Our Wine: Spicy Brooklyn 2012
Today’s blending wine session was an unusual session because we started a bit off key, usually we would have the opportunity to crush the grapes first then blend but it was vice-verse today. Our group was eager to experiment and discover the different combinations we could have created.
First we tasted the base wine which was a 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley which had little to no aromatics and not much of fruit taste. Then after we tasted all 4 wines that we may have used to blend into our Cabernet Sauvignon. The four wines were all 2010 vintage; Cabernet Franc from the Finger Lakes, Petite Syrah from Lodi, Petit Verdot and Merlot Mendocino.
After our tastings we decided that we would like to blend all four wines into the Cabernet Sauvignon, but we then had to do the math behind it and figure out what percentage of each wine we would in the bottle.
Our first try: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, Petit Syrah, and 2% Petit Verdot. We all seemed to be fond of the wine but thought it lacked some fruity characteristics.
Our second try: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, 7% Petit Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot. At this point our taste buds were not into this strong amount of tannins that was too dry fro our tasting.
Our third try: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, and 10% Petit Syrah. This was a better taste and aroma out of all 3 tests.
Concluding, we chose our third wine to be our final draft. In the end our wine was chosen as one of the finalist. We all had fun doing this project and experimenting with the different percentages of wines and blending.
Amy Maharaj, Hongjie Su, Adrian Misacango, Matthew Fass, Adhali Ilescas
