I was planning on making a Bordeaux wine and have only Cab/Sav and
Merlot from Washington to work with. My question is how much Merlot
should I add to the cab/sav? Whoever answers thank you for the
information.

The Merlot is added to make the blend come around quicker than the Cab
would on it's own so it depends on what you think of the two
separately.

You can pretty much go anywhere but the typical blends are somewhere
near 30% Merlot +/- 10%. They blend really well so you may want to
just do some trial blends starting at 10% Merlot. Once you get to a
place where you think you have it right blend up a bottle and let it
sit for a few weeks and taste it again against both separately. That
will help you decide what seems best.

If this were for commercial consumption there are rules that might
apply for labeling but that isn't an issue.

Joe

Jim wrote:
I was planning on making a Bordeaux wine and have only Cab/Sav and
Merlot from Washington to work with. My question is how much Merlot
should I add to the cab/sav? Whoever answers thank you for the
information.

"Bordeaux" is just too general to say. Some Bordeaux wines are mostly
Cabernet with Merlot (and others) playing a supporting role. Some are
mostly Merlot, with Cabernet Sauvignon playing support. Still others
have a large amount of Cabernet Franc. So there really is no right
answer.

Andy

and Petit Verdot ... and Malbec ....

"Jim" wrote in message
...
I was planning on making a Bordeaux wine and have only Cab/Sav and
Merlot from Washington to work with. My question is how much Merlot
should I add to the cab/sav? Whoever answers thank you for the
information.

You will need to do some bench trials on small samples and go from there.
There is no magic ratio. It all depends where your grapes are from, their
individual characteristics and your personal taste.

Paul is right. There are no hard and fast rules for the blend as it depends
on the grapes. But there are proceedures.

1. Use what wines the wines that you have. It would be nice to have some
Cab Franc but you have what you have.
2. Let them age in carboy untill they are near ready. I would say at least
12-18 months.
3. Do a tasting. Invite some friends if you want. That make it more fun.
Set up some 25:75, 50:50 and 75:25 blends and let everyone taste. Pick the
one that is best liked and then do +10, -10 tasting around that . You might
open a bottle of commercial wine that is what you are shooting for as
comparison but I would not. That might just get in the way. You might be
able to make a very nice blend that would taste different but might end with
only a mediocre bend if you try for a target.
4. Finally, your friends go home, you can ignore what they thought and
blend it to your own taste. Just don't every tell them and they will always
love you for consulting them. No one says you have to follow what a
consultant tells you to do. I know. I am a consultant.
5. Put them back in carboy for a few months to be sure the blend does not
cause them to throw a sediment.
6. Bottle them and age them in bottle for at least 2 months to get over
bottle shock. By this time your friends will have forgoten what they tasted
but they will remember that it was good and it will be good to them no mater
the blend.

Ray

"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...

"Jim" wrote in message
...
I was planning on making a Bordeaux wine and have only Cab/Sav and
Merlot from Washington to work with. My question is how much Merlot
should I add to the cab/sav? Whoever answers thank you for the
information.

You will need to do some bench trials on small samples and go from there.
There is no magic ratio. It all depends where your grapes are from, their
individual characteristics and your personal taste.

That's exactly what I do in our winery .
Greg
"Ray Calvert" wrote in message
. com...
Paul is right. There are no hard and fast rules for the blend as it
depends
on the grapes. But there are proceedures.

1. Use what wines the wines that you have. It would be nice to have some
Cab Franc but you have what you have.
2. Let them age in carboy untill they are near ready. I would say at
least
12-18 months.
3. Do a tasting. Invite some friends if you want. That make it more
fun.
Set up some 25:75, 50:50 and 75:25 blends and let everyone taste. Pick
the
one that is best liked and then do +10, -10 tasting around that . You
might
open a bottle of commercial wine that is what you are shooting for as
comparison but I would not. That might just get in the way. You might be
able to make a very nice blend that would taste different but might end
with
only a mediocre bend if you try for a target.
4. Finally, your friends go home, you can ignore what they thought and
blend it to your own taste. Just don't every tell them and they will
always
love you for consulting them. No one says you have to follow what a
consultant tells you to do. I know. I am a consultant.
5. Put them back in carboy for a few months to be sure the blend does not
cause them to throw a sediment.
6. Bottle them and age them in bottle for at least 2 months to get over
bottle shock. By this time your friends will have forgoten what they
tasted
but they will remember that it was good and it will be good to them no
mater
the blend.

