes they can come from the vision and desire to create something new from what the land has provided.

However, Bordeaux isn’t the only region with an affinity for blends. To show you what the rest of the world has to offer, we asked some of our close winemaking friends to share the decision-making that goes into the creation of a perfect blend. These wines truly show that the sum can be much greater than the individual parts.

Majella Wines, Coonawarra, Australia

Jones & Company carries two amazing Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blends from Majella winery in Coonawarra: Australian icon Malleea ($89.99) and their everyday drinker, The Musician ($25.99). The latter, one of our top sellers, serves to introduce each new generation of wine lovers to the possibilities of the famous Australian blend. When I asked co-director and close friend Brian “Prof” Lynn about the origins of its top-tier blend, he was characteristically candid in his response.

“Our Majella winemaker, Bruce Gregory, always wanted to produce the Great Australia Blend,” Prof said, referring to Malleea, which stands shoulder to shoulder with Aussie greats like Grange and Wolf Blass Black Label. “In Australia in the 70s, we grew up on Claret, which was always a Cabernet blend. But we didn’t have Merlot and Cabernet Franc blended, so we used what we had on hand to create our own unique style.”

The Aussie Shiraz also helped to fill out the palate of the greener Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Australia at the time. The match fit: Malleea is widely regarded as an iconic Australian blend.

A. A. Badenhorst, Swartland, South Africa

Adi Badenhorst

Photo courtesy of Badenhorst Family Wines

If you are lucky enough to meet Adi Badenhorst, always be cautious taking him at face value—part of his charm is his enthusiastic obfuscation. While visiting his small family winery in the heart of the Swartland, we asked him how he blended his wines. Standing in the middle of the seven concrete fermenters and eight old wood fourdres (inert wooden fermenters) in his winery, he spilled his secret formula with a little smirk.

“Well, we pick some grapes when they are ready and put it in the vat. But we don’t have enough to fill the vat, so we pick some more and put them on top. When we run out of room, we move onto the next vat.”

Tenuta Sette Cieli, Tuscany, Italy

Elena Pozzolini

Courtesy of Tenuta Sette Cieli

When we first met winemaker Elena Pozzolini, we were blown away by her energy and passion for her vineyards. It was when we started tasting her wine at the spectacular estate above the Bolgheri coast that we discovered her laser focus on creating the best wines from many parcels that surround the winery. Blends of Elena’s Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc can be found in the Yantra Rosso ($31.99) and Noi. 4 Rosso ($48.99). When asked why she loves the process, Elena described the ability to envision something unique.

“Even if a blend is identified as a wine composed of different grapes or wines in different percentages, for me, a new creation can be born from a blend.”

This is, of course, a very simplified version of what is actually happening. Adi is an extremely talented winemaker who knows how to blend based on the fruit coming into his winery. If you want to taste a master’s work, look no further than the A.A. Badenhorst wines: The Curator Red ($18.99) and White ($18.99), Secateurs Red ($28.99), and A.A. Badenhorst Red Blend ($52.99).