Band Chemistry in Wine Making

Band chemistry- Talent and ego.

Are they all going to get along in there?
Blending two or more wines together with the goal of making a wine better than any of the individual lots is a long established practice. In Bordeaux red wines there are 5 different varieties allowed and in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape of the Rhone region there are 13! Why do this? Well in the case of some Rhone wines for example the Grenache variety may be wonderful in terms of it aromas and soft raspberry/strawberry flavors, but weak in body and length.

The Syrah may be dense, chewy and decadent in the finish, but lack aromatics and the fruit attack at the front palate. Put the two together in some ratio and the result is a wine with the best of both worlds. The % of each to add is where the challenge is. You rarely if ever get it right on the first try. Practice makes perfect and eventually enough scenarios are experienced that a winemaker has an idea of what to do. An example we see often is, if a wine is lacking in tannin, it may be best to add a small amount of the tannic wine (2-5%) to the base blend rather than shooting for the moon (25-50%). You can always try to add another 2 to 5% if the first trial has failed. Intuition can be your best friend or it can lead you in the wrong direction. Blend two good wines together and get a great wine right? Not always, because the complexity of the chemistry is an honest rush hour tangle of compounds it is not always going to end up where it should according to what is on paper.

That is why you have to smell and taste again and again to give a chance at arriving at the best destination. Blending is like band practice. The individual talents and egos of the band members need to meet up and jam together until they all understand their respective strengths. Once those roles are understood and respected teamwork emerges. This synergy can bolster the bands identity as each individual knows when to take center stage or shift to play a supporting role. Finding the right combination with the sometimes bull-headed personalities can be a strain. However, with patience, when the moment occurs when things click and sound right all around the room there is a confidence found and at this point the raw materials are together. Then it is near time to share this discovery with the world outside.

part two of three - More From Mark to Follow :)

Read more on the connections between wine and music