On interesting blends.

Ashley Ratcliff, Ricca Terra Vintners, Riverland, SA

BLENDING can do so many things for wine in terms of its flavour, depth and complexity. Tomato soup is tomato soup, whereas a blend is more like minestrone or a stew. A lot of people, and this is how we do it, build blends as a way to introduce unfamiliar varieties. The thinking is that if drinkers enjoy these exotic blends, then they’ll look at the label and find out what’s in it, and perhaps be inspired to try something different as a single-variety wine.

The recent trend to field blends shows that we’re becoming a bit savvier in what we’re doing, using grape varieties to replace additives in the winery. For example, we use greco in one of our white blends because the natural acid of that replaces tartaric acid in the winery. For tannins, you can use varieties like tannat, or if you want colour, you can use something like lagrein or durif. A diversity of grape varieties lends itself well to blending in the winery and the final wine.

A lot of our wines are field blends, and this approach allows us to make wine that has all the elements we want. If we have a year when tempranillo performs better than negroamaro, then we can add more of that into the blend and vice versa. It gives us flexibility in the vineyard to make wine that’s strong every year. Single varieties are fantastic, but in our business, blends play a crucial role in both making good wine and allowing people to get to know these alternative varieties. We grow grapes that many would never have heard of, and so we always pitch our blends as an approachable way to introduce drinkers to something new. Blends are made worldwide and in the major wine-producing countries, such as France and Italy. For those who aren’t quite sure of what they want, a blend is a good option. Some people like fruit-driven wine, some like bold, tannic styles, some like bright colours, some like lower alcohol and others like higher alcohol. The beauty of a blend is that you can make a wine to meet all of those needs if you know your grape varieties well enough.

A lot of our wines are field blends, and this approach allows us to make wine that has all the elements we want. It gives us flexibility in the vineyard to make wine that’s strong every year.

STANDOUT BLEND: I’m a big fan of nero d’Avola, which we make as a single-variety wine too, but it’s great in our Bullets Before Cannonballs blend. It’s a tricky style because if you put the wrong varieties with it, you lose its character. There’s a high percentage of nero d’Avola in this blend, and then tempranillo and montepulciano complement it well. It’s about adding a few spices to make the best wine possible.