Blended Wines

New wine lovers soon come across the concept of blended wines. At the basic level, there are two types of wine, 'blended' or 'varietal'. Varietal wines are made from a single grape variety, while blended wines are made using two or more types of grapes.

The most obvious example is the difference between the two great red wine styles of France. Burgundy's red wine is made of the single variety Pinot noir. Bordeaux's red wines are most often blends of up to five varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. There are a few Bordeaux wines made from a single variety, but they are the exceptions that prove the rule.

So much for the basics. The distinction between varietal and blended wines is less clear in the real world. Many varietal wines are made from blends of the same grape varietal, but grown in different regions. In order to have a consistent product many wineries buy grapes from different growers. Samples from many vineyards are tasted and evaluated before the final blend is decided upon. The result is a blend of regions, rather than varieties.

Many Australian wines are regional blends. Rather than making wine from each vineyard and marketing each, resources are pooled and the marketing can work just one label. The process of selecting the blend is much more simplified. The clue on the label is often the words "wine of South Eastern Australia". This is almost as general a statement as you can make about the origins of a wine and is a 'dead give away' of regional blending.

Some wines made from a single variety are blends of several different vintages. While this is quite rare for table wines, the wines would be labeled 'NV' for no vintage. This is standard practice for most big 'label' Champagnes, which, by the way, are typically also varietal blends of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay.

To complicate matters many wines bearing a single varietal name can in fact legally contain up to fifteen percent of other varieties without listing them on the label. Unless it is clearly stated, most often there are small amounts of other varietals in almost all wines.

If the wine is labeled as a blend, then the variety with the largest percentage composition should be named first, for example wine labeled Cabernet/Merlot, should have more Cabernet than Merlot.

In the United States most wines are single varietals, and they almost are expected to be so. Many new wine drinkers like a particular grapes and order their wine that way. Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot or Pinot Noir are almost synonymous with a particular style of wine. Blended wines are not "second class" wines. More often than not, they are actually the better wines as the winemakers carefully selected the blend to achieve a certain taste and structure in the wine.

Marilena Barbera, Winemaker at Cantine Barbera

The town of Menfi is located about 40 southwest of Palermo on the northern west coast of Sicily. It is an amazing valley formed by the Belice River, which flows slowly into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. The picturesque scenery of sandy dunes covered with dwarf palms and sea lilies is only a few steps from the magnificent Greek temples of Selinunte, which are the perfect background for focused and sustainable agriculture.

This is where Cantine Barbera began in the early 1960s to experiment with more modern and precise viticulture techniques. A passionate and far-seeing entrepreneur, Pietro Barbera started the winery by first reclaiming a vast alluvial area in the DOC Menfi territory and planting new vineyards with selected varieties that would best adapt to the land's micro-climatic conditions. As a wine lover and collector, he then started with natural and sustainable winemaking techniques using only grapes grown in the estate, Tenuta Belicello.

More than twenty years ago he built a winery, designed as a Mediterranean home, where the traditional layout is revisited in a more contemporary outline. Wide windows towards the sea let the sunlight freely soak inside, where everything is absolutely white, made to synthesize and amplify all the colors of the rainbow outside and create an immediate reference to Sicily's magnificent landscape. It is an incredible place, fresh and delicate like a summer breeze; warm and deep like the blue Sicilian sea.

Old people of the area use to say that the vines "take a nap" in winter. During the winter months, the sap runs slower into the shoots and the vines recover from their summer life cycle. It is a very important quiet time for the vineyards that allows a good vegetative start in spring.

Winegrowers have to work hard to help the vines regenerate: pruning is a long and arduous operation, performed manually by diligent farm hands. It is an ancient work, where experience is essential to understand the vigor of each vine in order to give the correct shape to the branches and balance the future fruit production with vegetative growth.

