What is blending? Blending is... Blending wine at home

The process of mixing wine materials from different grape varieties, from different regions, different grape harvest years and different types (white with red, fortified with dry) is called blending, and the resulting mixture is called a blend. The purpose of blending is to create large, homogeneous batches of typical, harmoniously composed and quality wines, and for vintage wines, to preserve their organoleptic properties every year, regardless of the meteorological conditions of grape ripening.

Wine materials and materials included in blends are divided into groups:

main wine materials (the basis of the blend). Their specific gravity in the blend ranges from 50 to 100%;

additional wine materials. They are prepared from scarce and very valuable grape varieties or using special technology;

blending materials (canned or alcoholized wort);

basic materials (alcohol, vacuum wort).

Based on the varietal and age composition of the main wine materials, they distinguish between varietal-annual, intervarietal-annual, varietal-interannual and intervarietal-interannual types of blends.

To prepare varietal-annual blends, wine materials from grapes of the same variety and one harvest year are mixed. Such blends are prepared from grape varieties that produce harmoniously composed wines, called varietal wines, for example Riesling, Aligote, Silvaner, Cabernet, Saperavi.

To prepare varietal-interannual blends, wine materials from the same variety are mixed different years harvest. These wines include table wines Riesling Abrau and Cabernet Abrau.

To prepare intervarietal annual blends, wine materials from different grape varieties, mutually complementary, and the same vintage are mixed. Such wines are called intervarietal. These include: table white Nisporenskoye from the Muller-Thurgau varieties - 75-80%, white Traminer or Sauvignon - 20-25%; red table Codru from Cabernet Sauvignon - 75% and Merlot - 25%; Madeira Massandra from Sercial varieties - 60-70%, Verdelho - 20% and Albillo - 10%.

To prepare intervarietal/interannual blends, wine materials from different grape varieties from different harvest years are mixed. Such blends are used to prepare intervarietal wines and Soviet champagne.

To preserve the flavor mark over the years, interannual blends are used. Blend compositions for each item are developed on a scientific basis, taking into account the practical experience of enterprises, and compliance with them is mandatory.

The blending process consists of the selection of wine materials for blending, trial blending, and production blending.

For the blend, wine materials are selected that complement each other in the desired direction.

Blending corrects the color, bouquet, taste, typicality and condition of the main wine materials. In accordance with the goal, wine materials that are more aromatic are selected to enhance the bouquet, and more extractive to enhance the extract.

Test blends are performed in small volumes in several variants. For example, to prepare Negru de Purcari wine, the options shown in table are used. eleven.

The best version of the trial blend is selected by the factory tasting commission.

Based on the test blend data, a blending list for the production blend is compiled. The blending statement indicates the names of the wine materials included in the blend, the place of their storage, the name of the container, the container number and quantity (in dal).

Production blends are performed in large tanks equipped with vinometer glasses, mechanical stirrers and sample taps located in three levels for sampling (Fig. 23).

Rice. 23. Enameled vertical blending apparatus with a capacity of 5 thousand dal with four mixers from the Poltava plant "Khimmash": a - hatch; b - stirrer

For more complete and rapid mixing, wine materials, blending and base materials are pumped into the blending container in accordance with their density, starting with the lowest. The alcohol in the blend is introduced last into the lower part of the container.

The blends are analyzed and when the desired results are obtained they are considered ready for processing. Blends are prepared with a blending sheet.

Blending calculations

Blends are calculated for the preparation of wine materials with specified conditions. Below is a method for calculating blends with two indicators and three or more materials.

In dry wine materials, the indicators include alcohol and titratable acidity, in semi-dry, semi-sweet and fortified wines - alcohol and sugar.

To calculate blends with two indicators and with three or more materials, a system of equations is drawn up according to the number of components and volume:

x 1 V 1 + x 2 V 2 + ... + x P V P = x 0 V 0 ;

y 1 V 1 + y 2 V 2 + ... + y P V P = y 0 V 0;

V 1 + V 2 + ... + V P = V 0

Example. It is necessary to prepare 1000 dal of blend for white port with an alcohol content of 18.6% vol. and sugar 7.1 g/100 cm 3. How much is required for a blend of fortified wine material with an alcohol content of 18.0% vol. and sugar 14 g/100 cm 3, dry wine material with an alcohol content of 10% vol. and sugar 0.2 g/100 cm 3 and alcohol with a strength of 96% vol.?

