Help with Blend

[Funky Frank]

Hi everyone! I went in on an order with a buddy who I’m trying to get back into wine making. As such, he mostly steered the ship and I’ve found myself with 3 gallons of Italian Lambrusco and 3 gallons of Italian Merlot that I want to blend. I am going to get another 6 gallon pail to make a 12 gallon blend at the start of fermentation. I’ve narrowed my choices to dolcetto, montepulciano, or Sangiovese. Which should I choose and why?

My wine background. I love Cab S, Cab F, and Bordeaux. I love a bold tobacco flavor in my wine and don’t even get me started on the bell pepper flavor from Cab F! I’ve made a lot of bold reds that I love but my wife does not. My wife likes dry Riesling and I make that and several other whites that she raves over. Since I’m in this lane with the Lambrusco, I’d like to expand my lineup with a nice light table red that we can both enjoy. And maybe Christmas gifts so I’m looking for the everyone pleaser.

Thanks in advance!

PS…I know the proper way to blend these would be to let them all ferment individually and then do test blends to make the final blend. That’s just fine and dandy but I probably won’t find the time to do that…ask my bottles of cooking wine…lol.

 

[Funky Frank]

I could also be talked into adding a 36# lug of California Tempranillo or California Zinfandel instead of the 6 gallon pail. Ahhh, too many choices!

 

[Coffee49]

The lambrusco, merlot mix sounds like it would be fine without a 3rd wheel but my wife is also a dry reisling fan and tried my batch of sangiovese, it sparked her interest in trying a Bordeaux or chianti. A sangiovese would be a good 3rd add if you want to increase bottle count for sure.

 

[Funky Frank]

Thanks, @Coffee49!

A sangiovese would be a good 3rd add

Sangio is ordered and I decided to make 2 different table wines with all this instead of the 1 big blend. The first will be a Chianti inspired blend of 5 gal Sangiovese and 1 gal Merlot that I will try to keep true(ish) to style. The second will be called just a table red with 3 gal Lambrusco, 2 gal Merlot, and 1 gal Sangiovese that I will make off dry to semisweet.