It's all in the mix

Here’s what happened when our wine correspondent was asked to blend his own Shiraz,

IT IS OFTEN said that the greatest skill a winemaker can possess is the ability to blend. You may not realise it, but just about every wine you drink has gone through some sort of blending process. Blending by grape variety is the most common, but all sorts of other less obvious forms are also practised. Different rows of Sauvignon grapes may be picked up to four weeks apart, the younger grapes adding aroma and acidity, those harvested later adding richness and fat. A percentage of a wine may go through a different process, such as malo-lactic fermentation, oak-ageing, or lees-stirring. A Cabernet Sauvignon can have up to 15 per cent of other grape varieties added, without mentioning it on the label. Most wines, unless they are from a single vineyard, are blends of different wines from a variety of soils. The great wines of Bordeaux are assembled from a selection of hundreds of different barrels, each bringing something new to the party. In fact, most of the world’s great traditional wines are blends of one sort or another, including Port, Sherry, Bordeaux and Champagne.

Most blending is usually done to improve quality, the idea being that the sum is greater than the various parts. It can also be an exercise in economics. Most producers will have a pretty good idea of how much they can expect to receive for their wine. They will tailor their product to fit that price, and blending is one way of adjusting quality and cost. A dollop of something classy added to a cheaper wine can help lift it out of the ordinary.

You may not be familiar with Yellow Tail or [yellow tail] as it is labelled, but it is one of the most successful wine brands in the world at present, having grown from nothing to sales of 11.5 million cases (that is some 138 million bottles) in the short space of six years. It now represents 10 per cent of Australia’s annual crush, and 20 per cent of total wine exports.

The Casella family emigrated from Italy after the second World War. Having previously supplied bulk wine to other producers, they decided to create their own brand in 2001. The story goes that John Casella was on his way to the US with samples of his wine, but did not know what to call it. Before leaving, he met the representative of a company called JAW (or Just Add Wine) who came up with the simple logo. Casella arrived in America at a perfect time. The brand leaders had either increased their prices, or were going through takeover turmoil. It was also just after the Sydney Olympics. Yellow Tail was an overnight success.

The Yellow Tail logo seen on all bottles and advertisements features a wallaby. Its success has led to a series of copycat products, known as “Critter Wines”, because they feature animals on the label. Apparently studies have shown that we are much more likely to buy wines that have pictures of creatures of some sort on the label. Younger consumers also favour simple, easy-to-read labels.

Chief winemaker Alan Kennett is in charge of the onerous task of blending the Yellow Tail wines. In a wine of this style, consistency is all important. He recently brought various components of one of their best-selling wines, Yellow Tail Shiraz, to Dublin. Along with others from the wine trade, I was asked to create my own blend, within a carefully restricted price range. We were given four sample bottles of wine: one of Riverina Shiraz, one of Barossa Valley Shiraz, one of Limestone Coast Shiraz, an “oak” wine, and a bottle of grape concentrate.

Riverina is the workhorse of the Australian wine industry, a hot irrigated region that supplies the bulk end of the market. Anything that is labelled South East Australia is likely to contain a very large percentage from Riverina. The wines tend to be soft, ripe and supple, for early drinking. Riverina Shiraz is the most plentiful, and the cheapest to buy. Barossa and Limestone Coast are cooler regions, producing lower yields of finer, fresher and more structured wines, often with relatively high levels of tannin. Toasted oak nuggets had been added to the oak wine, giving it very strong flavours of chocolate, spice and toast. Grape concentrate is used to sweeten commercial wines.

We were given graduated cylinders and pipettes; our task was to blend these components together to form a perfect wine. Too much of the expensive Barossa or Limestone Coast would take us over budget; by itself, the oak wine was barely drinkable but in small quantity it added that oaky flavour I am told we all desire. Around 1 per cent of the concentrate took the edge off the wine; any more and we were in Liebfraumilch territory. The selected formulas all contained 50-55 per cent Riverina Shiraz, around 20 per cent each of Barossa and Limestone Coast Shiraz, 5-7 per cent oak wine, and 1 per cent grape concentrate. However, it was interesting to note that varying one component by as little as 2 per cent could change the wine dramatically.

Along with the Yellow Tail Shiraz, I feature one from both Barossa and Limestone Coast this week, so you can taste the difference for yourselves. In addition, there is one Shiraz (or Syrah) from the Northern Rhône.