I did at least put together all of the blends.  ‘Fiesta Islad Cab’ will be mainly cabernet sauvignon blended with “merlot A” in a 5:1 ratio, which I mixed together in my medium primary fermentor (i.e., small trash can):

I also made up ‘Miramar Merlot’ with a 3:1 blend of “merlot A” with cab sauv, then a 50/50 blend of cab and the barrel batch merlot (‘Bahia Belle’ Bordeaux Blend) for 6 gallons total.  I decided to leave “merlot B” as a 100% varietal.

Cab:  nose of mint;  “smells cabby”; very clear, nice ruby-raspberry color; good tannins, good oak;  not too young;  “nice fresh fruit taste on first sip”;  definitely alcoholic;  bitter note on finish.  On second tasting, after snacking on some homemade cheese and sausage my friend brought over, the cab seemed fruitier than the initial tasting.  This wine was full of tannins – everyone’s teeth and tongue turned blackish purple immediately!

Barrel merlot:  nose of tobacco leaf and leather; sweet compared to cab;  cola taste;  no tartness; acetone GONE!!!; very mellow, well melded;  not as tannic as cab

Merlot A:  maple or fruit syrup on the nose; also sweet; not as acidic at all, but more acid than barrel merlot;  smells like BBQ sauce;  condensed sweetness;  smells like port.  When tasted again after having sausage and cheese, tasted very toasty.

Merlot B:  really sweet nose and taste; more fruit in nose; less condensed, fresher;  more spice, more fruit than merlot A.

Things quickly degenerated into chaos as we started playing with blends.  I tried to keep up  — after already drinking a lot of wine – to write down all the combos and notes.  I also opened a bottle of a kit cab-merlot to see how it blended with the grape wines.  We tested about 14 combinations, and came to the conclusion that everyone seemed to like the cab the most.  Both of the barrel wines (cab and merlot) were great alone, but cab with a little of any of the merlots seemed to be an improvement.

It was a lot of fun, and definitely a big mess.  Now I have a lot to consider before I can get this wine bottled.

We would be bottling all of the cabernet, so I took my portions from the top and bottom of the barrel, since we knew there would be a lot of muck in the bottom.  We bottled Dave’s 100% cab sauv straight from the barrel, the enolmatic bottling pump was a champ!  We took out portions of the merlot from the top, but did not bottle the entire barrel.  Instead, we put all of the unoaked merlot that was in various containers (steel keg, better bottle) back into the barrel to get some oakiness into it.  It didn’t really take us tooooo long, most of the time was spent cleaning up, especially washing out the empty cabernet barrel and setting it up for storage until next harvest.

It tasted good, though – the cab is still very fruit-forward, with nose of oak, spice, and dark fruits.  The merlot was surprisingly fruity as well, with flavors of toasted oak, blackberry, and spice.  Both are quite yummy!

I also tasted my home merlot while I was mucking with them.  Lot A has a nice nose of spicy plums, blackberries, and raspberries.  The oak is noticeable on the tongue, but not obnoxious.  It is still very acidic and tart, hot and dry with very little fruit hidden underneath.  Lot B, on the other hand, has light oak on the nose with spice and plum, very mellow.  Very smooth to taste, with light spice and good fruit.  It’s very interesting how different they turned out!  I tried a quick 5:6 blend of A:B (because that’s the volume I happened to have left after tasting), it was NOT balanced and did not improve anything.  Ewww.