If you are making wine at home, in a commercial setting, or love drinking it, chances are that you’ve had to deal with wine that’s not perfect. Perhaps it was the nutty scent of geranium leaves, the aroma of a glass pour that is pleasantly muted, or the distinct smell of barnyard, or maybe you thought you had poured yourself an entire drink of nail polish remover in error. Whatever your experience might be, it is important to recognize that wines exhibit flaws due to a variety of reasons that are all indicative of something that went wrong in the cellar, vineyard, or transportation period, which is crucial to understanding the process of the winemaking process.
Floral, fresh, and citrus flavors that are crisp and acidic at a low cost are the best Colombard has to offer. (pronounced”Cole-um-bar” or “kahl-um Barrd”). The Colombard grape was one of the extensively planted white grapevines in California until it diminished in the late 80s and the early 90s due to Chardonnay. In terms of a wine labeled as a varietal, Colombard is not as widely available in stores selling wine in the present as it was from 1960 to 1980.
Originating from the Charente region in Southwest France, Colombard is often utilized as a blend wine grape, either for table wines or as a wine base during the process of distillation for Armagnac (brandy). The United States produces an abundant crop that has a value-priced wine, referred to by the name of French Colombard, as well as an essential base wine for distillation and also for use as the base wine for blending with a variety of white wines. Colombard is a great wine to mix with Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Shiraz.
What is the best blend?
You can increase complexity or address balance issues that may be present in the well-crafted but imbalanced wine by mixing. The trick is to find the appropriate wine to blend and then blend them in the correct quantities.
The possibilities for blending are endless. The possibilities for home winemakers are endless, and they do not have to adhere to certain rules of blending, unlike commercial wines. For instance, French red Bordeaux can be blended that contains Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carmenere. In the same way, in Tuscany, Italy, Chianti Classico is limited to blends of approved varieties like Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Syrah to be legally recognized as genuine Chianti Classico by the region’s winemaking laws.
If you are a beginner blender, However, the most effective approach is to try out blends that have been proven to be successful for blending, like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot or Chardonnay and Semillon — based on the combinations you have your hands on. As many novice home winemakers typically work with a single bottle of wine at the same time, this is an ideal opportunity to connect with other winemakers at home to trade wine for mixing. It is also possible to prepare your blends in advance by making smaller quantities of wine from different varieties — whether using fresh juice or grapes or even a kit for wine. (for more details about mixing wine kits, Tim Vandergrift discusses the issue in the following piece). Also, for some charts of common blends and complementary grapes, visit https://winemakermag.com/technique/wine-blending-partners.
Blending safeguards
Blending can be a great method to alter your wine to make it more enjoyable; however, what you should not mix are wines that have defects that are the result of poor winemaking. For instance, If your wine is contaminated with Brettanomyces or has another irreparable flaw, mixing it with a different wine won’t improve the quality of your wine, and you’ll be left with a greater amount of flawed wine.
