The Next Big Thing: Blended Reds

The future of wine is connection — between winemakers and the land, winemakers and consumers. The future of wine is freedom — freedom from brand restrictions and expensive facilities; the freedom to experience new grapes and wine styles. The future of wine depends on the return of the artisanal craft of winemaking and the unique experience of sharing your wine experiences with friends. The future of wine is all this and more...

Change often comes slowly in the wine business. Trends move in long cycles, and everyone seems to have the line on the next new and unique thing. While a wonderful range of new red grapes from all over the world have been introduced to the market, many of them just aren’t very tasty. Grapes like tannat or bonarda, to pick on a few, are enjoyable in moderation, but haven’t caught the consumers' attention for the long term, and seem to be more of a passing interest for those looking to try something a bit different. The future of red wines does not lie in the sudden popularity of an obscure grape, but rather in the artful creation of new and unique red blends.

The die was cast when the “super Tuscan” made its appearance and producers started looking seriously at making high quality wine that didn’t fit the traditional mould. Barbera blends with sangiovese and cabernet and cabernet-syrah blends are already commonplace in wine stores across Canada.

In addition, several wineries are starting to see the fruits of their experimental plantings from the last decade; these grapes might not be 100-percent ready to appear varietally labelled, but they offer something unique and interesting when introduced into red blends.

Most wines — even those labelled as a single-varietal — are blends. Rules vary depending on the country of origin, but most will contain anywhere from one to five percent of other varietals without any indication on the label. Winemakers do this to add some complexity to the final wine, such as colour, spice, tannin or flavour, or to reduce some excessive characteristic, such as excessive fruit or herbaceous notes.

A part of this trend is we are starting to see “rediscovered” varietals creep into the market. Many of the Old World or traditional producers are saving once-lost varietals. Difficult to grow, or low-yielding varieties that were pulled from vineyards in the past, are being replanted and are — in the right hands — producing exceptional quality in both varietally-labelled and red blend wines. An excellent example is the recent work done with the low-yielding oseletta grape, once fading into obscurity in Veneto, but now reappearing in several wines and blends.

In the coming years, we will see more of this trend in red wines, with modern blends utilizing both traditional and innovative varietals in the search for the next super Tuscan or super red.

Wines to Try

Sandhill 2006 Small Lots Three

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada

BC $35, AB $43, SK $36, ON $34

Peter Lehmann 2008 Layers Red

Barossa Valley, South Australia

BC $18, AB $16, MB $17, NL $20