GSM Blend Substitute...?

[winemaker81]

I've always made wine by the demijohn.

How big is a demijohn? Based upon batch size, it sounds like it's 10-12 US gallons. I have a 54 liter demijohn, which is 14.25 US gallons.

If you can make a demijohn of each variety, that gives you more to work with.

I doubt home winemakers have done a direct comparison between field blending and post-aging blending, due to capacity. To compare apples-to-apples, the wines would have to be treated the same, e.g., all in barrels of the same type and approximate age (or for neutral barrels, equivalent amounts of oak adjuncts). Working with a single blended batch is much easier than dealing with 3 or 4 independent batches.

Intuition is good for those with enough experience to have developed intuition. That's one reason I started the Red Blending thread, to provide folks with starting points for their blends.

 

[Ajmassa]

How big is a demijohn? Based upon batch size, it sounds like it's 10-12 US gallons. I have a 54 liter demijohn, which is 14.25 US gallons.

x6 36lb lugs or 216lbs would give about 21gal of must. 70% yield is just about 15gal I use them too but went with 7-8lugs for more wiggle room.

And @Jbu50 I had that same thought with Petite Verdot/Sirah. . Definitely not a bad idea especially if your making 4 demijohns per season. A little goes a long way. Any lack of body from the Mourvèdre dilemma would be a non-issue.

 

[winemaker81]

x6 36lb lugs or 216lbs would give about 21gal of must. 70% yield is just about 15gal I use them too but went with 7-8lugs for more wiggle room.

You're right, my math was off.

 

[AaronSC]

If you really want something Mourvedre-like I agree that Carignan might be the best bet, perhaps with a bit of Alicante blended in for body (very small amount since a little goes a long way). That said I don't think you will be in any way replicating Mourvedre, and I don't think you really should. If you think about the classic Rhone blend, Grenache provides the elegance and bright fruit (plus it's easy to grow and produces fruit reliably in many dry and windy locations), Syrah provides the dark deep fruit, tannin and color. Mourvedre for me is magic in a blend (much like people describe PV, though it is different in almost every way). Mourvedre on its own can be a bit too much, but it essentially improves everything it's blended with -and not just Rhone grapes. That's why it's hard to say what the real contribution is -yes, it adds body, mouthfeel and depth, but (to me at least) it tends to recede while making the other grapes shine.

I usually approach blends with the idea that I'm going to make such and such a combination for historical or geographic reasons, but they rarely stay that way when I start tasting the candidates. My two favorite reds I made in 2020 were 1) Tempranillo, Barbera, Zinfandel and a tiny bit of Muscat and 2) Franc, Mourvedre and Malbec (the so-called "devil's three-way"). I definitely didn't start out thinking this would be the way to go until I tasted the combinations.

I realize this may not help too much since you are planning one wine while I just bought six different grapes and fermented them separately until blending time, but I think it's really hard to know what a new combination will taste like until you try it.

 

[Jbu50]

Alicante.

But, what exactly is this mysterious grape? It is readily available at the local distributors and very popular amongst old school. Does it really give body? Does it really work like magic like Pinot Verdot or even Mourvedre? I've dabbled with it in the past (threw a box into the mix) but never been able to note its effect.

 

[buzi]

There is another distributor in my area that has previously imported Petit Sirah. Would that be a good substitute for Petit Verdot?

While similar, I think petite sirah is much more fruity than the savory petit verdot/ mourvedre. But the PS would be a great blend with any of the GSM grapes.