I’ve waited for ten months to blend my west coast, California, Cabernet Sauvignon with east coast, Virginia, Tannat. Having family home for my youngest son’s wedding afforded an opportunity to get feedback on potential blends. The wine was to be Cabernet Sauvignon based so I set up four trials with a 10 percent Tannat influence, 20%, 30% and 40%. Family members tasted the different blends and wrote comments about each of them.
The Cabernet Sauvignon without the Tannat added was also excellent. It was a fruit bomb and had a nice dark red color. The tannins were too mild for my liking so the adding of some Tannat made sense. Everyone tasted the 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and a 100% Tannat before tasting the blends. What turned out interesting, to me is that most favored the second blend which was 80 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 20 percent Tannat. Those that didn’t select that blend as their choice selected the 90 percent ten percent blend. I actually liked the 80/20 blend over the others. It offered a black fruit aroma and taste while having good tannins on the fruity finish. The fruit was intense at times and the wine changed while in the mouth to different fruits. Since my thoughts were backed up by the majorit of tasters, I went with the 80/20 blend.
The wine was racked into a carboy and I plan to bottle on Sunday.
The wine we have in barrel at Tin Lizzie Wineworks will be bottled today. I will be at my son’s wedding at the time of bottling, but hope to pick up the wine later during the day.
Cheers,
Terry
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