Let the Blending Begin

Spending a day at a winery is one of the things that I truly enjoy. Spending a day with some raw materials and creating a nice wine just adds to the joy of being at the winery.

That was yesterday. We gathered with friends to try our amateur hands at wine blending. We were provided four 2014 vintage Virginia wines and given the charge to create our best wine. This is the annual Keswick Vineyards Consensus Blending.

The wines were Touriga, Chambourcin, Syrah, and Norton. Each had some very nice qualities but was not a complete drinkable or salable wine. By the end of the day we blended a great wine that had everything the wine drinkers look for in a wine. We have need down this path before. Last year we did not place well in the blending with out entry. This year we were much happier. In fact, I like our wine.

The results? We finished as the runner-up less just over a half point behind the winners of the day. I even rated their wine ahead of ours.

A great day and great fun. We will do even better next year.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Earlysville, VA