The blending process is one of the most exciting times of the year. After four or five months in barrel, I can really start to understand the particular vintage and the wines that will define it. We are a bit unique in the Burgundy world in that we blend our wines very early in the process. I think it is important that we give the wines as much time as possible to integrate and become one. So come January, I start the blending process.

I’ll first go through and taste every lot of wine that we have in the cellar. Remember that each vineyard has multiple blocks, sometimes broken up into multiple lots. The simplest way to think of it is that each fermentation tank gets its own lot. We will typically have over 50 different lots each vintage. After tasting through each lot, I start making blends for each wine. Generally, I will make some initial blends of each vineyard designate, then take those wines and blend them to make our Monarch and Price Family Estate wines. Each vineyard has its unique signature, which makes vineyard-designated wines special – they are a true representation of site and terroir. 

What is special to blended wines like the Monarch is it is a wine I can build based on an idea and style of my choosing. Take that beautiful spice note from one vineyard, layer some earthiness from another, and build some tannin structure through another. The Monarch is a wine representing all our Estate vineyards, and I’m free to use as much or as little of each as I please. 

No restrictions, just taste. How fun is that?

-Ryan Prichard | Director of Winemaking