Unsung Heroes: The Secret Weapons of Wine Blending

Wine blending is both an art and a science. While famous grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc often steal the spotlight, some of the most intriguing wines reveal complexity and balance thanks to supporting actors – lesser known varieties that play an subtle but impactful role. These unsung heroes have the power to transform a good wine into a great one.

Let’s shine a light on three grapes that rarely get top billing, but frequently star behind the scenes in blended wines around the world: Carménère, Petit Verdot, and Mourvèdre. Understanding these varieties and what they bring to a blended wine can unlock new dimensions of aroma, flavor, and texture in the glass.

Carménère – The Comeback Kid of Chile

Once upon a time, Carménère acreage thrived in Bordeaux, France. Its deep color, medium body, and signatures of dark fruit, herbs, and smoke made it a reliable blending grape for adding complexity. But in the 19th century, the phylloxera epidemic devastated European vineyards, and Carménère was essentially wiped out. The variety never recovered its stature in Bordeaux.

Yet Carménère lived on – transported to Chile before phylloxera struck. There it was mistaken for Merlot for over a century before its true identity was discovered through ampelography (comparing leaf structure). Can you imagine the shock? Chile had been growing and blending this exotic variety all along without even realizing it!

Today, Carménère makes its mark on Chile’s signature red wine blends. The world’s largest area under vine exists in the Colchagua Valley and Maipo Valley regions. In the glass, Chilean Carménère imparts notes of smoke, baking spices, dried figs, and blackcurrant along with gripping yet smooth tannins. Blending small amounts with Cabernet Sauvignon adds beguiling hints of pepper and herbs plus lush, velvety texture. Or partnering with fruity, bright Merlot tempers the smoky quality towards a more vibrant expression.

Petit Verdot – The Seasoning in Bordeaux Blends

Drive through vineyard landscapes in Bordeaux and you might struggle to spot Petit Verdot among the seas of Cabernet, Merlot, and Malbec. Although it occupies just a small fraction of plantings, Petit Verdot holds an outsized influence on Bordeaux blends.

Late ripening compared to other Bordeaux varieties, Petit Verdot brings attractively dark color, aromas of violet and pencil shavings, a firm tannic backbone, and acidity to blends. Those structural qualities allow winemakers more flexibility when assembling the final wine. Just a 5-15% addition of Petit Verdot can act as seasoning, adding freshness and definition. Top estates like Château Margaux finely tune their high-end Bordeaux blends with meticulous amounts of this spice variety.

Outside France, Petit Verdot finds a comfortable home in warmer pockets of California, Australia, and even emerging regions like Virginia. As a blending component, it has caught on for boosting color, structure and ageability in red wines. Petit Verdot as a single varietal wine also garners intrigue through concentrated flavors of boysenberry, dark chocolate, and smoke when fully ripened.

Mourvèdre – The Chameleon Grape

A red grape perfected in the sizzling terroir of Bandol and Provence in southern France, Mourvèdre loves the heat. You’ll also find it flourishing in eclectic growing areas - from old vine plantings in California to hot inland valleys of Australia and South Africa. Wherever it resides, this late ripening grape makes magic in red blends.

In France’s Southern Rhône, Mourvèdre appears as a strong minority blending partner with Grenache and Syrah. Its deep color, ripe tannins, flavors of cured meat and dark berries balance the heady ripe red fruit and alcohol of those other varieties. Blends might feature anywhere from 20-40% Mourvèdre.

Meanwhile in Spain, it stars under the alias Monastrell in hearty wines from Jumilla and Valencia. As a solo artist in Contino’s top cuvee, Monastrell shows off notes of potting soil, black olive and bombs of concentrated cassis. Australian old vine blends led by Mourvèdre also dazzle with intensity and longevity.

Finally, this grape has found a second home in California and Washington under the name Mataro (an alias also used in Australia). As part of 'GSM' (Grenache-Syrah-Mataro) blends emulating the Southern Rhône, it adds bold dark fruit flavors, structure, and acidity against the lush strawberry jam notes of Grenache and meaty peppery spice of Syrah.

The Power of Synergy in Wine Blending

Hopefully you now feel inspired to explore beyond the most familiar grapes. Taste widely, gain experience identifying subtle flavor signatures that grapes like Carménère, Petit Verdot and Mourvèdre impart, and train your palate to detect their presence enhancing other varieties in blends. Understanding the impact of these insider varieties will transform how you experience wine’s complex alchemy. You’ll begin to appreciate the synergy and balance of blended wines at an entirely new level.

The world’s most renowned wines are almost never single grape varietal wines. Bordeaux, often considered the pinnacle of wine excellence, relies on artful blending across Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and more. Northern Rhône Syrahs reach majestic heights via co-fermented Viognier or Marsanne and Roussanne. Even single variety wines usually contain salad bowls of distinctive clones, soil types, vineyards, and microclimates blended together.

Winemakers consider an extensive matrix when composing a blend - grape characteristics, chemical analysis, vinegar secondary aromas, aging curves of each component...it’s a complex optimization to harmonize flavors or achieve a certain style. They taste through hundreds of possible combinations, incrementally adjusting percentages, looking to augment desirable traits and minimize undesirable ones until the blend clicks. It’s a fascinating glimpse inside the winemaker’s mental tinkering lab.

While the celebrity varieties garner the glory, hopefully you now appreciate the power of unsung grapes like Carménère, Petit Verdot and Mourvèdre to provide polish, structure, and intrigue when used judiciously as part of a blend. Seek them out next time you shop for wine, selecting intriguing blends that incorporate these magic boosters. When you tilt your glass appreciating the aroma, flavor, and texture of synergy inside, tip your hat to the subtle gifts of the underdogs.