Reflection of Red Hook Winery: Blending

Group #2: Alida Diaz, Valery Sosa, Emmanuella Kaliangas, Natasha Decena

Wine D – White wine

40% RIESLING 2011

30% PINOT BLANC 2013 (fermenting)

20% SAUV BLANC/CHARDONNAY 2009 (Skin fermented)

10% PINOT BLANC 2012

My group mates and I have found the experience of blending wines to be such an enhancement of our prior understanding of wines. We have undergone various processes, individually and in unity, in order to cultivate our final product.

For our wine requisition, we chose to work with two fermenting and three still wines to blend; our varietals were based on our preferences of fruity, crisp, and floral aromas and flavors. Choosing to work with fermenting wines was certainly a challenge. It was clearly understood that we really needed to identify specific characteristics of each of the grape varietal when considering the potential and outcome of our final product. We also took into account the dryness that would result from residual sugars.

We conducted about seven trials before coming to a consensus among our four palates. Some of our combinations have resulted in very dry and highly acidic combinations, while others resulted in the cancellation of desired flavor profiles. Ultimately, we came up with a blend we found to be well rounded and balanced – notes of tropical fruits like passion fruit and coconut, balanced with a slight dryness and acidity, with a finish of honey and pear.

 

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4 Responses to Reflection of Red Hook Winery: Blending

  1. I so liked that juice… LOL great job guys

  2. I like how you expressed the learning process. Coming together to prepare a wine that was satisfactory to each of you is not easy. Knowing the ratio of the wine created by your group would be valuable to us all.

    Great job.

  3. Well stated Natasha! I agree that our teams blending process surely was not an easy one since we did in fact work with the skin fermented wines which we can all agree is indeed a challenge to say the least. Ultimately, after trial and error our group did find a cohesive balance in our wine while playing with all our palates. This was absolutely a memorable experience that I will hold dear with me. Kudos!

  4. Alida Diaz says:

    I could not agree more! Definitively working with skin fermented wines was the challenge of the day. Tasting the sweetness of the skin fermented and then blending it with the still wines was not an easy task, because we did not know what the resulting wine would taste like. We looked for the right mixture to satisfy our palates and after a few tries, we came out with the right mixture. However, it was an amazing experience and I could not be more satisfy with our final product.

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