The idea of a wine blend baffles me (as in, why do it?), considering the wide variety of grapes available and the different methods for producing distinctive tasting wines from the same kinds of grapes, but the practice of mixing and fermenting juices from different grapes goes back centuries, apparently.
One theory is that vintners reduced risk by planting different varietals so that if one didn’t do well one season, the others could make up for it. They’d then mix them together, pray to Saint Martin, and hope for the best. Foresters and landscapers follow a similar logic with trees, inter-planting different species so that a single pest or fungus doesn’t wipe them all out. I don’t think Saint Martin could help them since his holy portfolio doesn’t include trees, forests, or landscaping, so they probably pray to a different saint.
Which brings me to the Vignerons Propriétés Associés, an association of grape growers and wine makers along the Rhone River (and elsewhere in France) which has pulled its resources and vines to produce award-winning blends.
At home we call the association’s reds and whites “Princess Wine” because the woman on the label looks like a princess, and princess is easier to say than dame a l’oiseau, though we could call it bird lady wine. [Comment: I didn’t coin the name “princess wine.” End Comment.]
The wine is a motley combination of Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Clairette Blanche, and Roussanne grapes. I don’t know what some of these grapes taste like on their own, but together they make a refreshingly light wine that goes well with hamburgers.
And African Sauce.
Most likely a figment of the German imagination (like Valhalla), African Sauce is itself a motley combination of mint, honey, tomato, onions, dates, garlic, and other herbs and spices. [Comment: The Heinz Germany website URL says Moroccan. African Sauce is not available in the USA as far as I know. End Comment.] I don’t know if it has any connection at all to Africa or African cuisine, which is as diverse as the continent itself, but it works as a blend.
If you’re a purist, you probably won’t like either. But if you’re eclectic in your tastes, then you just might enjoy both.
I was talking about the wine 