With Wine, Choice Is Good
By Wine Atlas, Wednesday 22 February 2006 :: Wine - United-States :: #105 :: rss
For more than 25 years, I have been following my passion for wine. This passion began with a trip to the Napa Valley in 1979 and has grown to an appreciation of wines and winemaking throughout the world, especially the West Coast of the United States. Here, on the West Coast, vineyard options are plentiful. We see wines made from a single vineyard alongside blends from various vineyards, both similar and diverse. I am often asked about the differences and about how winemakers make their choices.
With the great wines of Europe, we find areas known for single grapes (Burgundy) and those known for the blending of different grapes (Bordeaux). We seldom see blending of the same or multiple grapes from different vineyard sources. However, California, Oregon and Washington wines tend to differ from European wines, as both single and multi-vineyard sources are common. Blending fruit from different vineyards is an art in itself. With so many choices, how does the winemaker evaluate the attributes of each vineyard and how they will fit into the final composition?
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