Blending

Question 1

What characteristics of wines can be blended together?

Answer 1

• grape varieties
• growing locations
• grape growers
• vintages
• winemaking techniques
• wines from multiple vessels

Question 2

Why is blending used in winemaking?

Answer 2

• balance
• complexity

-style

• minimization of faults
• volume
• price

Question 3

How can blending be used to give balance to a wine?

Answer 3

• blending can increase or moderate characteristics to achieve balance
• acidity, tannin, abv levels can all be balanced with careful blending

Question 4

How can blending be used to give consistency to wines?

Answer 4

• blending can be used to ensure that bottle variation is minimized
• it can also be used to ensure consistency across different years, i.e. Sherry and NV sparkling wine

Question 5

How can blending be used to meet style requirements of a wine?

Answer 5

Blending is very important in reaching certain styles. Winemakers may want to make a house style or certain quality levels within a range.

Rose wines can be produced by blending red and white wines together in certain regions and countries.

Question 6

How can blending be used to give complexity to wines?

Answer 6

Blending different wines together can increase complexity by adding flavors together. Increased complexity is desirable in wines.

Question 7

How can blending be used to reduce faults in wines?

Answer 7

By blending certain clean wine with wines with a fault, the fault can be diluted below the perceptible level.

Question 8

Why is blending important for volume?

Answer 8

If an area has many small vineyard holdings, winemakers will need to blend wines from different vineyards to produce viable volumes.

In addition, in poor years, winemakers may need to buy extra grapes or wines and blend them in to get a viable volume of wine.

Question 9

Why might a winemaker choose not to blend grape varieties or parcels of wine?

Answer 9

To maintain the character of a fruit or quality of wine from a single vineyard (reputation).

Some varieties have distinctive character, which might be diluted if blended, e.g. Riesling

Question 10

When is blending carried out?

Answer 10

Blending can be performed at any point of the winemaking process, but most commonly happens at the end of the process before stabilization and packaging.

Question 11

Why is blending carried out before stabilization?

Answer 11

Blending can potentially increase or decrease instabilities, so stabilization requirements will change after blending.