Before or after barrel aging, wines may be blended.
A blend may combine wines of different varieties so as to make, for example, a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot or a Semillon Chardonnay blend. (In any declared blend, the predominant variety is stated first.). Most of the world’s great wines are blends of more than one variety. Red Bordeaux, for example, must be a blend of between two and five specific grapes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape can include up to thirteen varieties, and Australia’s premier cult wine, Penfold’s Grange, is almost all Shiraz with a little Cabernet Sauvignon. Blends are designed to create an integrated, harmonious wine that is greater than the sum of any of its constituent varieties.
Her user account seems to have been deleted (Todd?). I was just starting to ask why a DEA agent [“THEODORA LEE (DEA)”] was doing this but, alas, … gone.