Learn how to blend your own wine at Fleury Estate Vineyards | ABC7 San Francisco

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By ABC7

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Why you should do it:

Blend your own wine with three different varietals.

You'll need a beaker, wine glasses and three varietals.

Taste and evaluate using your sensory skills.

You'll become your own wine maker.

Fun for entertaining friends and family.

Blending Steps:

Start with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Understand where your palate is and what blend you think that you'd like.

Start with what you call your base which is going to be Cabernet Sauvignon. You'll determine what percentage you want to use of that. Then you're able to use Merlot or Cabernet Franc, and as long as you're up to 100, you're good to start blending. (An example would be: 70% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot and 10% cabernet franc.)

Blend a few variations around your original mix, and make sure that that is exactly the blend you like the best.

You can label each variation with symbols, like a star, moon, etc.

Fleury Estate Winery
950 Galleron Road
Rutherford, CA
707.967.8333

Tastings by Appointment
www.fleurywinery.com
The blending session is $100/person and a $1,500 case minimum purchase.

About Brian Fleury
Brian Fleury is a self-taught winemaker who learned the craft by hiring various mentors and working alongside them. Current releases include a Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, a Zinfandel/Cabernet blend, three Cabernet Sauvignons and a Port. The Fleury flagship wine is "Passionne," a Bordeaux-style blend that is always the first to sell out.

A successful Bay Area businessman who brought his family to the Napa Valley ten years ago, he turned his passion for collecting fine wine into a passion for making it. Fleury Estate Winery now owns 50 acres spanning three vineyards in three appellations and at three elevations: Rutherford, St. Helena and Howell Mountain. Its small Rutherford facility produces and sells out of 3,000 cases a year by winery sales only, without the use of distributors.

Fleury Estate Winery Current Releases:

2007 "Fleurty" Rose - $30
2006 Chardonnay - $50
2006 Pinot Noir - $65
2005 ZCAB - $65
2006 F in Red Proprietary Blend - $85
2005 Lauren Bryce Cabernet Sauvignon - $85
2005 Old Wagon Cabernet Sauvignon - $100
2005 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon - $125
2005 Passionne Reserve Blend - $135
2004 Port - $75