Much like 3D technology can enhance the experience of watching a movie, when a vintner uses more than one grape variety, it can enhance the experience of drinking a wine.
Filmmaking and winemaking both are art forms, and the techniques selected will add a layer… or layers… to the ultimate experience.
Every country where wine grapes are grown has a signature blend, and some have more than 
one. Three countries are spotlighted in the Mind-Blowing Red Blends Collection — France, Chile and Portugal. All told, nine different varieties were used in making the three wines.
The 2015 Chateau Cap de Biolet France Bordeaux utilizes two of the traditional blending grapes of the Bordeaux appellation, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, in a cuvee that is wonderfully fruitful with a lingering sweetness — something that could not have been achieved with either variety individually.
The Chilean wine 2014 Valle Secreto Cachapoal Valley ‘Key’ uses another traditional Bordeaux variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, as its base wine. But it’s the Carmenere component that makes the wine unique as it softens on the palate like few 100% Cabs would.
Finally, the wine from Portugal, the 2011 Mondeco DAO Portugal Vinho Tinto, utilizes not two, not three and not four… but FIVE different varieties. It’s a magnificently complex yet beautifully balanced wine, with an engaging aroma and almost too many flavor impressions to count.
Single-variety wines can be wonderful, and I drink them all the time. But sometimes I want to treat my palate to an explosion of flavors, particularly when I’ve taken the time to assemble a multi-faceted meal.
That’s when I reach for a bottle that includes more than one grape variety, blended to aroma, flavor and balance perfection by a vintner who is passionate about winemaking and views his work not merely as a job, but as a calling.
The delicious cuvees in the Mind-Blowing Red Blends Collection are calling my name right now.
