The holidays are here and it’s time for planning a party. Liven up your holiday with a different spin by hosting a wine blending party! It’s easy, creative, and informative, bringing out everyone’s imaginative spirit. This is a great opportunity to deepen your knowledge of wine while having a blast!

The purpose of a wine blending party is to create traditional blends from single varietal wines while bringing people together, having fun and enjoying the time of year meant for celebration. If you haven’t read the post dated Nov 5th on “What exactly is a Meritage Wine,” please do. This will help you understand what a blend is and what makes a traditional Bordeaux blend wine. Keep in mind, during this party, do what you want, experiment and bring out the chemist in you! There are no rules, just match your personal preferences and who knows what will happen. You will be surprised and enjoy all the different palates your guests bring to the party even though you may have been sharing wine together for years.

Picking the wine: (if you purchase a kit you won’t need to buy the wine; however the kit does not include a Malbec, so you may want that varietal on hand. If you don’t go with the kit and purchase your own wine, try to stay with the same producer, but it’s not a rule.)

1. Cabernet Sauvignon: Most blends focus on this as the main varietal, making it the backbone of blends to carry the rest of the varietals through. Look for rich red to black fruit; not overly tannic, but well-balanced.
2. Merlot: Traditionally a very fruit forward wine and usually the lighter of the reds with raspberry and cherry. A little bit can go a long way in a blend.
3. Cabernet Franc: Can be a bit more aromatic then the other reds, offering more on the nose in a blend.
4. Malbec: Deeper red fruits and very thick wine, bringing a lot of structure and texture to the blend, velvet and big tannins.
5. Petite Verdot: Gives the blend that long lingering finish, known as “the finisher” and maybe some floral notes.

Getting the tools together:

Once you make the guest list (and keep it manageable), make it easy and purchase a wine blending kit online that will have just about everything you need. You can either get your own wines and tools or purchase a kit online at Fusebox Crushpad or just Google Wine Blending kits as many wineries offer these as well to promote their wines. For example Bourassa Vineyards offers a kit for $79 (on sale now for $39)

Fusebox costs $80. It takes about five business days to receive so give enough time since shipping may take longer during the holidays. You get half-bottles of Napa-sourced wine which includes two Cabernet Sauvignons, one Merlot, one Cab Franc, and one Petit Verdot. These are the four of five main blending grapes used to make Bordeaux (lacking only Malbec, for some reason). Each kit will accommodate four people with four placemats, four mouth pipettes (used to transport a measured volume of liquid) and a cork pull. You can also create your own label online. What a great holiday gift this would be for your friends and family – a wine blended by you with your own label! Very cool.

Set up:

The day of the party, organize a blending station for pairs or groups of four. If you have the kit make sure you also have plenty of wineglasses, a spit bucket and pencils. If you didn’t get the kit you will need to either purchase the tools or rummage through your kitchen. Tools you will need:

• Wine (see above for picking the wine)
  • Measuring device, preferably a graduated cylinder for precise blending. If not, use a measuring cup but it won’t be very accurate
  • Since a wine thief is not something we all keep around you can use a turkey baster or plastic straw, but use only one per varietal
  • Index cards
  • Placemats (not the good ones, use vinyl if you can)
  • Several empty bottles to put your finished blend. You can use old ones, just remove the label and run through the dishwasher with hot water.

Why a spit bucket you ask? Every wine brings something very different to the table. By spitting the wine it allows you to have a cleaner palate because swallowing the wine will create a lingering taste and aroma which affects how the next wine tastes. Plus, your blend may not taste so great if you get too tipsy while creating your wine.

Ideas for the index cards:

WINE BLENDING PARTY

Budding Winemaker Name or Group:____________________________

VARIETAL PERCENTAGES                        NOTES

Blend #1

Blend #2

Blend #3

Blend #4

Blend #5

Let the blending begin:

Keep your formula a secret from the other groups and then everyone can pick their favorite at the end. As you go about blending and experimenting you will be excited about your new discoveries of how each varietal can really change the aroma and flavor of your blends.

Pour each wine varietal into a glass (you can use a beverage glass for this part since it is more steady than a wine glass). Print the name of each varietal on an index card and place the correct glass on each card.

Start where your palate takes you and don’t worry about picking the wrong varietal because there are no rules! Start with about 35% of the varietal you want and pour it into the cylinder or use the wine thief (or straw) into a measuring cup. It’s important to keep track of the amount you are using of each varietal as you begin your recipe.  As you add each additional piece smell the wine, but don’t taste yet. Let your nose tell you where to go next. Keep track of your math so you don’t go over 100%. Remember, you don’t have to use all five of the varietals.

Once the final blend is created, have each group take their recipe and make an identical blend for the group to taste using the new bottles.

Tasting the finished product:

Swirl, sniff and sip — vote on the top three looking at the nose, the intensity of the fruit, weight and finish. Give the winners a bottle of Meritage to honor their winemaking talents. If you’re lucky, they’ll open them up and share!

Cheers!