Stellenbosch – Wine is a science to make, an art to blend, and poetry to drink. So says Spier’s winemaker Johan Jordaan.
Blending wine is fascinating and requires a great deal of time, dedication and skill. I suspect it’s also a fun part of winemaking, and we common people can try our hands at it with Spier’s Burger and Blend evenings, which take place on the first Saturday of every month.
For a sneak peek behind the scenes, we whiled away a very pleasant couple of hours under the oak trees (which periodically spat acorns down on us) outside the farm’s Eight restaurant with Jordaan, who explained the basics of blending a decent red wine.
The idea is to try to match – or exceed – his cabernet sauvignon/merlot/shiraz blend using each of the separate components. Apparently this can become quite, um, heated when people get together in groups.
First you taste each of the wines. The cab sav is masculine and powerful, with elements of blackcurrant, tobacco and pencil lead (who eats that?). It’s herbaceous and is a “long” wine which travels from the front to the back of your mouth.
The merlot is more feminine and you feel it on the top of your palate, while the rich, fruity, voluptuous shiraz with its smooth, spicy, soulful characteristics adds gravitas.
Armed with this knowledge courtesy of Jordaan, we set about mixing our own blends. Taking my cue from his subtle hints and the order of the varietals on his label, I came up with a fairly decent wine, and was very pleased when Jordaan declared it to have good structure. It’s not that difficult when you begin with very decent base wines, but it can also go horribly wrong.
As an experiment to prove this I then blended in reverse order, going heavy on the shiraz. Incidentally, even the smallest percentages, along with mood, appetite, and even phases of the moon, can affect a blend.
I didn’t like this one much, but Jordaan tasted it and very kindly commented that it “needs time”.
So sweet of him. In fact, it’s not really a bad thing to have a shiraz blend, but not the way I did it.
After you’ve blended your wine, the team with the best one will each get a bottle of Jordaan’s blend to take home with them – and bragging rights.
Then it’s time to see how well it pairs with food as you tuck into a yummy burger prepared by Eight. Vegetarian and Banting options are available.
Weekend Argus
The cost of the evening is R195 a person and the fun begins at 6pm. Booking is through Quicket.co.za or call 021 809 1984. For more information go to www.spier.co.za.