White Blends

At its most basic, vintners blend wine made from different grapes in order to add more complexity to the flavour and texture of a wine. The goal of blending wine made in different vintages is more to balance out the flavour characteristics. 

Some wine blends are made from classic recipes handed down from generation to generation. Other vintners create brand new blends in an attempt to produce a new and exciting wine that has flavour characteristics like nothing else on the market.

Many wine growers in South Africa have been dedicated to producing just a single varietal of white wine, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. The expertise which is put into producing these wines has allowed the wine industry in South Africa to flourish, but for many wine experts, it is the white wine blends that the country produces which really show the stand-out talents of its wine makers. White wine blends are more difficult to produce than those of red wine, simply because of the more delicate nature of the wine, and the risks of marring the colour through over-blending.

There are perhaps two distinct white wine blends that South Africa is producing, and which are worth exploring further.

The first is a classic blending of Sauvignon Blanc with Semillon, which is then fermented before being matured in barrels made from French Oak. The strength of the Semillon, undercut by the fruit-bearing intensity of the Sauvignon Blanc, provide an elegant and well-rounded white wine blend that grows in complexity as it matures. This wine is a classic, and there is no real change from age-old traditional methods of manufacturing this blend.

The other white wine blend is a little more of a surprise package, and revolves around the blending of Chenin Blanc with a number of different varieties from the Rhône region. These wines can include Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Viognier, and Rousanne. Part of the reason for this mix is the large amount of white wine which has been produced by the Swartland area. Not all of it has been suitable for single-varietal wines, and so good blends have been produced in order to absorb the wine lake. These are usually very good white blends, such as the Palladius wine, which used slightly mature Chenin grapes with a mixture of white wines, although it is very costly. Another, Sequillo, is a mix of Chenin, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Viognier.

  

Those of you who know the wines of Adi Badenhorst, will agree with me that his white blend, A.A. Badenhorst is truly unique. The blend contains Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Verdehlo and Chardonnay!  

Making wine is an art and it is amazing to be able to admire and enjoy our own winemakers living out their passion!