They have become indispensable in international wine retail: Bordeaux blends – wines modeled after those from Bordeaux. Only now, every country has developed its own distinct style. But do these wines actually guarantee strong sales?
What has been typical for French Bordeaux since the 17th century was only discovered by many other wine-producing countries some 300 years later: blending several grape varieties to create a cuvée with a unique flavor. In fact, Bordeaux winemakers initially did this out of necessity. Back in the 17th century, blending was essentially a kind of economic life insurance. Not all grape varieties ripened reliably every year, and hail or frost could destroy the harvest of an entire vineyard. That’s why it made sense not to plant vines in a single location and to grow different grape varieties. If one variety didn’t perform well in a given year, the quality could be balanced out in the blend by another grape that developed particularly well. Or winemakers could simply use more of one variety in the cuvée if hail or frost had reduced the yield of others. This was a smart and pragmatic approach.
With the development of barrel aging and bottling in the 18th and 19th centuries, Bordeaux winemakers began to focus more deliberately on the art of blending. This resulted in even more complex wines. The Bordeaux blend, featuring typical grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec for red wines, and Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle for white wines, was born. However, the practice of blending remained largely confined to Bordeaux for quite some time. It wasn’t until Bordeaux wines gained international acclaim that winemakers from other countries began to embrace the art of blending for their own wines.