Ray

"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...

"Jim" wrote in message
...
I was planning on making a Bordeaux wine and have only Cab/Sav and
Merlot from Washington to work with. My question is how much Merlot
should I add to the cab/sav? Whoever answers thank you for the
information.

You will need to do some bench trials on small samples and go from
there.
There is no magic ratio. It all depends where your grapes are from,
their
individual characteristics and your personal taste.

One other comment:

There is an advantage to having at least one person who does not know what
is "Suppose" to be in a Bordeaux style blend. I experienced this one time
at a commercial winery that was doing blending trials and letting guests
help decide on the blend - of course their advice was for the large part
ignored because commercially you have to work with what you have and avoid
stray lots at the end.

Anyhow, there was a girl that was not a wine expert and made a blend of
almost entirely Merlot and Cabernet Franc. At the end, the five groups
blind tasted each others blends Her blend won the award for being the best.
Almost everyone else used a healthy percent of Cabernet Sauvignon.

The point is - don't necessarily go by what is "Suppose" to be the typical
blend. Since then, I have found that what I like with grapes grown here in
the Northern Virginia, Central Maryland area is a blend of Cabernet Franc
and Merlot. I may never have realized this - or it may have taken me longer
to find out if I had not had the experience described above. I probably
would have used a good percent of Cabernet Sauvignon because of what is
suppose to be in a typical Bordeaux blend - although I found out later that
there is a part of the Bordeaux region that makes their blend with mostly
Merlot and Cabernet Franc and very little Cabernet Sauvignon.


"Ray Calvert" wrote in message
. com...
Paul is right. There are no hard and fast rules for the blend as it
depends on the grapes. But there are proceedures.

1. Use what wines the wines that you have. It would be nice to have some
Cab Franc but you have what you have.
2. Let them age in carboy untill they are near ready. I would say at
least 12-18 months.
3. Do a tasting. Invite some friends if you want. That make it more
fun. Set up some 25:75, 50:50 and 75:25 blends and let everyone taste.
Pick the one that is best liked and then do +10, -10 tasting around that .
You might open a bottle of commercial wine that is what you are shooting
for as comparison but I would not. That might just get in the way. You
might be able to make a very nice blend that would taste different but
might end with only a mediocre bend if you try for a target.
4. Finally, your friends go home, you can ignore what they thought and
blend it to your own taste. Just don't every tell them and they will
always love you for consulting them. No one says you have to follow what
a consultant tells you to do. I know. I am a consultant.
5. Put them back in carboy for a few months to be sure the blend does not
cause them to throw a sediment.
6. Bottle them and age them in bottle for at least 2 months to get over
bottle shock. By this time your friends will have forgoten what they
tasted but they will remember that it was good and it will be good to them
no mater the blend.

Ray

"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...

"Jim" wrote in message
...
I was planning on making a Bordeaux wine and have only Cab/Sav and
Merlot from Washington to work with. My question is how much Merlot
should I add to the cab/sav? Whoever answers thank you for the
information.

You will need to do some bench trials on small samples and go from there.
There is no magic ratio. It all depends where your grapes are from,
their individual characteristics and your personal taste.

Great point. To go to an extreme with that I made a Rose out of a
slightly sweet stuck Sangiovese and a bland Riesling, it's well liked.
Niether was worth anything on thir own. It's mostly Riesling. I
figured it couldn't make either worse and it tirned out just fine.

Joe

Everything said above is good advice.

The only thing I'll add is to shoot for a blend that is better than
either of the components.

If you can't find one, then just bottle them separately ! Better 2
different good wines than one mediochre one for sure !

It will really all depend on your fruit...