Sangiovese/Merlot/Cab Blend

[smcalli1]

I'm considering getting an MM bucket of frozen Sangiovese must and blending it with either a Merlot or Cab juice kit. (I'm still not certain because I do love the earthiness of straight Sangiovese.) It would be a sort of Chianti, but not really since I don't have access to any Canaiolo grapes or juice. I know that standard Chianti has around 75% Sangiovese. Has anyone tried a Sangiovese/Merlot or Cab blend successfully and what ratios did you use? Also, I'm torn on whether to ferment the blend together or individually. Suggestions?

Happy New Year.

 

[Rocky]

Smcalli, I have made a wine by blending and co-fermenting 1/3 each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangivese from juice buckets (I was going for a wine that was similar to the "Super Tuscan" or the "Rosso Fortissimo") and it turned out to be a very good wine. I made an 18 gallon batch last year which is just about gone (no, I don't get a lot of age on my wines) so I was going to make another batch this year. I went to the supplier and picked up the juice and when I got home I found that I did not have the Merlot but I did have the Cabernet Sauvignon and two Sangiovese. I blended these juices and co-fermented a wine I am calling "Rosso Magnifico" do distinguish it from the Rosso Fortissimo. Early results may prove it to be the better of the two wines! I currently have 12 gallons in barrels and 6 gallons in glass and I have added Medium toasted American Oak to it.

There are any number of ratios of the three wines you could make and it all depends on what tastes good to you. I blended 1/3 each mostly for convenience (laziness?). Another way to do it would be to ferment the three wines separately and then blend the finished wine.

 

[smcalli1]

Thanks, Rocky. You say you used juice buckets. Did you add raisins or grape packs? I was thinking that I'd let the frozen must stand on its own for the Sangiovese and possibly add raisins to the others for body. But, if I followed your recipe (66% Sangiovese/33% Cab) I could just do it all in a 20 gal fermenter and rely on the Sangiovese skins and seeds for the body on the Cab. Or maybe add some raisins. So many choices.

 

[Rocky]

Sorry, I left that out. Yes, I did add 5 kg (11 pounds) of Cabernet Sauvignon crushed grape packs to the fermenter. I had everything in my 20 gallon fermenter. I did not add any raisins to this wine but I usually do if there is no grape pack available. I have had a hard time finding them lately. The supplier who used to sell them on eBay no longer has them for sale. I was going to try to make my own out of a couple lugs of Cabernet Sauvignon but I did not because back in October I could get them on eBay. I think I had better plan on making them in 2013.

 

[smcalli1]

Thanks, Rocky. I think my plan is to buy an MM bucket of frozen Sangiovese must and an MM bucket of frozen Cab juice and blend the two. The Sangiovese is a 27L bucket which will probably yield a little over 5 gallons of juice. The Cab is a 6 gal bucket. I'm thinking I'd blend 3 gals of the Cab into the Sangiovese and the remaining three would be fermented separately. In addition to the Sangiovese must skins, I'll plan on adding some raisins to make up for the thinness of the added Cab juice. Is there a formula for knowing how many pounds of raisins to use?

 

[Rocky]

Of course the more raisins you use, the greater the effect wiill be. I find that using a box (1 lb) of SunMaid Red raisins in a red wine kit (i.e. about 23 liters) works well. I know that others use the Whole Foods organic red raisins, but the local Whole Foods does not carry them.

BTW, did you read joeswine's post about adding the raisins in secondary rather than primary? Take a look at it if you are interested. I think I am going to try it on my next 6 gallons of red.

 

[smcalli1]

I'll have to look for it. Thanks.

 

[smcalli1]

I think I found it. Interesting. He must add the raisins to the secondary carboy individually rather than in a cheesecloth bag. I would think you wouldn't want to pulse the raisins in the blender like you mentioned, but it might be OK. I wish I was a little smarter on the whole process. If I added the raisins to the secondary and the fermentation kicks off again, I wonder how vigorous it would be. Would I need to increase the headspace to allow for foaming? I guess I'll need to do some experimentation.