The stuff that's left over, that can't fill full bottles, is usually the first to get tasted. No sense keeping all those partial mason jars around. I mean this stuff all looks alike and labeling mason jars is a waste of time so I gave it some thought and decided to do a blend.
All this wine is very dry, measuring .998 on the scale. No sugars left to ferment means the Sangiovese has a Chianti character to it. No surprise here, since Sangiovese is a principal component to Chianti. But that's what I was looking for. A wine that is sharp enough to cut through heavy sauce dishes like pasta marinara and lasagna to cleanse your pallet for the next bite.
The Cabernet Franc, although just as dry, has a softer texture and came out absolutely delicious. You'd never guess it was a dry wine. But that's why Franc has been used as an additive wine, to fill in the rough edges. It's what I put in last year's Rubicon to bring the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot together as the best wine I ever tasted. It was the Franc that put the icing on the cake, so to speak.
Bringing the Franc and Sangiovese together was a no-brainer.
Blending 80% Sangiovese and 20% Franc produced an excellent wine with characters of both without the Sangiovese sharpness.
I needed bottles so I filled two samples and went to my local winery for confirmation. I gave the owner a small bottle of the blend and asked for his opinion. He was stumped. Couldn't identify the grape but drank a second glass just to make sure. What can I say? He loved how it had a hint of wood and was soooo mellow. I told him what I did and was thinking 20% may be too much and I might be better off with 10% instead. No, he said. It's perfect the way it is. Fine by me, Pete. I can live with that.
I next visited Annie at the winery. I promised to bring her a sample of the Franc when I got done with it, since she was disappointed with the last Franc she drank.
It's always a pleasure talking with Annie. She's is a true connoisseur. She's been everywhere and dined on gourmet food with influential people most of her life and she's still sane, which is more than I can say for most people I've met. And she knows her wines.
She didn't waste any time and poured her first drink of the day. Keep in mind, she works at a winery and her job is tasting wine and dealing with customers and this winery produces the best wines in the area. It was pure pleasure watching her expression as she took that first sip of the blend. "At first, there was a tingle on the roof of my mouth but disappeared a half second later. This is SO smooth! You made this? What is this?", she said. When I told her she couldn't believe it. Try the Franc, I said. She poured some, drank it, put her cup down and stood there in a state of ecstasy. "This is really good", she said. I knew she wasn't lying. This shit's damn good.
She set up some glasses and poured some wine and we tasted what they just put out. Annie poured another glass of the blend. She then poured a glass of Sauvignon Blanc with lemon, that the winery just bottled. Nice but very sweet so she added a bit more Sauvignon Blanc to balance it out. Keep in mind, it was Annie who thought mixing wines had a purpose, to which I was thoroughly opposed, until she mixed coconut yuzu with pineapple wine to produce a pina colada. The girl has taste and she kept filling glasses with exotic stuff, including the mead she brought with her, as her personal stash. This was breakfast. Anyway... The Sangiovese/Franc blend didn't have enough volume to fill more than a bottle or two so I put it in beer bottles with caps. This way you only need a church key to open it and twelve ounces might be enough. As much as I'm opposed to chilling red wine, it might be a good idea to keep some of this stuff in the fridge for the dog days of summer when you need a drink but not a bottle.
To the approaching dog days of summer... CHEERS!
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