2019 Mongeard-Mugneret Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Narbanton
2019 Mongeard-Mugneret Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Narbanton A softly wooded and subtly spiced nose offers up ripe aromas of cassis, plum, cool earth and violet. There is fine volume and mid-palate density to the rich and suave medium-bodied flavors that display fine persistence and complexity on the firm and lightly mineral-suffused finish where a touch of austere appears. This delicious effort is built to repay mid-term aging.
91 Robert Parker: The 2019 Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Narbantons is another success, mingling notes of cherries and plums with hints of spices and mandarin rind. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and round, it’s gourmand and generous, with enough powdery tannin to balance out the sucrosity of the ripe vintage.
Red wine
Red wine has been prevalent since prehistory (the period before written records) as winemaking originated and spread throughout the world. In this case, “red blend” refers to any red wine that contains more than one red grape variety in the final product, though certain red blends can have their own designation as varietal wines despite comprising multiple grapes.
For much of the history of European wine, red blends were in fact more common than single varietals, as winemaking was typically region-centric and featured grapes consolidated from vineyards across a given area. One famous example of this practice is the Bordeaux blend, which originated in the 18th or 19th century and usually comprises Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Though prominent red blends such as Bordeaux still remain popular, many red blends have been associated with lower quality due to the assumption that the term indicates cheaper table wines. However, many high-quality wine producers still elect to produce red blends, and these wines can in fact offer many unique and delicious flavors due to the winery’s ability to custom design the profile of their product.
Red blends are prepared from a variety of red grapes, usually crushed and fermented individually before any blending takes place. Finding the right blend often requires blending trials, where the winemaker tastes the wine and offers suggestions for how to modify the blend. This process is more common with new world blends, whereas traditional blends such as Bordeaux or Chianti can simply be produced following age-old practices. Aging potential varies, though many high-quality red blends can be aged in oak or bottle. Flavors also vary, though in general most red blends will have notes of red or black fruit.