Figuring out your blend?

I have three varietals that I will be bottling next month. Do you have an established process that you use to determine the best blending / combinations % ?

Ya know, I have not tried this. But I sit here looking at your post thinking how bad my head would hurt the next day. Only way I can see to do it is by bench trial. If you do it that way, make sure you keep track of what you like. Try it again the next day as the first drink. If you like it then great. Think I would wait a few days and mix another and try it as the first drink of the day. Then mix and bottle. One other way might be if there is a commercial wind blend you like, use their blend and see how you like it with your wines. Wouldn't be quite as hard on the hangover. Arne.

a methodical method bench trial is assuming wine A and wine B, do the following, 10%A90%B, 20%A80%B, 30%A70%B, etc once at 50/50 reverse go hi with A and low with B.

salcoco said:

a methodical method bench trial is assuming wine A and wine B, do the following, 10%A90%B, 20%A80%B, 30%A70%B, etc once at 50/50 reverse go hi with A and low with B.

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I have three that I'll be blending in another month. (Cab/Syrah/Petite Sirah) I have a predominantly Cab blend in mind originally, but as I've been tasting them along the way, I'm switching it up and going heavy on the Syrah. Was also thinking 5-8% PS, but now may go as high as 12 or 15%.

In short, I think Sal's answer is a very good one, but the ultimate solution depends on the wines.

Thanks for the replies. I have 60 gallons of Zin, 25 gallons of Mourvedre and 1 gallon on Petit Verdot that I made from grapes. I'm looking to improve the Zin, which is a bit light; 23.6 brix. The Mourvedre is big for a Ved; pulled 35 gallons of juice out of the must to make a rose. So, I'm thinking 10-25% of Ved with the Zin and the season to taste with the Verdot.

Do you do it blind? Do you do it with a number of people? I like the idea of revisiting the choice the next day.

any blend you determine in your test trials should be made, say about a bottles worth and observed over a month. some blends will cause sediment and thus the observation time.
although taste is the prevalent indicator on the blend some measurements are in order to see if acid or ph adjustments should help in establishing the blend. the method I proposed above is again methodical in its inception and should cover all the bases.