Improvement of varietal Nero D'Avola and Frappato based wines: implication of blending practice

Among the winemaking practices, blending of wines is an ancient technique used in wine-growing regions developed as an European winemaking technique many centuries ago. The present study was conducted in Sicily and involved the wine-producing regions of DOC SICILIA and IGP Terre Siciliane. Two Sicilian wines (Nero D'Avola and Frappato) were blended in different proportions giving rise to 5 wines (two monovarietal and three blends). The main chemical parameters and coloured components of the wines, together with their sensory profiles, were analysed immediately after assembling and after 6 months, in order to observe the impact of blending on the overall wine quality during bottle aging. It can be stated that all the three blends under study can be considered as viable choices; however, only the blend C (70% Nero d'Avola and 30% Frappato) could significantly improve the expression of the main characters of the two autochthonous grapes.