Blending wine at home: what is it, types, step-by-step process, terms

The process of wine blending is the blending of juices from different grape varieties. The result of the combination is an improvement in taste characteristics by softening astringency, reducing acidity, imparting aroma, eliminating a sharp aftertaste.

What is a blended wine?

Blended wines are made from a mixture of juices from different cultures. It is rational to produce these types of alcoholic beverages due to the wide flavor variety of berries and fruits, their changing chemical composition, differences in taste and shades.

The need for a blend is due to the fact that when growing grapes there are always differences in climate, soil type, weather conditions, the degree of ventilation of fruits and other factors. Even picking berries from the same vineyard on different days affects their maturity and sugar content. When growing grapes on a large scale, in practice it is impossible to ensure the same conditions for the entire crop. As a result, the berries acquire different organoleptic properties, differ in taste and aroma.

When making wine at home, you can independently think over the composition of the blend depending on individual taste preferences. It is allowed to mix both juices of different fruits and ready-made wine materials. For example, pear wine has little flavor and needs to be blended with a sweeter blend. Too sugary drinks can be diluted with sour and tart so that the taste is pleasant and not harsh.

What kinds are there

All blended wines are classified into several varieties. Each category has individual characteristics. You can make any kind of blend yourself, so you should familiarize yourself with the nuances of all options.

Blend

The term blend or blend in its original meaning means any combination of wine-growing grape varieties. The concept was introduced to the masses by British merchants back in the 19th century and was applied to the varieties themselves and the drinks made from them. A blend is used to make the taste of wine more intense and bright, as well as to add aroma and texture to the drink. The main purpose of blending is to combine the characteristics of several varieties and balance them with each other.

It is allowed not only to mix red varieties with red, but white with white. In practice, there are cases of combining red wines with whites. A common example is the French blend Côte Roti from the Rhone Valley.

This wine is made by blending white Viognier with red Syrah.

Vintage wine blends

A blend becomes vintage if it is obtained by combining several varieties of berries harvested within one year. For example, if an alcoholic drink is made from Merlot and Shiraz varieties obtained in the same year. There are also specimens containing a set of more than ten varieties. A prominent representative is the wine Chateauneuf du Pape from 13 varieties.

Non-vintage blends

Some of the wines, including sparkling and port wines, are made from grapes harvested in different years. The main task in creating a drink in this case is to balance aromas, tannins and other qualities that affect the final taste of the product. Non-vintage blends, as a rule, contain a special NV (non-vintage) marking.In addition, there is no mark on the label indicating the year of harvest. Most often there are non-vintage sparkling and tart wines, but this technique is also relevant when creating still varieties.

How to blend homemade wine

The composition of the blend at home is determined taking into account your own taste and the availability of raw materials. There are several ways to make blended wine, which have a number of comparative differences. The first way is as follows:

1. First, set the number of berries of all varieties required to make a blend. Berries are weighed, mixed with each other and crushed.
2. The juice is separated from the crushed mass by straining and the acidity and sweetness indicators are evaluated.
3. If necessary, adjust the taste by adding water, sugar and acid, after which the drink is left to ferment.

The considered method is considered simple, but it has significant negative sides. The inconvenience lies in the fact that the berries of the desired varieties do not always ripen at the same time. In addition, the fruits always give a different amount of juice, so a lot of unsqueezed juice remains in the crushed grape mass. To solve the problem, you can heat the pulp or wait for it to ferment, but some of the fruits can form mucus because of this.

According to the second method, the required amount of juice is obtained from berries of different varieties separately. After collecting the juice, the sugar content and acidity are determined and the taste is also corrected separately. Then the must is prepared from the liquids, depending on what kind of wine is to be made - sweet, strong or table. Ready wort is combined in one container with each other and left for fermentation.

The advantage of the second method is the ability to use fruits that ripen in different periods.The must obtained from one variety can be added to the fermenting must of another. In this case, mixing is possible even at the end of the fermentation process. When fresh must enters the already fermenting must, the process is actively resumed, and beneficial yeast destroys harmful fungi. Due to this, new fermentation is always faster and does not require the addition of yeast wiring.

The third method involves mixing not must and juices, but already fully prepared wines. The main disadvantage of this variant is that the result of mixing some wines is a bad taste due to the incompatibility of flavors.

As a result, long-term aging for 3-5 years is required to obtain a quality alcoholic beverage.

Terms and conditions of storage of the finished product

It is recommended to use opaque glass bottles to store home blended wine.The containers are pre-washed and dried, after which the drink is poured inside and corked. Next, the bottles are wrapped in a cloth and immersed in hot water at a temperature of 60 degrees for 20 minutes. After pulling the containers out of the water, you can put them in a permanent storage place. The subsequent storage conditions of blends do not differ from the storage of ordinary wine. From among the suitable places, one can single out a cellar, a special refrigerator or a closet.

The shelf life of homemade blends depends on environmental conditions, selected grape varieties and production characteristics. If classic wines created under professional conditions have an unlimited shelf life, then homemade drinks are ways not to lose their taste and aroma characteristics for 5-7 years.

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