Offbeat Blends
Courtesy of
30 Second Wine Advisor
By
Robin GarrWhat's your pleasure, single-varietal wines or
blends?
Though it's a frequent topic for discussion, one that kicked off
a happy debate on one of our recent
Internet Radio TalkShoe programs, this may be one of the wine
questions that has no absolute answer.
Lined up on one side of the issue we have such powerful
contenders as Burgundy, made from 100 percent Pinot Noir for the
reds and 100 percent of Chardonnay for the whites; quality Riesling
from Germany's Rhine and Mosel valleys, where blending with other
grapes is unheard-of; and the long-standing tradition of
100-percent-varietal Cabernet Sauvignon in California's Napa Valley
and Sonoma.
On the other side, however, the competitors are just as keen:
Just to name a few world-class blended wines with many centuries of
heritage we have Bordeaux from France (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Cabernet Franc and more); Tuscany's Chianti (Sangiovese, Canaiolo
and more); the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blends of the Southern
Rhone, and the growing niche of California Bordeaux-style blends
sometimes labeled with the registered trademark "Meritage."
Many who love single-varietal wines hail their tendency to
display the natural character of the grape, at its best accented by
the terroir that's unique to the place where it's grown. Under this
line of thinking, blending grapes may "muddy" the wine's flavor,
creating a potpourri with diminished individual personality.
Blending advocates, conversely - and there are plenty of them -
assert that a savvy wine maker can bring together disparate elements
to make a blended wine that exceeds the sum of its parts.
The primacy of both Burgundy and Bordeaux in the world of wine
suggests that both sides have a strong point.
But the blends we're talking about here generally boast a long
history and many generations of experience; wine blends that have
stood the test of time.
How about more offbeat and experimental blends, combinations of
varieties that spring from the wine maker's creative spirit rather
than tradition?
In my experience, these new blends have to be judged on their own
merits. Some succeed and, over time, become accepted because they
work. Certainly some Australian Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz blends
have become justly popular, and the folks at California's Caymus
have found a ready market for their Conundrum, a sweet, full-bodied
white blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Canelli, Viognier, Chardonnay
and others.
New white blends of Sauvignon Blanc, Tocai Friulano and other
Northeastern Italian whties are becoming popular in Friuli-Venezia
Giulia, and some of them can be splendid. Perhaps the wackiest blend
I've ever tasted came from that region, a blend of more than 500
varieties made in the small city of Cividale as a charitable fund-
raising venture; although it's not meant as a serious blend, it's
fun, with Muscat seeming to out-shout the rest of its very large
chorus.
Most of the classic single-varietal wines, though - particularly
Riesling and Pinot Noir - are rarely seen in blends, perhaps
testifying to an inherent quality that requires no salt, pepper,
herbs or spices to improve them.
Still, I'm a sucker for new blends and rarely loath to try an
offbeat combination just to see what it's like.
This open-minded approach paid off over the weekend in one of
this month's California Wine Club Connoisseurs' Series bottles, a
Napa Valley red wine named "Antaeus" from the respected Storybook
Mountain Vineyards, a producer best-known for its excellent,
ageworthy Zinfandels.
Antaeus ("Ahn-tay-us"), named after the son of water and earth in
Greek mythology, is an odd blend that I don't believe I've ever
encountered before: Alost 60 percent is Zinfandel; the remainder is
a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a
little Petit Verdot. In the glass it's very stylish indeed, no
"muddy" blend but a well-balanced if robust representation of
Zinfandel on the palate and California Cabernet blend on the nose
and in the finish.
It's an offbeat blend, but it works. My tasting notes are below,
along with another Connoisseurs' Series selection for the current
month, a fine Pinot Noir from Byron in the Santa Maria Valley. |
