Blended - The art of blending wine with Saddler's Creek head winemaker Brett Woodward

One of the least known aspects of winemaking is blending. This vital step in the process is a team effort for our winemakers and ensures the final wine will be consistent, balanced and layered with aromatics, taste and textural complexities.

Almost all wines are blends in some form. Blending starts all the way back in the vineyard where the fruit is selected from specific blocks that could vary in age, clone or soil type, all giving rise to unique characteristics only found in that one parcel of grapes.

Of course, then there is the blending of different varietals, regions, oak barrels, all of which are individual variables our winemakers have to play with.

Blending is the process of combining all the elements and then fine-tuning over and over again so as to create the best possible wine.

For our Head Winemaker, Brett Woodward, blending is a “labour-of-love” a time “where I get to get my hands dirty and actually feel like I’m making wine”. It requires the closest collaboration with his winemaking colleagues, where the meeting of creative minds with some 70 years of winemaking experience come together, to ensure that the final product carries the signature Saddler’s stamp and meets the high expectations our CLUB EQUUS Members and visitors to the cellar door.