Latéralité Gauche

We arrived at the best recipe for our blending of the Lateralite Gauche simply by using our taste buds. Both Penny and Ben have a highly developed sense of taste particularly for red wines. We came to the tasting room in Chateau Teyssier after having tasted the very expensive wines of Chateau Latour, Chateau Lafitte and Chateau Haut-Brion, so our demand for good tasting wine was really high. After blending about 16 different proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon (which was our predominant wine for this Left Bank  wine), Merlot and Cabernet Franc, we arrived at our winning blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc.

Here is some interesting information from Wikipedia about the process of blending wine in Bordeaux. In Bordeaux, almost all wines are blended. Only a few producers make single-variety wines, though the lack of varietal names on labels masks the fact. The typical blend consists of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (and/or Cabernet Franc), with small additions of Petit Verdot and Malbec. Merlot is favored on the right bank of the Garonne River, and Cabernet Sauvignon on the left, though Merlot acreage has been increasing on the left bank over the last decade or two. Today, winemaking in Bordeaux is a highly controlled process, with widespread use of stainless steel vats for fermentation, cooling apparatus, and a high degree of hygienic discipline.

North and south of the city of Bordeaux, which are the classic areas, produce wines dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, but often with a significant portion of Merlot. These wines are concentrated, tannic, long-lived and most of them meant to be cellared before drinking. The five First Growths are situated here.