Symbols and their meanings are given in table. 12.

Calculation. 18 V 1 + 10 V 2 + 96 V 3 = 18.6 ⋅ 1000; 14 V 1 + 0.2 V 2 = 7.1 ⋅ 1000; V 1 + V 2 + V 3 ⋅ 0.923 = 1000.

From the third equation V 3 = 1083.424 - 1.083 V 1 - 1.083 V 2.

We substitute the found value of V 1 into the second equation and find V 2 = 450.79 dal. From the third equation we find the value V 3 = 52.55 dal v. With. and 52.55 - 96/100 = 50.45 gave b. With. We determine V K = 50.45 ⋅ 0.08 = 4.0 dal.

Examination. By volume 500.7 + 450.8 + 52.6 - 4.0 = 1000.1 dal. Deviations in volume are allowed by ±0.2 dal due to rounding of numbers.

y 0 = 14 ⋅ 500.7 + 0.2 ⋅ 450.8/1000 = 7.099 = 7.1 g/100 cm 3 .

Deviations in alcohol and sugar content are allowed respectively ±0.04% vol. and ±0.04 g/100 cm 3 .

Example. It is necessary to prepare a blend with an alcohol content of 16.3% vol. and sugar 16.1 g/100 cm 3 . The blend includes fortified wine materials: 1515 dal with an alcohol content of 16.2% vol. and sugar 16 g/100 cm 3; 1490 gave 16% vol. and 15 g/100 cm 3 ; 1500 gave 16.5% vol. and 15.3 g/100 cm 3 ; vacuum wort with a sugar content of 80 g/100 cm 3 and alcohol with a strength of 96.0% vol. It is necessary to determine the volume of vacuum wort, alcohol and blend.

Calculation. We combine fortified wine materials, determine their volume and condition.

1515 + 1490 + 1500 = 4505 dal;

x 0 = 16.2 ⋅ 1516 + 16.0 ⋅ 1490 + 16.5 ⋅ 1500/4505 = 16.2% vol.;

y 0 = 16 ⋅ 1515 + 15 ⋅ 1490 + 15.3 ⋅ 1500 = 15.4 g/100 cm 3 ;

The blend includes 4505 dal of fortified wine material with an alcohol content of 16.2% vol. and sugar 15.4 g/100 cm 3, vacuum wort and alcohol.

Let us denote the fortified wine material as 1, the vacuum wort as 2, the alcohol as 3 and the blend as 0.

Let's create a system of equations:

16.2 ⋅ 4505 + 96V 3 = 16.3 V 0

15.4 ⋅ 4505 + 801/2 = 16.1 V 0

4505 + V 2 + V 3 ⋅ 0.923 = V 0.

We substitute the Vo value from the third equation into the first and second equations and get two equations. Define V 3:

V K = 15.610 ⋅ 0.08 = 1.25 dal, we take 1.3 dal. From the first equation we determine the volume of the blend V 0 = 4573.1 dal. From the third equation V 2 = 53.1 dal.

For the blend, 53.1 dal of vacuum wort and 16.3 dal of alcohol will be required and 4573.1 dal of blend will be obtained.

Examination. By volume 4505 + 53.1 + 16.3 - 1.3 = 4573.1 dal. By alcohol content x 0 = 16.2 ⋅ 4505 + 96 ⋅ 16.3: 4573.1 = 16.3% vol. According to the sugar content, 0 = 15.4 ⋅ 4505 + 80 ⋅ 53.1: 4573.1 = 16.1 g/100 cm 3.

Blending is more of a wine term. To obtain an original and unique aroma, different varieties are mixed, for example, cabernet plus sauvignon. Great demands are placed on the winemaker involved in blending in order to obtain a good result. He must not only have a perfect understanding of wine varieties, but also have extensive experience. Wines are first blended in laboratories and only after lengthy checks are transferred to factory production.

Beekeepers also engage in blending - for greater taste and aroma, they mix different types of honey. It is very important to know the different types of honey and how to mix them. Otherwise, the additives may precipitate during storage.

