I just love blends for their complexity, and have always loved CdPs and even Southern Rhones (despite the negative threads).
Are US vineyard blends the US version of CdPs?
I think CdPs tend to physically segregate their varietals, but that’s a question for more knowledgeable folks.
Bordeaux, Southern Rhone, Southwest France, Priorat and several other regions all blend numerous varieties for complexity, balance and consistency. Blending in places like California and Australia can be a bit less common because of less volatile growing conditions (less frost, less rain, virtually no hail) that allow producers to reliably grow/ripen single varieties (in addition to differentiation by varietal brand - IE Cabernet Sauvignon).
There is some history of blends in the US, particularly field blends from sites planted by immigrants (Zinfandel, other varieties) and in earlier Napa during a period where they were emulating Bordeaux. In more contemporary times, Paso Robles and the California central coast (Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, etc) have had success with Rhone blends partly led by the Perrin/Haas partnership (Tablas Creek/Beaucastel) and the Rhone Ranger movement. (not to discount Eberle, Alban and others).
To that extent, you could say that the California central coast Rhone blends are the CdP of the United States. However there is a strong tradition within winemaking of blends throughout time in multiple regions and that’s reflected in multiple sites throughout the United States.
Also, many producers ferment particular varieties separately before blending but several producers do co-ferment varieties. (the must is blended and ferments together before it becomes wine).
Spiritually at least, I think there’s a good case to be made for “yes.”
There are a lot of similarities, but one major difference is acid levels. Zinfandel typically have a lot more acidity than Chateauneufs. I’ve been buying far fewer CdP to enjoy with my bbq since I discovered old vine Zin blends.
I think there are a couple of discussions to be had hear.
First off, from what I understand, some of the domestic producers you’ve mentioned actually have vineyards with ‘mixed’ plantings that are all brought in together - the true ‘field blend’ concept.
These obviously are different than the ‘vineyard blends’ - different varieties planted in the same vineyard that are vinified separately and then blended post fermentation.
Then there are blends comprised of the same variety or different varieties from different vineyards in the same area that are blended before bottling.
Not sure what is most prevalent in CdP, but I’m sure others who comment afterwards will know.
Cheers!
I agree.
California vineyards blends are reminiscent of blends throughout the Old and New Worlds that were planted promiscuously. Little to do with CdP in particular though.
Alan - what do you mean by “vineyard blends”? As others have pointed out, some vineyards are planted with a mix of grapes. Others are planted with these grapes over here, those grapes over there, etc.
Also, you have to realize that CdP isn’t somehow unique in that they blend grapes.
Obviously, blending the grapes is not the same thing as growing and harvesting them together. CdP and Bordeaux are both usually blends. Originally they were field blends, as were the wines in many, if not most places in Europe. In places like Piedmont, Rioja, etc., they usually had a favored grape but always had a little something else planted because you could never count on the weather in any given year. When the first immigrants planted CA vineyards, they felt the same way.
In the 1960s, people like Mondavi taught Americans to buy wine based on a specific grape variety. That’s become a new-world thing to some extent, although it’s showing up in Europe too. In any event, the result is that “field blends” are unusual in the US today. But if you look at a wine like Phelps Insignia, it’s a blend. And since the rules in CA say you only need 75 percent of a grape to call the wine by that grape, many wines are blends in exactly the way CdP is.
Another thing that happened in the US is that some people tried to copy the French models and consequently won’t blend “Bordeaux” varieties with “Rhone” varieties, although that never made any sense to me. It’s not as if those grapes somehow belong in either place and don’t work with the grapes from somewhere else.
In places like Priorat, there is no real tradition before 1990 so you can’t say anything about that region with certainty. The first five people who basically created the region found old Garnacha and Carinena growing. So they planted Cab, Merlot, Tempranillo and Syrah, because who ever heard of world class wines being made from Garnacha or Carinena? Since then of course, CdP achieved a status almost as lofty as Bordeaux and in Priorat today, after lots of experimentation, you find wine that is 100% Garnacha, 100% Carinena, and any number of other blends of various grapes.
In Rioja, they always blended but because the main houses bought from various growers, the wines were not “vineyard” blends. However, there are producers who have their own vineyards and who grow a mix of grapes in those vineyards. And I think that’s the way it was in most of the world.
Today in the US and elsewhere too, grape growing is kind of a monoculture, which tradition would have told us is just bad farming. We select the same clones and plant an entire vineyard with one clone of rootstock grafted with a single clone for the scion. That’s just not the way people did things in the past, in any country. And as to your example of CdP, it’s increasingly going the other way. You’re finding single-vineyard wines, 100% Grenache, etc. All of that is of course the antithesis of CdP as you’re imagining it.
Thanks for the comments, and realized I left out a crucial point- the large number of varietals used in the blends is a key similarity. As correctly pointed out, there are many blends, but the large number of varietals used makes then unique blends.