Blending recomendation-questions

[davewaz]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I have two red wines, 6 gallons each, currently bulk aging and I'm thinking of blending a decent portion of them together come bottling time in a couple of months. I have a RJS Grand Cru Select Tannat Merlot w/grapepack which will be at 8 months come blending time. I also have a Chilean Malbec made from juice which will have aged 6 months at the time of bottling. My question being the first time I've blended is, do I rack both into the fermentation bucket equally and gently stir? Do you have any remondendations for a percentage of each or is 50/50 probably the best?
Any tips or pointers would be apprectiate.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[Runningwolf]

Dave I do this fairly often. Good job aging them separately. I would get about four different flasks with some kind of scale on them (ml or ounces). Try a different ratio in each one (25/75, 50/50, 75/25 etc). See which one you like the best and the tweak that one to your liking. Now try to put that same ratio into a new carboy. With the wine you have left you can either do another blend or bottle them separate and you'll have three different wines.

When I bottled Niagara/Cayuga I did one batch 20/80 and the other batch 80/20 of the two blends. Both excellent wines with two different tastes.

It always helps to have your spouse and a few friends that regularly drink your wine present to offer opinions also. Make a party of it.

 

[mmadmikes1]

don't get to many friends or you wont have anything left to blend