Calistoga Ranch hosts Harvest Blending Party

George O'Connell knew everything about whiskey and next to nothing about wine, which made him an unlikely winner at the recent seventh annual Harvest Blending Party at Calistoga Ranch, where he and his wife, Eden, created their own personal vintage.

The first-generation Irishman doesn't fit the stereotype of a cult winemaker, but has the hands-on skill required of the trade. He once was told that what makes a good winemaker is knowing how to fix a tractor.

"I can certainly fix a tractor," O'Connell said. "As a landscaper, I am a man of my hands," referring to his Rancho Santa Margarita company O'Connell Landscape Maintenance, which he founded more than 40 years ago with a $60 loan from his mother and a borrowed truck.

Calistoga Ranch's premier event of the year is available only to the 120 owners who hold a one-tenth share of one of the 23 3,000-square-foot residences at the ranch, an Auberge Resort. Blending one's own vintage is an oenophile's dream.

Thirty teams met with resident winemaker Kirk Venge in the resort's Wine Cave to make their own vintage. They put on aprons, mixed droppers of various premium wines, bottled their blends and created a label. The winner was announced during an alfresco dinner on Lommel Lawn.

Venge, who also produces Calistoga Ranch's private-label Cabernet, speeds up the typical lengthy blending process by offering just three varietals - a Stagecoach Cabernet and Syrah as well as a Merlot from his father's Saddleback vineyard.

"I'll usually go through eight to 10 varietals for one of my blends, and I'll do it four or five times - sleep on it and then come back to it," Venge said. "But here we do this in a short amount of time." As a judge, he seeks structure and longevity. "I am looking for a wine that has potential to age, and something striking," he said. "Something that wakes you up."

After a few hours of blending, Venge was joined by Calistoga Ranch bartender Steven Mohyla for the blind-tasting judging panel. While the competition is fierce (many owner-members have extensive wine cellars and have been known to consult with winemaker friends), it's always in good fun, says Auberge Resorts principal and CEO Mark Harmon. "All these great friends come back year after year, and they are here in the spirit of having a community," he said.

Leslie and Keith Blodgett of Tiburon, the defending champions from last year's Blending Party with their Black Bear Grove blend, worked hard on a possible second win. Keith Blodgett said his formula was 65 percent Syrah, 15 percent Merlot and 20 percent Cabernet, adding, "We hope that adds up to 100 percent."

"When you are drinking wine, your math skills often suffer," said Leslie Blodgett, who is perhaps better known for blending mineral eye shadows as head of the Bare Escentuals cosmetics company than for blending grapes. Wines were graded as premier, grand cru and premier grand cru.

In the end, the O'Connells' creation (called the Ohana blend after the Hawaiian word for "family") reigned supreme - and a secret, as they declined to divulge their percentages. "I have two theories on wines. Wines I like and wines I don't like," George O'Connell said. "I kept blending until I liked it."

The O'Connell children (Brady, 28; Krysti, 27; and Kevin, 25) also created a blend and received an honorable mention. Brady O'Connell, who lives in Newport Beach, announced the news on Twitter: "I thought we had the best wine. But apparently my parents had the better vintage. Old people win!"

E-mail comments to Sarah Adler at sadler@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page M - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle