Written by Madeline Puckette

Wine expert, Madeline Puckette, breaks down the most popular red blends in the world while mixing them together. Surprisingly, it reveals what to look for when tasting wines critically.

What happens if we mix all the famous red blends together?

In the classic wine regions of the world, wine blending is a huge part of the art of winemaking. Regions like Bordeaux and the Douro Valley of Portugal have century-long traditions of making blends.

Wine blends have compelling benefits:

  • Blending varieties together helps create smoothness and balance.
  • Vineyards with multiple grape varieties resist plant diseases and pests.
  • Winemakers can better control vintage variation through blending.
  • Wine blends allow for more diversity in the vineyards.

Today, most wine regions have very strict rules on what grapes are permitted in a region and its wines. For example, you’ll never see more than 10% of Petit Verdot added to a red blend in Bordeaux.

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Each grape variety adds a unique trait to a wine blend.

In this tasting and blending video, we taste 5 unique wine blends to discover their unique features. Then, the wines are blended together multiple times until a new blend is discovered!

Written byMadeline Puckette

James Beard Award-winning author and Wine Communicator of the Year. I co-founded Wine Folly to help people learn about wine. @WineFolly