Red wines from the grocery store or any wines that fall into a “drink now” category can benefit from 15-20 minutes in the decanter before consuming. Of course, the amount of decanting time is up to personal preference. How Long Do You Let A Red Blend Wine Breath? If your red blend wine is a Bordeaux, Claret, Cateauneuf-du-Pape, or other dry red wine blend, the recommended service temperature is 60 F to 65 F. If your favorite red blend wine is slightly sweet, it might taste better at 45 F to 55 F than at warmer temperatures. Wine enthusiasts who want a “drink-now” or readily available sweet red wine made in the US can try Apothic, Menage a Trois, or Cupcake Red Velvet. In fact, many domestic red wine blends in the grocery store or big box stores under the $20 price point likely contain some residual sugar to lure in the sweet tooth. Sweet wine words to look for are “jammy',’ “juicy,” and “lucious.” At What Temperature Should Red Blend Wines Be Served? It’s also worthwhile to note that blending can add complexity that is not present in a single variety. By blending wines made from different varieties, the winemaker can combine the best aspects of two or three grape varieties into one final product. Inexpensive red blend wines typically have a target taste profile, allowing the winemaker to adapt the recipe with several varieties to yield a consistent product year after year. The increasingly popular types of red wine blends on the market now have leveraged this age-old technique to make wines that appeal to consumers who want something that they can drink now.īlended wines may taste more homogenous. Many consumers like the predictability of a wine flavor that they are used to consuming with other homogeneous products from the grocery store. Traditionally, wines have been blended to ensure that there are sufficient levels of alcohol, acidity, tannin, and fruit extract that will increase the likelihood for aging ability, ensuring that the wine will have interesting flavors years from now, Or in the New World, a red blend wine like Cooper & Thief Wines might be made of Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and other red blenders like Carignan. The red wine blend might be made potentially of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petite Verdot, and Carmenere, as prescribed in Bordeaux. If the wine is not blended in accordance with these specifications, it can be labeled more generically as “table wine.”Ī red wine blend can theoretically be made of any combination of red grape varieties.

In many wine regions, there are laws requiring that wine be comprised of specific grape varieties and be a blend. Red Wine Blends Are Required by Regulatory Bodies As a result, they can still make wine and maintain their bottom line. Hail, frost, pests, and rain can impact different varieties differently throughout the season. Producers might lose most of the crop of one variety but still have enough fruit from three or more varieties. The same goes for grape growers. Growers may plant multiple varieties on their land to spread out the natural risks of farming. In most farming - and grape growing is just another type of farming - risk can be managed by growing more than one crop, thus ensuring harvest. Multiple Grape Varieties Increase Fiscal Sustainability There are several reasons why vignerons may grow multiple grape varieties and then use them to produce a red wine blend. The top reasons are fiscal sustainability and compliance with regulatory bodies. Cabernet Sauvignon meets Merlot, Merlot meets Malbec, Tempranillo meets Graciano, and so on. What Is A Red Wine BlendĪ red wine blend is any red wine that is not made with one specific variety, like Syrah. Instead, the wine blends two different varieties. Join is as we break down the red blend wine world, from grape varieties to the wine making process to calories. These wines have increased in popularity as many wine lovers like inexpensive, fruit-forward, low acidity, easy drinking wines. Red wine blend producers also know that Americans also have a soft spot for sweets, so these inexpensive red wines often have residual sugar.īut wait, aren’t some of the most famous and expensive red wines (like Bordeaux, Rhone and cult Napa Wines like Opus One) also red blends? Well, yes. Red wine blends are one of the largest wine categories in the United States.

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