Blended wines should be a Champion of Champions

Thursday, 24 April, 2014
Rietvallei Wine Estate
Blends have become one of the most popular styles of wines in South Africa, mainly because they combine a variety of diverse and interesting tastes to create one multi-dimensional and interestingly diverse wine unit.

The potential to put the right combinations together in order to obtain this special style of wine, however, cannot be found in every wine tank and it takes an expert to merge the components into a rounded, harmonious whole.

Kobus Burger, owner and winemaker of the Rietvallei Estate outside Robertson, whose Estéanna red and white blends have garnered praise from many wine experts,believes the making of blended wines is a rare art.

"This is when the real winemaking begins,” says Kobus. “It must be remembered, however, that blends are always a part of the winemaking process as blending also applies to single cultivars. In order to prepare the best Sauvignon Blanc for example, you have to find a balance between the different building blocks which include the green pickings (wine made from greener grapes which yield the grassy component), and riper, more tropical wine."

In Rietvallei’scase there are thousands of litres of every cultivar consisting of different tanks, each with its own unique flavour profile and style. These need to be blended to find the best possible example of that specific cultivar ready for the market.

"In the case of blends comprising various varietals, you as the winemaker determine the outcome of your wine's flavours and style entirely,” says KobusThis is what makes this category even more interesting and fun. Unlike single cultivar wines, here there are no boundaries or limits.”

The fact that each vintage is different and the same vineyard can produce different styles and flavours from year to year, makes the blending process more challenging, he says.

"Our aim is to produce the best blend every year and this involves putting many test-blends together to determine what works best. The percentages of the different base wines also differ from year to year, but the cultivars remain the same," says Kobus.

According to him the secret behind a good blend is to turn the collection of assembled components into a better wine than the individual wines already were – almost like a champion of champions.

"I think there is a tendency among informed wine drinkers to drink more blended wines rather than single cultivar wines,” he says.“Blends offer so much more of an interesting taste experiences than the regular single cultivars with their well-known and definable characteristics. My choice of wines to blend starts as early as the vineyard with a careful selection of grapes – the pruning methods, time of harvest, ripeness level and choice of flavour balance all play a role in the ultimate blending of a variety of wines into one unit."

Kobus stresses that although Rietvallei’s blends do not contain South African cultivars, such as Pinotage, the characteristics of the varietals used for are still authentically South African and should be recognised anywhere.

“Therefore there should be no need to fear that our blends will disappear in the myriad multi-dimensional blended wines found in international markets as our blend sources have true South African characteristics,” he says. “Locally, however, I do believe more education among wine consumers is required to appreciate the real merit of blended wines.”

Kobus says South African blends do not have to stand back from those of other countries. “We have a unique fingerprint on these wines and should keep them uniquely South African,” he says. “Personally, I will not try to imitate a Bordeaux blend for example and I don't believe that anyone should do this, because it is unique to the French. Similarly our blends should express our own individual terroirs – for me this is the ultimate goal," says Kobus.