Traditional Wine Blends

Sometimes a winemaker will blend varietals to make up for a weakness in the primary grape. But sometimes it's the style that they are going for:

• Bordeaux is the most well known wine blend. The world famous red wine is made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, with maybe some Malbec, Petit Verdot, or Carmenere - all grown int he Bordeaux region of France. The white Bordeaux is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. 
• Meritage is a blend of the same grapes as Bordeaux, but from wine regions outside of France.
• Champagne is another famous blend, usually Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, and often a blend of different vintages of grapes as well.
• The red wines from the Rhone regions of France, including the world famous Hermitage and Chateauneuf-du-Pape can be a blend of up to 21 different varietals.
• The reds wines from Rioja, Spain are usually a blend of Tempranillo and Grenache.
• While the traditional wines of the Tuscany DOCG are made from 100% Sangiovese, young producers created blends with other varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, or Syrah to revitalize the region with the now famous Super Tuscan wines.
• On the other hand, traditional Chianti wine allows for a blending in of other grapes, like Canaiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, or even some white grapes.

Wine Wednesdays

We talk alot about using wine to make an evening special. But on a Wednesday night, with half a week of work remaining, we might turn to a good glass of wine to simply make the evening bearable.

Usually, we consider our wine and food pairing and try to plan an interesting meal for an interesting bottle of wine. But by mid-week, that can be hard to do. It is useful to have a few more flexible bottles lying around that will go with whatever you throw together for dinner. Blended wines offer you a comparatively neutral palate, with a mix of the flavors from multiple grapes. This is something easy to mix and match with a range of meals.

Cooking a real dinner mid-week can be overwhelming, so having a few simple recipes in your back pocket will help. Sometimes, a good crock pot stew can be lifesaver. You develop some deep flavors, and are still ready to eat as soon as you get home from work. Some beef, rice, tomatoes and some broccoli to round it out made for an loose take on Cuban Mofongo.

We picked a bottle of blended wine from Chile. A mix of Carignan, Grenache, and Mouverdre, we had no idea what to expect. But the complex mix of flavors from the mofongo--earthy, acidic, fatty, and a bit of green vegetable--meant we needed some complicated flavors from our wine. This blend of grapes gave us flavors of blackberries, with hints of graphite and cinnamon. The spice of the wine matched the hot pepper spice of the mofongo, while the flavors from the sweet and acidic tomato brought the sweet fruit of the wine to the forefront.

Blended wines are often mistaken for "table wines" (unless, of course, a Bordeaux). It is good to remember that winemakers might attempt to create a versatile blend of flavors that lend themselves to easier pairings... especially on those Wednesday nights where you just don't want to think too hard about it.

What is ... Meritage Wine?

Meritage is a red blended wine in the same style as Bordeaux wines. As Bordeaux is a region in France in addition to a style of wine, it's a protected name and cannot be used outside of the approved region of France. "Meritage" is the name given to wines of the same style, made in the New World.

The blend can include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

Though often pronounced with a French twist, to rhyme with "garage", technically it should be pronounced like "heritage."

Quick Review: Delfosse Winery Meritage 2005

US, VA, Delfosse Winery, Meritage 2005
++ // Fruity // Cherry, Spice // Cherry, Raspberry, Oak // Full

This was a great example of Meritage: ripe fruit flavors, balanced with hints of oak and spice. Still strong bodied, it probably deserved another couple of years in the bottle to truly balance the flavors.

Quick Review... Dr. Konstantin Frank Meritage

US, New York, Finger Lakes, Dr. Konstantin Frank, Meritage, Salmon Run, 2008
+ // Fruity // Raspberry Jam // Leather, Raspberry // Medium