Why do people blend grapes together? That might sound like a stupid question. It’s about finding a final wine that’s better than the sum of its parts, surely?
The thing is, as with most things in life, you put shit in, you’ll get shit out. So whenever you’re thinking about blending things, the actual individual grapes themselves have to be of a high enough quality to end with a wine of high quality. Otherwise there’s no point.
Sometimes blends happen because some of the grapes grown in the area are not well known enough on their own to sell on the market. Well in the case of GSM, that’s not the case. Shiraz, Grenache, and Mataro (Mouvèdre/Monastrell) all fill shelves all on their own quite happily. Definitely not that.
In GSM’s case, as with most blends in the world, it’s about ticking all the boxes. Alcohol and red fruit from Grenache, big dark fruit and spice from the Shiraz, and tannin and finish from the Mataro.
Stick it all together and you’ve got a supergroup of grapes. And yes that is a picture of ABBA!! Leave me alone!
Cheers
Other Posts in NWTW Week 48:
