Mythology in a Bottle: The Cyclops Blend’s Story
– how different blending components create unique wines

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Let me start by asking a question.
What does blending mean to you?
In the white Bordeaux article, you taught us that blends of different grapes contribute different elements to the wine. When done well it helps the resulting final wine to be balanced.
True.
Often blending happens near the end of winemaking process.
In the case of the white Bordeaux in the article, the producer harvested Sauvignon Blanc grapes and Semillon grapes. Two wines were made via separate winemaking processes (crushing, fermentation, ageing, etc.) resulting in a Sauvignon Blanc wine and a Semillon wine. The winemaking team then conducted blending trials with different proportions of each wine to come up with the final blended wine.
But there are many different types of blended wines. Blends are not only about different grape varieties. Here are a few examples of different blending wine components:
Blends from different locations (vineyards, sub-regions, regions, even countries)
Blends using different winemaking techniques (different barrel types, yeasts, malolactic fermentation, fermentation vessels such as wood or stainless steel, etc.)
Blends of different years/vintages – also called a vertical blend.
Let’s get into a real-life example. During our June 2024 wine tour, we visited Kiona Vineyards.
I was familiar with Kiona, as Cork carries their wines, but I was also keen to visit the Red Mountain sub-region. It is part of Washington’s Columbia Valley wine region, extremely close to the Oregon border.

Let me guess! The featured wine has more than one blending element!
Smarty pants!
During our Kiona visit, we were greeted by Kelly, our tasting room host, who served us an unreleased wine as part of our tasting lineup.
The Cyclops.
This wine is part of Kiona’s Mythology Series. The Cyclops wine was the first Mythology series wine conceived, released in 2012. Cyclopes were feared for their power and their cunning ways, which led to their imprisonment. The Cyclops on the label is forging Zeus’ legendary thunderbolts to show the deity gratitude for eventually granting him freedom.
Important job.
But I heard there is more to the story.
Upon returning to Canada, I had a phone conversation with JJ Williams, GM of Kiona Vineyards, brother to winemaker Tyler, and grandson to Kiona founder and Red Mountain pioneer John Williams.
JJ lost an eye to a very rare form of cancer while in the 6th grade.
So this explains …
…the circumstances behind Kiona’s choice of their first mythological character – the Cyclops - as JJ no longer wears an eye prosthetic.
JJ explained that the Red Mountain sub-region is known for Cabernet Sauvignon. The Mythical series is intended to offer their customers something that stands out for the area.
The Series has continued to evolve and currently includes four wines representing classic wine styles from different wine regions globally:
The Cyclops is intended to represent a southern France blend.
The Fortuna emulates a high-end South American wine with Malbec, Carmenère, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Nyx follows the Italian Super Tuscan model.
The Zeus a French Right Bank Bordeaux-blend which are Merlot and Cabernet Franc dominant.
All these labels glow in the dark!
Handy! Everything I always wanted in a label!
The Cyclops wine certainly stood out for us and not only due to the glow in the dark feature! The Cyclops stood out because of its quality and balance AND as it is a blend of a few different blending components.
The graphics on the Cyclops’ back label explains it succinctly.
You’re the engineer, walk me through the graphic.
*The grape blend: 58% Syrah, 17% Grenache, 13% Counoise, and 12% Mourvèdre.
*The winemaking blend: The Syrah and Grenache from 2019 and 2020 respectively have spent significantly more time ageing in barrels vs. the 2021 portions.
*Vineyard blend: 32% Sunset Bench, 25% Ranch at the end of the Road, 17% Red Heaven, 13% Ciel du Cheval, 12% Heart of the Hill.
The vintage (or vertical) blend : 2019: Syrah, 2020: Grenache, 2021: Syrah, Counoise, Mourvèdre, and Grenache.
Generally, it is unusual to have a vintage blend except for wines such as Champagne, Sherries and Ports, or perhaps some lower-end wines. Vintage blends do not have a year on the label.
When I asked JJ about why they made the Cyclops as a vintage blend, he replied that, Kiona likes to push traditions. They question why certain traditions exist and evaluate their pros and cons. If there are advantages to breaking said tradition, they explore the options further.
True pioneers!
Truly, just like when JJ’s grandfather John Williams and his then partner Jim Holmes planted Red Mountain’s first vines in 1975. They saw the sub-region’s potential prior to anyone else, leading them to found Kiona. Eventually Red Mountain became an official sub-region in 2001.

JJ and I discussed how blending can balance a wine. But what he said next was an ah-ha moment for me. I paraphrase JJ as follows:
“A vintage blend allows to show a place over time instead of simply a snapshot. For example a Bordeaux wine tends to revolve around the specific pressure of that year, typically a single outlying event: a major frost, a heat wave etc. A vintage blend removes the effect of outlying event, resulting in a true sense of place!”
A key goal of many high-quality wine producers is to reflect the sense of place or terroir in their wine.
I love that!
Me too. Let’s end on this crescendo!
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Kiona Vineyards Cyclops VI (Non-vintage) from Red Mountain, Washington
Style: Full Body Red
Varieties: 58% Syrah, 17% Grenache, 13% Counoise, 12% Mourvèdre
This memorable wine has dark cherry and black plum, black pepper, and spice notes, with the complexity of smoked meat, cedar, and smoke. It has moderately high flavor intensity, high chalky tannins, with a persistent finish.
Best pairings: Grilled lamb chops, Grilled steak with peppercorn sauce, Roasted duck breast, Grilled vegetables (portobello mushrooms, bell peppers), Aged smoked gouda, Smoked sausage, Smoked nuts and smoked olives.
Serving Temperature: 16-18 degrees Celsius
Serving Tips: Optional decant followed by immediate pour to provide extra oxygenation!
Cost: ~$45 US
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SOURCES:
Cyclops (2024) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cyclops-Greek-mythology (Accessed: 15 July 2024).
Harding, J. and Robinson, J. (2023) The oxford companion to wine. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Kiona Vineyards. (no date) Available at: https://kionawine.com/ (Accessed: 15 July 2024).
Red Mountain AVA – Home to Washington’s best wine grapes (no date) Red Mountain AVA Alliance. Available at: https://redmountainava.com/ (Accessed: 15 July 2024).
Washington State Wine Commission (2024). Available at: https://www.washingtonwine.org/ (Accessed: 15 July 2024).
Washington State Wine Tour Guide (2021) online.fliphtml5.com. Available at: https://online.fliphtml5.com/nxcu/dgab/#p=10 (Accessed: 15 July 2024).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.