Not a typo ( I know I do make a lot)
Yes , really, it’s a thing apparently. Wine made from a mix of red and white grapes. I have not heard of this u til the following article in The Economst,
Has any one tasted any, if so what do you think.
Why a new, playful style of wine is delighting drinkers- The Economist
I very much like drinking the traditional examples of this sorta thing - Palhete & Pipeño, but also Siller in a stylistic way at least. The emergent incarnations feel like a winemaking response to the consumer thirst for “chillable red,” although there are examples that predate that trend. Thinking, specifically, of Salinia’s Sun Hawk and Ochota Barrels’ Texture Like Sun. Personally, I quite like these sorts of wines assuming they aren’t just a kitchen sink repository for mediocre grapes. They don’t feel like wines of terroir, so don’t go searching for that necessarily, but they can be quite joyous and drinky in my experience, and are often what I’m after for a first bottle on a weekend.
The name seems to have taken off a couple of years ago.
Catchier than ‘co fermentation’
Heredia’s Rosado is pretty cool, I think.
Champagne ?
Hmmm.
That’s 90/10 red white or thereabouts isn’t it?
I had inferred, perhaps wrongly, a more equal split of red white. So, what is the range of red / white ratios for wines considered to be in this category?
Basic Beaujolais is a chillable red.
Co fermented?
Indeed.
Didn’t see any mention of any percentages!
Anyways, have had lots of wines like these - although none that would’ve been labeled as “Blouge”.
I’m also confused how you are supposed to pronounce the term. I guess it is supposed to be rhyming with “rouge”, but my brain is telling me to pronounce it so it rhymes with “blouse” - just because of how it is written.
I don’t see the point of this message. There are tons of chillable reds. If you wanted to discuss red-white blends, why bring up basic Bojo?
Was that a requirement?
Then Cote Rotie.
Or Cuvee 910 from Dom. des Vignes du Maynes
Anyone who has tried Hardy Wallace’s Extradimensional WineCo YEAH! wines has experience with this.
Simply picking up on the comment above that the goal is to create a chillable red. As you say, you don’t have to use a blend to achieve that.
Love this category of wine; as mentioned above, not necessarily bottles to ruminate on, but they’re gone too quick to care. There’s definitely a balance to be struck, as I’ve had many in which the aspects of the red grapes dominate the blend, but when done delicately I find a difference in character as opposed to a “chilled red.” Higher acidity, more typically “white wine” notes (citrus, stonefruit, etc), perhaps a more angular texture. Texier’s “Chat Fou” is a good one, and I love the domestic examples from Teutonic and Florez, among others.
FWIW I think it’s a really ugly word. Better than Ranc I suppose. Rouanc provides another pronunciation challenge, but is less ugly to me
PS. At the risk of thread drift, does anyone ever drop an ice cube into a glass of wine that is too warm ( lacking either the ability or patience to put it in the fridge for a bit)
All the time - usually in the context of banquet/gala type dinners where the wine’s hitting the glass at 75 degrees and was never much good to start with. At home usually not, I’ll just throw the bottle in the freezer for 8-12min.
Though counter-intuitive, blending or co-fermenting whites with reds usually makes them more structured.
I worked on the 2009 and 2010 Sunhawk. Any given vintage was 15-20% white (single vineyard, all co-fermented). The vineyard was planted as a Mendocino ode to CdP, and co-fermenting these reds and whites was about fully expressing that slope, with the blending no intended to make something lighter or less terroir driven (that was more in fermentation technique).
This has been central to Kate and my work since the 2017 Clothing Optional Enz Vineyard “Red Wine.” But our goal isn’t the same as the current Blouge category. We’re usually striving for the opposite, making more structured wines that are more of what they are where they are from (either vineyard designate or regional).
In the age of climate change, if you want balanced wines without cracking open the winemakers toolkit (no chaptalization or concentrate, no water, no acid adjustments, etc.) blending reds and whites is one of the better routes available. It drops pH, raises acidity, increases the sensation of tannin, adds mid-palate and length, improves ageability. But it’s a skill and an art and really really hard to do well. Some of our red blends have been up to 50% non-red wine (the breakdown is always in the tasting notes).
For those interested in this approach-
Next Friday we’re bottling two new red-white blends, both vineyard designates. One is 65% white, the other 35%. Both are more terroir driven than their single varietal counterparts. The 35% blend (“The Pinnacle”) is my best wine of the 2024 vintage. More of what that vineyard is, not less.
PS @mkanbergs - Thanks for bringing up Sunhawk. That took me down memory / nostalgia lane! Hope you are great!!!
What came to mind was Rien Ne Bouge from Domaine du Rêveur a project from Matthieu Deiss and Emmanuelle Milan. It’s Pinot Noir macerated in direct to press juice of Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and a little bit of Muscat. The wine is electric with excellent silky texture and seductive aromas. Certainly a must try if you’re interested in this sort of thing.
Interesting! Hardy, do you think that is just down to the increased acidity? (I.e., lower pH = higher perceived tannin.)
Yes. Usually the pH drop increases the sensation / feel of tannin.
Yes! I love that wine and think it’s almost the platonic ideal for this style.
And, @H_Wallace_Jr, thanks for all that info! I loved Sunhawk. I know it was a super important wine for Chad @ Iruai too. I often think about how far ahead of his time Kevin was. I hope you’re great too, amigo. In fact, I know you are.