Marilena Barbera, Pietro's daughter, is the proprietor and winemaker today at the small family winery Cantine Barbera. She carries on her dad's commitment to produce quality wines with only estate grown grapes and believes in the magic of making wine in a fully sustainable way. Using indigenous yeasts for fermentation she takes pride in her wines not to contain GMO's and to have very low levels of sulfites. She shuns modern techniques like concentration or micro-oxygenation, and stabilizes the wines only using cold temperatures. Filtration is done with natural cellulose layers composted after use. All processes are constantly monitored to preserve the quality and full traceability of the wines, never losing sight of environmental respect and protection.

Marilena caters with her wines to people who care about food and about the way it is produced, who are interested in the traditional culture that is beyond a bottle of good wine, who respect the work that winegrowers do to achieve quality, and to make the pleasure of wine possible everyday.

You can meet Marilena in Brandon at the Café Provençe this Friday, 24th, at a wine tasting from 5:30 to 6:30pm and join her for an informal dinner afterwards.

Tagged: Wine, Wine Experiments, Mediterranean, Cantine Barbera, Brandon, Cafe Provence

Published in Mt.Times June 21, 2011

Summer Wines

As we celebrate the independence of our nation this weekend, many pull out the BBQ for the 'official' start of the summer season. Whether you need to dust off the old grill or whether it's already out in use for a while despite all the ducky weather we've been experiencing, let's hope for a more 'traditional' summer with hot and dry conditions.

So it's also the 'official' start for 'summer wines' to go along with high temperatures and outdoor cooking. My first choice for the really hot summer afternoons must be 'Vinho Verde' from Portugal. It's light and dry with low alcohol and so refreshing when served ice cold, as it usually even says on the label. The name literally means 'green wine', though it does not look green, and can even be a red or rosé, but refers to its youthfulness that often shows a slight green shine at the edge in the glass. It is intended to be drunk young to enjoy the freshness of this lightly effervescent wine. Not enough bubbles to be called sparkling, it shows a nice natural acidity with fruity or floral aromas. The best one out there is Casal Garcia, but there are others that are just as refreshing.

Another favorite is a nice and dry rosé from southern France or Italy. The French have usually a bit more of a dryness that relates better to light food, the Italian often have a little bit more fruitiness, making it a bit more easy to drink by itself. Technically, a rosé is 'unfinished' red wine, made from red grapes whose maceration is cut short. Maceration is the process in winemaking where the skins, seeds and stems leach the flavor and color compounds into the must (or freshly pressed grape juice that's supposed to turn into wine). Rosé's are a lot lighter than their red siblings, but have much of the same characteristics of the grape varietals.
Most are intended to be made into rosé's for it's refreshingly lighter and less alcoholic qualities.

Just like red and white wines, rosés can have different styles - sweet or dry, dark or light - the winemaker and grape variety (or varieties as rosés are often blended) make the difference. 'Pink' wines have delicious character and are perfect for food. For dryer styles of rosé, try those from Southern France and Spain, for the sweeter styles; look for White Zinfandel and some other California rosé makers. Most will show strawberry or raspberry notes that are just perfect for this time of year.

But for the serious burger or steak coming off the smoky grill, look for a smoky wine to really enhance the experience. For the summer outdoor meal I prefer something not quite so tannic and complex, kind of mild in acidity but rich in earthy and dark flavors. A mild red from South Africa comes to mind. Most famous is Pinotage, if you can stomach it. It can often be over the top 'earthy'. But there are blended wines from South Africa that come across pleasantly mild. Try the Graham Beck blend of shiraz and cabernet for example, with a rich plumy character with hints of exotic spices and attractive mocha and chocolate flavors to complement the smokiness.

Often a Carmenère from Chile will exhibit much of the same flavors and is worth a try for something different. With a pungent and leathery, yet lean freshness that isn't at all offensive look for the. Araucano Carmenère. It nicely shows the variety's sauciness. Snappy and tight!

(Published in The Mountain Times on July 5, 2011)