Know your vino - Finding the right blend
By KATE MURPHY for the Missoulian
Monday, September 10th, 2007

I’ve been drinking and trying new wines all week with my brother, who’s in town visiting from Washington. He’s a fan of blends (a characteristic common in Washington wines), often looking for them on menus and retail shelves.

Blends in the wine world is a term used to describe the process of blending two or more wine varieties, wine types, wine lots or wine vintages with the goal of creating one balanced wine. I’m not always fond of blends and in most cases, with the exception of Bordeauxes, tend to find myself enjoying single grape varietals more.

When considering the difference between the two, you could think of the blends versus single varieties as the orchestra versus the soloist. American wines typically have many different players going into a single bottle. If one player misses a note, the rest of the members can easily make up for it.

European wines, on the other hand, could be referred to as the Yo-Yo Ma model, the single maestro who is known and acclaimed for his individual style and personality.

So is one better than the other? Of course not! It all depends on your taste and what you’re in the mood for. After a week of sampling quite a few blends, I discovered a few I enjoyed very much. The Dunham wines are great examples of balanced blended wines - in particular, the 2005 Dunham Trutina, a 4-part harmonious medley.

From the Columbia Valley in Washington, Trutina, a Latin word meaning "balanced," is a blend of 41 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 41 percent Merlot, percent Syrah and 5 percent Cabernet Franc, (which, ironically enough, is a Bordeaux-style blend).

The wine is a deep, dark purple, almost black, showing rich, ripe pomegranate, blackberry, black currant and cassis. On the edges you’ll find notes of lavender, sweet tobacco, mocha and mint, woven together with the viscous fruit and velvety tannins.

Aged in 100 percent tight-grained French oak, this wine is definitely ready to drink now. But you could also lay it down for four to five years for an even more integrated, complex, world-class wine.

We paired this wine with my brother’s legendary chicken Marsala and gorgonzola risotto - it was an absolutely superb experience. You could also pair this wine with pork tenderloin medallions or a roasted leg of lamb, both of which it will hold up to quite nicely.

You can find this wine at Costco, CVS, Good Food Store, Pattee Creek Market, Roseaurs and Worden’s for $25. And whether you decide you prefer the vocalist over the entire band, the blend over the single grape, I think we can all agree, it’s always nice to have options.

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