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THE GRAPE DEBATE
When in South Africa in the early Nineties, I was surprised to hear the word 'blend' used in a pejorative sense.
Words by: ALISON BUCHANAN.
Associate Director of Buying.Corney & Barrow London
RACHEL THOMPSON.
Senior Buying Assistant.Corney & Barrow London
Why, I argued, was a blend seen as something less desirable than a varietally labelled wine, particularly where the laxity of the law allowed for up to 15% of another variety anyway?
BLEND VERSUS VARIETAL
Would a tomato soup made from 100% tomatoes taste very good? Fifteen years on, I am dismayed to say that we are under increasing pressure to access varietal-labelled wines, particularly for restaurants and bars. It would be interesting to hear customers' own thoughts on all of these rather contentious issues, rather than always having what are reportedly their views siphoned through the Press. Rachel Thompson and I open a debate to which we hope our customers will add their thoughts. There are plenty of regions that favour single
varieties, Burgundy, Sancerre and Bordeaux being but three. Here cépage and terroir form the ideal marriage without any interlopers, save the odd influence of oak. Being a predominantly Bordeaux house however, let us look at Bordeaux reds as an example. These are, of course, blended wines. To date, varieties are actually legally excluded from labels in Bordeaux and although assemblage proportions can be sited in accompanying literature, these figures are more likely to reflect the vineyard plantings rather than the final blend. As a result of having a range of varieties, each having had its own profile, all cellar masters face a vintage with a unique palette of ingredients with which to make the best wine possible. Though challenging, this is also a great advantage in terms of potential balance and complexity.
Although every vintage will be different, very generally, a fundamental logic behind Bordeaux blending is clear. Cabernet Sauvignon provides structure - a skeleton, as it were, intrinsic to the wine. Angular on its own, it provides the perfect clothes horse for the fleshier Merlot and, together with a dash of perfumed Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot or Malbec. The whole, as in any great dish, is greater than the sum of the parts. Of course it is not as simple as that: the vines react quite differently to the soils in which they are planted and to the climate, the ingredients available are even more varied and abundant. Just as a chef de cuisine, a chef de cave (cellar master) tastes and tests to develop the finest blend, looking for impeccable balance. Limiting ingredients clearly will have an impact, but then, the New World does not really limit the ingredients so much as the transparency of what lies within a labelled varietal wine. The monocépagisti (those who advocate the use of single varietals) are essentially telling us that consumers need the help of grape variety when choosing wine - despite this being one the most inconsistent of criteria when purchasing a bottle.
We have spent years emphasising the differences people and terroir make. Using a grape variety as some sort of brand infers that Cabernet or Merlot from n'importe o, n'importe qùi - offer some degree of certainty about quality. This is sheer folly. Clearly if it is genuinely felt to be added information which customers would find useful; the information should be included and we encourage this, usually on back labels. What seems crazy is for a winemaker to change a blend he or she feels is optimum in a vintage, in line with a law which says that if he goes over a certain proportion, he will be unable to name as a varietal. Clearly traditionalists, rueing the possibility of a day when they have to buy a tautologous Corton Charlemagne Chardonnay, are firmly aboard the dumbing down bandwagon. Others in their number look to the New World - the pioneers of the varietal label - to see if there are lessons to be learned. Still others rather sneer at North America's reliance on varietal labelling, most eloquently expressed in the recent US film 'Sideways', where the principle character's love of Pinot Noir over anything else causes him to scream out in frustration 'If they order Merlot, I'm leaving!' The debate remains open. C&B
