On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:22:00 -0400
Mark Lipton > wrote:

> Mike Tommasi wrote:
>
> >> A field blend is just that, a field of grapes of different varieties
> >> picked at once and vinified together, as opposed to, for example,
> >> winemaking in Bordeaux where one vineyard is composed of merlot, one
> >> of cabernet sauvignon, one of petit verdot, etc., vinified apart and
> >> then blended into the final Grand Vin.
> >
> > What you describe as a field blend may have been common practice long
> > ago, I am not aware of anyone doing this today.
>
> Really, Mike? There are at least a few domaines in C9dP that continue
> to do it IIRC, not to mention all those old "Zin" vineyards in CA that
> contain any number of other varieties (gnarly old head-pruned vines are
> hard to tell apart, apparently). Also, wouldn't you consider wines made
> from "selection massale" vineyards as a field blend of sorts?
>

Dale is right too, in the CdR and VdP regions of the Rhone valley this is
still common enough.

I've never heard the term "field blend", though.

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com