I have a 5-gallon Concord wine going that I think will be pretty good. I have taken great care with it. I feel I want to make another kind of wine to blend with it at bottling time. Any suggestions? What about a merlot or Cabernet? Concord should come out pretty fruity so would another fruity wine be better or a less fruity one?
I don't know about that. Concord's taste and aroma are pronounced. It may overpower any Vinifera you add, they are more subtle. I have used northern grapes to perk up a bland California white and a little goes a long way, 4% is pushing it at times. That was with Diamond, which does not have as pronounced a taste as Concord.
You may want to consider staying in the family of the type of grapes though. Welches Niagara is usually well thought of and may blend well with Concord. You won't ruin it by blending, you just may have spent more money on the Cab to have it all taste like Concord. You might like the Cab as is and decide not to blend it too.
Blending in an art, not a science. You won't go wrong making other wines to blend, but if you have a wine that came out well there is no good reason to mess with success as I see it. I have made literally hundreds of small batches which all turned out well, but of those maybe
5 were perfect as I see it, they could not have been better as far as I was concerned. I am a nitpicker though...Joe
Concord has a very distinct aroma and taste. Anything you add will be overpowered by it. This would be a good time to bend in any nondescript wine you have that is okay but not special. Fruit wines might be a good as they frequently are low in body or vinuosity. But what ever you blend in, it is probably going to taste like Concord. One rule about this sort of thing: Don't agonize over it, try it!" Just do it on a small scale (a glass at a time) until you find something you like. When you do find a blend you like, blend one bottle, cork it, and put it back to try in a month. See how the tastes blend and if you still like it.
Or you can just dump some wines together and hope for the best. ;o)
Ray
hey mdginzo can you let me have the recipe you use to make your concord.sure would be helpfull,thank you.
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