How We Blend Wine: Behind The Scenes
Why We Blend Wine
Our signature wine blending process highlights our expertise in the area where nature, science, and artistry all meet. We use various combinations of grapes that highlight and accent each other’s characteristics to develop complex and balanced wines. Our wine blending process allows ample room for experimentation so Marbue can show off his skills!
Choosing the Right Combinations
When we consider which grape clones would work well in a blend, we take all aspects of the terrior into account, like; climate, geography, soil composition, rainfall, oceanic fog, and so on.
We have multiple clones of each variety that have nuanced differences that may slightly alter the taste of the wine each produces. These clones may vary in berry size, ripening time, planting location, skin thickness and density, and so on. When we mix the clones of the same variety, they each add something special to the conversation like aromatic variations or levels of acidity, to create a complex flavor profile that is still well anchored in the flavor of the original grape’s base notes.
Our chardonnay combines the best qualities of 3 different clones, and our (almost sold out) 2019 Oceano Pinot Noir is crafted with 4 clones. We are ultimately looking to have a wine that is complex, yet balanced and true to our wine style. The blends we choose are always vibrant and refreshing with a lot of character and depth.
How We Blend Wine
- Each wine is fermented separately based on the grape clone
- Marbue considers numerous different versions of a base for our blending trial.
- We do a blind taste test to give our most unbiased reviews then we discuss which we think are the most stylistically Oceano and most delicious!
- The barrels we choose are combined in blending tanks
- The blend is then put back into the barrel for aging so the flavors have time to marry and become more cohesive as they age.
- The perfected blend is bottled and we hold onto them until they are ready to send off for you to enjoy! And if you subscribe to our wine club, you could be one of the first to try out our new combinations as we create them!
What other questions do you have about our process at Oceano? Reach out on social media to learn more about how our unique process makes our wines so complex and excellent to pair with your favorite dish. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up with our travel tips, upcoming events, and new blends we have in the works!
