Blending commercial wine with buckets

[globalnavigator]

I've read on these forums the recommendation to top off carboys (when needed) with similar but not crap wine. Has anyone ever experimented with topping or blending with very good wine? As an example, if I take my Italian 6-gallon bucket of "Brunello" and add 3 or 4 bottles of "92 point" commercial Brunello Di Montalcino, would I even notice it much? At $20/bottle, it would add $2 or $3 to the price of each bottle. Could it be worth it? In addition, would it affect the finished product in any other way besides taste?

Thanks for any info!

 

[winemaker81]

My first thought? Nope. A cheap wine will bring a decent wine down farther than a good wine will improve it, e.g., flaws make themselves evident more than equivalent improvements.

It's easy enough to test -- divide your wine in half and put into 3 gallon carboys. Top one with a "92 point" $20 bottle, and top the other with a good tasting $10 bottle. A year later the extra nose and flavors that make the "92" worth it, won't be all that evident when divided among 15 bottles.

YMMV

 

[Sailor323]

I sure wouldn't waste the $20 Brunello on a kit wine. Further, why do you need to add 2-3 bottles of wine? I never have to use more than a half bottle of wine to top up and figure that small amount would have minimal effect on the final wine

 

[tullamore]

agree with Sailor323 - keep ur $20 beans-if u have other bottles u made use those