Can You Mix Red And White Wine? (Full Guide)

It’s a common wine myth that Rosé is just a mix of red and white wine.

In fact there are lots of complex winemaking processes that go into creating all of those pretty pink colours in chilled Rosé wine.

But if there’s more than meets the eye to sweet Rosé wine, does that mean there’s never a need to mix red and white wine altogether?

Can You Mix Red & White Wine?

Yes, red and white wines can be mixed together.

It's a secret of the wine trade is that red and white wines are blended together all the time.

It seems pretty blasphemous to start mixing red and white wine together, doesn’t it?

When the winemaker has worked so hard to create two individual wines, who are we to start mixing one with the other?

Blending is a really important part of winemaking and it’s crucial in ensuring each wine is well balanced.

Sometimes in order to do this, combining the qualities of red and white wines together is called for.

Not so sacrilegious after all.

But blending wine isn’t something for the amateurs, it may seem simple enough but blending requires a lot of skill to get the balance just right.

So what are the important factors in blending wines?

How do you blend red and white wines together?

5 Tips for Blending Red & White Wines

In order to avoid wasting any wine by blending it too much it’s important to know some key tips first.

Blending wine isn’t an exact science, taste is subjective after all, but here are some good places to start:

1. Baby Steps, First

Most professional blenders start small, and then scale up.

This avoids waste and allows more room for experimentation.

So we suggest to start out by blending small measures of wine, then when you’ve worked out your preferred ratio, you can move onto blending bottles of red and white wine together.

2. Spend Time With Your Wine

It’s really important to know the wines that you’re blending inside and out, which means you’re going to have to taste them individually first.

Notice what you like about each wine and what you think it might be missing.

Using these notes will help you structure your blending.

3. Choose A Base Wine

A foundation wine is really important here, it gives you something to work with, so you’re not blending red and white wines aimlessly.

Aim for a wine where you’ve identified more weaknesses than strengths, here.

This will help inform what needs to be added into the wine to create a better balance.

4. Time to play Matchmaker

Time to choose a counter wine that will complement your base wine perfectly.

So if your base wine is low acid, try out a high acid wine as a blending partner.

This is a trial and error process and will take time, but as long as you’re willing to experiment then there’s lots of fun to be had here.

5. Slow and Steady Wins The Race

You’re not going to get this perfect straight away and that’s okay.

Not even master wine blenders get this right the first time, the beauty is in the process.

So take your time, sip slowly and carefully and really pay attention to the ways each blends taste and how it feels to combine red and white wine together.

Who said science can’t be fun?

So now we’ve taken a look at the myths of mixing red and white wine together, what about the rest?

Are there any other wine myths out there for us to debunk over a glass or two?

Other Wine Myths

We hope we’ve helped you answer the question of whether you can mix red and white wine together.

But what about the other wine myths that get dropped in conversation?

Well, we’ve picked 3 to talk through below:

1. Red Wine For Meat, White Wine For Fish

In theory this seems like a pretty helpful rule to go by.

Red wines are normally much richer and fuller bodied, so perfect for richer, meatier dishes, right?

And delicate white wines will always go well with equally delicate fish dishes?

Well, that’s not always the case and the flavours of our food are a lot more complex than that.

Some meat dishes come with very light, citrus and herbal accompaniments.

Whilst some fish dishes can be cooked in very rich and complex sauces.

It’s always best to pay attention to the flavours themselves when pairing, not just the protein in the dish itself.

2. Screw Tops Are For Low Quality Wine

For a lot of people corks are a signifier of a quality wine, but are they right in thinking so?

Not always!

A lot can go wrong with corks and wine faults can easily occur with corked wine.

Screwtops are becoming more and more popular and a lot of good quality winemakers are turning to them for a more effective way of sealing their bottles.

3. All Wine Gets Better With Age

When so many types of wines can age so well it’s easy to think that every single bottle will do better after a few years in the cellar.

Except that’s not always the case.

A lot of wines, such as greener white wines like vino verde or red wines low in acid, don’t age well because they don't have the necessary tannins and acidity levels for long term storage.

It’s always best to check with the person supplying you your wine to see how long the bottles will be good for, there’s nothing worse than opening a bottle past its best.

Before You Go... 

We hope this article answers all your questions on blending red and white wine together.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, or email us at info@expertwinestorage.co.uk

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