Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of being part of my nephew Jacob’s wedding. Always a time for celebration and happiness, weddings remind us that blending the fortunes, backgrounds, personalities, cultures, and families of two individuals frequently results in something more complex, interesting, and beautiful than could have been predicted by just imagining a summation of all those things. Not surprisingly (although thankfully not during the wedding ceremony), my thoughts began to drift to an
analogous concept in winemaking.
Single varietal wines and labeling (presenting wines as a single grape variety like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc.) is a very recent development in the history of wine. It’s truly a “New World” phenomenon that started at the end of Prohibition in the United States as a way to encourage California vineyard owners to plant species of vinis vinifera that would be most suited to the micro climates in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Central Coast region, etc. As the American wine culture gained acceptance on the world stage, the practice spread throughout the rest of the New World wine regions (North and South America, South Africa, Australia, etc.) and became firmly established in the wine boom of the 1970s and 80s.
In the Old World (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) the centuries old practice of presenting wine by it’s regional name still maintains, with a few exceptions. For example, wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France is a blend of five or six (typically) grape varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Carmenere (although Malbec and Carmenere are used less and less these days). Each of these varietals lends its own particular character to the final blend of the wine. While the blend itself can vary – wines produced on the Left Bank of the Gironde are primarily Cabernet based and wines produced on the Right Bank are primarily Merlot based, for example – all wines produced in the region under strict laws insuring quality and consistency are presented as Bordeaux.
And don’t even get me started about Chateauneuf du Pape! Traditionally, there are 13 grape varieties used in that region!
Even in regions where the wine is single varietal wine, the labeling is still by region. For example in France’s Burgundy region, red wines are typically single varietal Pinot Noir and white wines are single varietal Chardonnay. However AOC rules (the governing rules of wine labeling/production in France) prohibit labeling the wines by the varietal. They are presented as . . . . Burgundy.
Long before the complex blending rules evolved in Europe and in other parts of the world where the blend is driven not by law but by decades or even centuries of experimentation to insure the finest wine producible in a given region, blending was more a matter of practical husbandry than artistic expression. For much of its history, wine was simply a product of “field blending” where vine growers would harvest whatever was in their fields without much attention to varietal (largely because they had no way of distinguishing among varietals). The blend was driven by whatever grapes thrived in that particular location. In terms of the Creator-generated conditions of the region, it was a specific blend, but in terms of the wine maker it was purely a matter of chance.
A few modern wine-makers still find success with field blends. This year, Lisa and I (along with friends Chat and Sonya York) visited David Coffaro’s winery in Dry Creek Valley California. Coffaro left San Francisco in 1979 and bought 20 acres in what was then a pretty remote area. For the first several years he sold his vineyard production to Ernest and Julio Gallo. In the mid 1990s, however, he ventured into winemaking. Today he produces about 5-7,000 cases per year and tries to maintain that using all estate grown fruit (in lean years he has to outsource a bit).
He has his twenty acres mapped out to the specific row in terms of varietals grown. You can see his vineyard map at http://www.coffaro.com/diary/diarypics/vineyardmap.pdf. From these varietals, he typically blends (by his own sense of taste) to get just the right final product. However, he also annually produces a wine called Block 4 which is a “field blend” of the varietals grown in that section of the vineyard. As you might imagine from year to year the yield of the vines in Block 4 varies so the exact makeup of the wine changes with each vintage. We bought a couple of bottles of 2010’s Block 4 and it was a reminder that sometimes Nature is the best winemaker! It was delicious!
The truth is that many “single varietal” wines from California actually have at least a couple of varietals blended. Federal law only requires that 75% of the wine in a bottle be consistent with the varietal on the label, so that Cab you had for dinner last night with your steak may have had as much as 25% of one or more other varietals. For example, a winemaker will often add Merlot to a Cabernet to give a bit of silkiness and a softer mouth feel to the normally stern Cab. Malbec adds even more complexity and interest. In the end, you get a much more interesting and drinkable wine.
So whether you depend on Mother Nature to determine the final ratio in a “field blend” or you trust a favorite winemaker to express him/herself through the art of the blend in the winery, enjoy the fact that the whole of a blend is usually much more than jus the sum of its parts. And that’s what I believe to be true about marriage, Jacob and Klacie. So enjoy
these next several years of barrel- and bottle-aging. You’re both bringing some very strong, interesting, and beautiful characteristics to this blend. Over time we will all look forward to the wonderfully complex and intense wine that your marriage will become. And when you’re ready, we’ll discuss this further over a nice bottle from my collection I’m saving just for you guys !