Page 12 - Grapevine July-August 2015
P. 12
In The Winery
for that blend from the spreadsheet and indicate the enhances the wine quality and it gives the cellar
quantities that are remaining to work with. long-term direction. One blend isn’t jeopardized
because another one was made. The winemaking
Dump and rinse the glasses that will no longer be team can move the wines forward in the cellar at a
used for the next blending flight. Any glasses one pace that should not be rushed. Dry goods needs
decides to keep, be sure and mark accordingly and such as labels, corks, capsules and bottles can all
keep off to ones side. be investigated and set up to arrive at the winery
as needed. The winery has a summary of the wine
Now prepare for the next flight to be tasted blind. compositions and the exact blend percentages can
Pull the next flight of library wines to the table to be calculated. This helps one put together a bottling
make the next level of quality for that style. For schedule well into the next 6 months or longer.
example if the first flight was to make a “Meritage
style blend” perhaps the next level will be a Reserve If many wines are remaining, at the end of the
style or Premium blend. Be careful not to use a sessions, with “no home” discuss what some of the
descriptor such as “Regular Cabernet” because potential options are for those wines. Will they
there should be nothing regular about it! It also get better? Should they be offered for bulk sale?
gets many in the winery referring to a blend in a What is the future of the left overs? Will there be
non premium fashion. Taste just as we did before enough cellar space to carry them over the next
{blind and in silence} the next flight of library harvest? Will it hamper the quality of the next har-
wines that correlates to the next wine that will be vest through “forced blending” due to cellar space
focused on and blended. Once the tasting is com- issues?
pleted discuss the wines with the table and start to
focus on the next blend to be made. This process Once this process has been performed several
can be repeated as often as necessary until all the times it will become very systematic. One can per-
wines have been made. Once you are finished with form this process twice a year or more sometimes.
the primary focus wines you can move into another Perform the first blending session in the winter and
quality tier. Depending on the size of the winery another just prior to harvest. This will help “shore
one can work on reds one day and whites the sec- up” loose ends in the cellar and prepare the cellar
ond ( or in the reverse if desired ). If some red wine for the upcoming harvest. The preharvest blending
will be needed to enhance a blush or rose, remem- session is a great time to review fining trials on
ber to hold that back during the previous sessions. wines that may need refinement. One can prepare
these wines well in advance and taste them with
Once the process is complete be sure to compile others, blind, to get a true perspective to the best
all the information and double check the quantities fining agents for a particular refinement.
assigned during the blending session. Do this the
next day if possible. Make copies of the spread- The success of a blending session is based on tast-
sheet and pass them out to the participants and ing the representative wine samples blind. Getting
others at the winery. If a mistake has been made the wines out of the cellar and evaluating them
it is much easier to regroup and find alternatives blind will help assemble blends without bias. Try
while the information is still fresh on the minds of this process and give it at least three sessions over
the team. Sit back and look at the complete picture the next two years. You will find the quality of the
the blending session has drawn for the cellar. Make wines will improve, the cellar team will be informed
sure new product lines were not left out or that the and focused and the complete winery team will all
session will fulfill the year’s sales goals as best as be aware as to the status of the wines. It is the final
possible. touch to the winemaking art form.
This process can be very daunting at first but Wine Blending Checklist
once a system is in place it becomes second nature
like anything else. I like this process because it Objective: To make the best possible blend(s) from
Page 10 The Grapevine • July - August 2015 877-892-5332