Blending in juicing is also very common. First, a trial mixing is carried out. They are left to stand for several days and the taste, aroma and turbidity of the juice are determined.

Teas are also blended. By mixing different types of tea, you can get an exquisite taste and aroma of the drink. It is very rare to find tea on the counter that has avoided blending. Even if the leaves are collected in the same region, tea can be composed of different collections (there is a first collection, a second, a third, as well as an intermediate one) and each is significantly different from each other.

The benefits of blending

Color correction. If the color brightness is not enough, mix it with the rich color of berries (for example) in order to achieve more bright color and correct the initially boring appearance juice, wine, tea or something else. The acidity level can also be reduced using blending. For example, blending apple juice from wild berries.

Tannin. If we talk about wine, then a very high tannin content causes teeth to set on edge. Such wine is practically unsuitable for drinking, and all that remains is to age it for a long time, since tannin disappears only with long-term storage.

When you decide to start blending, start with those ingredients that are more familiar to you and, of course, with small batches.

Blending (mixing several juices) is carried out when it is necessary to improve the taste of existing fruits: soften the harshness, reduce acidity, remove an unpleasant aftertaste, add aroma. For example, high extractivity (5-6%) of cherry, plum, rowan or blackcurrant juice can be brought back to normal (2-3%) by mixing them with low-extractivity ones.

And you can give lightly colored juice a beautiful color using thickly colored juice. Very often, water and always sugar are added to juice to reduce acidity.

When leveling acidity, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the titratable acidity should be slightly higher than the norm that the winemaker wants to achieve.

As noted above, when sugar and alcohol are added to fermented wine material, the acidity of the wort decreases due to an increase in volume, but the amount of acid remains the same. Normally, the acidity of strong and sweet wines should be 1.1-1.4%, and table wines - 0.8%-1%.

Each winemaker determines the composition of the blend in accordance with his taste and the availability of raw materials. You can prepare blended wine using one of the methods given below.

1st method. First, determine the number of fruits of one type or another needed to prepare the blend. They are then weighed, mixed and crushed. The juice is squeezed out of the pulp and its acid and sugar content is determined. If necessary, it is corrected by adding sugar, water and acid, and left to ferment.

At first glance, this method seems simple. However, it has two significant drawbacks. Firstly, the desired fruits do not always ripen at the same time. Secondly, fruits release juice differently, so, as a rule, there remains a large number of unsqueezed juice. Of course, the pulp, before you begin to separate the juice, can be heated or allowed to ferment. But there is no guarantee that some fruits will not form mucus after this, and the juice from others will turn sour.

2nd method. The required amount of juice is squeezed out of the fruits separately. The amount of sugar and acid contained in the juice is also determined separately. Each juice is corrected and a wort is prepared from it, depending on what kind of wine they want to get: table, strong or sweet. Only after this all the worts are mixed and fermented.

The advantage of this method is obvious. You can use fruits that ripen in different time. The wort of one fruit can be added to the fermenting wort of another. Moreover, they can be combined even when vigorous fermentation comes to an end (but not after that).

As soon as fresh wort enters the already fermenting wort, vigorous fermentation resumes, and beneficial yeast vigorously suppresses harmful fungi, so new fermentation occurs more actively and at a faster pace. There is no need to add additional yeast.

In table 10 shows the recipe for making wort from various juices.

3rd method. Unlike previous methods, in this case They do not mix juices and musts, but ready-made wines.

Its main drawback is that some wines mix very poorly with each other: their tastes are not harmonized for a long time, but sound separately. To obtain the desired bouquet, such wines require long aging - from 3 to 5 years. Below are examples of blending finished wine materials.

When making blended wine using the 3rd method, the wine materials must first not only be removed from the sediment, but also filtered through a funnel lined with several layers of gauze and cotton wool. A cotton-gauze filter is necessary to ensure that the wine flows through the funnel slowly and all impurities remain on the filter. After blending, the wine is left to settle and after 2 weeks is removed from the sediment again. Only after this is it bottled and sealed.

The winemaker selects the composition of the blended wine independently. To do this, the finished wine materials are pre-mixed in small quantities (for example, 100 ml) and various combinations, tasted, noting the most successful combinations.

Blending is the mixing of different but homogeneous products in order to improve the quality of the resulting drink, develop a new variety, and give the batch uniform organoleptic characteristics.

The blending method is most often used in the production of alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, whiskey and cognac. However, mixing is used various types of the same product to obtain original varieties of honey, tea, coffee.

Using this method, you can eliminate the shortcomings of certain types of products, give them additional nuances, and create an original drink that is different from others. In order to blend any drink, special professional training, a large amount of knowledge and practical skills are required.

Using the blending method, you can give the drink a more noble or interesting color, taste or aroma. As for wine, the use of this method makes it possible to smooth out such shortcomings as, for example, excess tannin, which gives the drink an overly tart taste.

Before blended drinks are released into production, a lot of work is carried out by professionals. First, make a small amount of the mixture, changing the proportions and based on knowledge of the properties of the ingredients used in the blend. As a rule, specialists make several trial options, and the most successful of them is put into production.

Wine blend

Blend (coupage) or blend in professional language in winemaking means a mixture of several varieties of grape raw materials. Experts know how to mix white and red grape varieties. That is, with certain skills and abilities, drinks are created not only on the basis of exclusively white or only dark berries. An example of such a blend is wine produced in the Côte-Rôtie appellation, the northernmost and considered the oldest vineyard in France. This unique wine is made from white grapes viognier and red shiraz.

The science of blending was developed specifically to create unique, vintage, recognizable drinks. Any winery faces problems such as differences in soil fertility and physical and chemical parameters, weather disasters, different quantities sunny and rainy days a year. All these indicators affect the quality and taste of the grapes.

Blending wine is a labor-intensive process that requires a specialist to know the proportions and characteristics of various wine varieties. The blender must imagine what he should get as a result. He knows how certain grape varieties are combined, and how they change their parameters during the mixing process.

In the wine blending process, not only various grape components are used. Sometimes ethyl alcohol, bekmes (doshab), vacuum wort and other substances are used to produce blended wine.
Winemakers distinguish between vintage and non-vintage blends. In this case, vintage means that the different grapes used for blending were harvested in the same year. A non-vintage blend involves mixing berries from different vintages. This technology is used mainly in the production of sparkling wines and ports.

Some famous wine blends

Let's look at several world-famous blends to better understand what we're talking about. Many have probably heard the name Bordeaux. This is a French province famous for its vineyards. There are a huge number of wine houses in Bordeaux, but not all of them produce drinks known as Bordeaux blends.

Bordeaux drinks can only be produced from six grape varieties and only in Bordeaux. The inclusion of any other variety in the blend, as well as the production of wine outside the region, deprives the drink of the right to be called by this name. As a rule, winemakers limit themselves to two, or maximum three, varieties, but some include all six grape varieties in the Bordeaux blend, however, this is an extremely rare case. These include:

1. Merlot;
2. Cabernet Sauvignon;
3. Cabernet Franc;
4. Carménère;
5. Petit Verdot;
6. Malbec.

Cabernet Savignon vine

If a blend based on the specified grape varieties is made outside the province of Bordeaux, then the drinks are called “meritage”. The term was coined by American marketers. When American winemakers decided to produce wine blends from their raw materials based on the listed grape varieties, they could not call them Bordeaux. To spite the French, the term meritage was coined, and it must be said that American wines are in no way inferior to classic French ones. Moreover, in last years Wines produced in the USA are superior in quality to the products of the generally accepted wine leader - France. During “blind” tastings at wine competitions, most experts give preference to American products.

Super Tuscan wines are also a well-known wine blend in the world. This term was born in the 1970s, and the following story is associated with it. It must be said that Europe has adopted a pan-European classification of wines, but each country where wine is traditionally produced has its own classifiers. When Italian winemakers from the Tuscany region decided to create a new blend, they encountered a problem government regulation alcohol production. Their blend, made from six grape varieties, did not fall under the highest category of the Italian DOCG classification, although it was of excellent quality.

This happened because the drinks were created unique, including such varieties as:

• Shiraz;
• Sengiovese;
• Petit Verdot;
• Cabernet Franc;
• Merlot;
• Cabernet Sauvignon.

