[question] Question submitted by Kent Standish, Australia I have seen a limited release Mamre Brook Cab/Shiraz 2004 magnum out now. I have seen your ratings on the individual 04 Mamre Brook Cabernet and Shiraz. Would this wine be a blend of the two completed wines or be made and blended separately? Is it likely to be rated highly by you based on the two individual components going into the wine? Is it possible that two highly rated wines after blending do not complement each other and receive a low score? [/question] [answer] This is the same wine as I discussed in the answer to Andrew Fleischer’s question, but you have introduced a couple of different aspects to the discussion. As Nigel Dolan said, the wine is indeed a blend of the two parcels of varietal wines. Without having tried the wine, which I will attempt to do in the near future, I would suggest that given the quality of the base wines, plus Dolan’s experience as a blender of such varieties (he has made the Metala blend for ages), this wine should be pretty good. Personally, having tasted the straight varietal components, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was better than either. The shiraz should contribute to the palate’s generosity and the wine’s overall complexity, while the cabernet would provide the backbone and its long-term fruit richness and structure. In general terms, it is perfectly possible that two highly rated individual wines would not complement each other in a blend. This would occur if they duplicated their strengths, or if one were to cancel the other’s strength with a weakness or deficiency. My suggestion is that when you have two good, but contrasting bottles of wine open at the same time, play around with different proportions of each wine in a blend. That way you’ll create your own first-hand experience of this and learn from it. [/answer]