This combination did not match any state standard. New blends could not receive the highest categories and could only be sold as ordinary table wines, although they were many times superior in quality. It was only in the 2000s that some of the Super Tuscan drinks were finally able to achieve the highest quality categories.

The famous blended wines produced in one of the most significant wine-producing regions of France - the Rhone Valley - are also known throughout the world among wine lovers. There are many wineries located here, which produce a huge number of excellent drinks. For example, if you see the name Côtes du Rhône (bank of the Rhone) on a bottle, this will mean that this is a blended drink produced by mixing red and white grape varieties.

Whiskey blend

Blended whiskey is produced by mixing malted barley and other grain varieties of the drink. Single malt whiskey is produced exclusively from spirits derived from barley. This drink is considered to be of higher quality, and, accordingly, more expensive.

Each blend contains a different percentage of malt spirits. The higher this indicator, the higher quality the drink will be. However, manufacturers engage in blending not only to reduce the cost of the final product. This method makes it possible to obtain drinks with unique taste. As a rule, the blend includes several (about 15) malted barley varieties, which are mixed first. Lower quality grain alcohols are then added to the blend. Usually there are no more than four.

The unique taste of blended whiskeys is achieved by aging them in oak barrels. According to the technology, the mixed drink is first kept in special tanks for about a day, and then placed in wooden barrels. High quality blended whiskey matured in oak barrel at least six months.

Two countries are called the birthplace of whiskey - Scotland and Ireland. For a long time, they have been producing this drink in neighboring England. That is, the current United Kingdom can be called the birthplace of whiskey. By buying English, Scotch or Irish whiskey, you are more likely to purchase a real drink.

According to Scottish Association standards, there are three types of blended drink:

1. Standard blend;
2. Blend de luxe;
3. Premium blend.

At the same time, standards for the production of malt and grain whiskey also apply. Blended spirits are the most significant and popular proportion of whiskey production in Scotland.

One of the most popular and consumed standard whiskey blends in the world is the Johnnie Walker red label product. Such popular drinks as “Ballantine” and “Dewars” are also produced using the blending method.

Deluxe blends have a higher content of malt barley spirits. These include drinks such as black label Johnnie Walker, 12-year-old Chivas Regal and William Lawson. Premium blended whiskey is a rarity and only affordable by a select few.

Preparation of moonshine and alcohol for personal use
absolutely legal!

After the collapse of the USSR, the new government stopped the fight against moonshine. Criminal liability and fines were abolished, and the article banning the production of alcohol-containing products at home was removed from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To this day, there is not a single law that prohibits you and me from engaging in our favorite hobby - preparing alcohol at home. This is evidenced by the Federal Law of July 8, 1999 No. 143-FZ “On Administrative Responsibility legal entities(organizations) and individual entrepreneurs for offenses in the field of production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products" (Collected Legislation Russian Federation, 1999, N 28, art. 3476).

Extract from the Federal Law of the Russian Federation:

“The effect of this Federal Law does not apply to the activities of citizens (individuals) producing products containing ethyl alcohol for purposes other than sale.”

Moonshining in other countries:

In Kazakhstan in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses dated January 30, 2001 N 155, the following liability is provided. Thus, according to Article 335 “Manufacture and sale of home-made alcoholic beverages”, illegal production of moonshine, chacha, mulberry vodka, mash and other alcoholic beverages for the purpose of sale, as well as the sale of these alcoholic beverages, entails a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices with confiscation of alcoholic beverages , apparatus, raw materials and equipment for their manufacture, as well as money and other valuables received from their sale. However, the law does not prohibit the preparation of alcohol for personal use.

In Ukraine and Belarus things are different. Articles No. 176 and No. 177 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provide for the imposition of fines in the amount of three to ten tax-free minimum wages for the production and storage of moonshine without the purpose of sale, for the storage of devices* for its production without the purpose of sale.

Article 12.43 repeats this information almost word for word. “Production or acquisition of strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), storage of apparatus for their production” in the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. Point No. 1 states: “Manufacturing individuals strong alcoholic drinks (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), as well as storage of devices* used for their production - entail a warning or a fine of up to five basic units with confiscation of these drinks, semi-finished products and devices.”

*Purchase moonshine stills It is still possible for home use, since their second purpose is to distill water and obtain components for natural cosmetics and perfumes.