Ritz Carlton
The Wine Blending Experience
Note: This article was first posted on September 26, 2018 here
Looking for a unique date night idea in Uptown? My husband and I decided to craft our own blend of wine at the Hidden Wine boutique in the chic lobby of The Ritz-Carlton. With available reservations from 3-10pm on Wednesday – Saturday, the Ritz Carlton Wine Blending experience was like none other and worth every penny. Follow along as I share our experience of becoming quasi-wine experts for the night!
When we arrived, we were seated at a table with 5 different 375mL (half-size) bottles of wine, a small and large beaker (wish science as this fun in school!), a funnel, an empty 375mL bottle each to take home our blends in, and multiple wine glasses. The bottles in front of my husband and I were Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Grenacha (yes we each had our own set of 5 bottles because who likes sharing wine). Pro Tip: splurge for the charcuterie board – it’s loaded with cheeses, meats, fruit, jam, bread, and more.
After getting settled in, we were given an introduction to the experience by Morgan, who led us through the whole experience. Step 1: taste all of the wines! We had a sheet to take notes on each of the individual grapes, including their smell, taste, and whatever else we wanted to note. Although we were given a half bottle of each grape, pace yourself and pour just a few sips in a glass for this initial part. There was plenty of time for drinking more wine later in the experience. Each grape on their own was very good, but a stand out for us was the Cabernet Franc.
Next up was to create our blend, which began with using small samples of blends (75mL in size). We were advised to use the small beaker for our measuring. You can create ones smaller or larger of course, but this size will make the math easy when you decide what to make for your final blend. There’s no right or wrong formula for your blend and wine expert was there to help (thanks Morgan!). Not having this opportunity before, I immediately wanted to try something funky I had never seen before like a mix of Syrah and Cabernet Franc. It wasn’t the worst I’d ever tasted, but there is a reason it’s not a blend you can find in wine shops.
While I was tasting funky combinations, my husband had already started down the serious blending route. He started with 4 grapes in his blend: Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Grenacha. It was complex and interesting, not too funky but definitely had some body. He decided to work on variations of this blend with less Grenacha, more or less Syrah, more or less Merlot, and less Cabernet Franc until he was happy with it.
With my strategy of funky blends not working out so great, I veered towards a traditional Bordeaux style blend using Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. The results were fantastic, but with all this wine to drink I couldn’t just stop at my second blend! I tried out a Syrah, Grenacha, Merlot blend. This one my husband deemed “crushable”, an easy drinker for sure. I decided to play with combinations of my Bordeaux blend to create my final bottle.
Throughout our time blending, we picked up on the desire to taste different variations of black pepper, fruit, and other tastes that we had originally picked up from our tasting notes. By looking back at the tasting notes of the original 5 grapes, we could make adjustments to meet our wine desires. By the end of the night I opted to bottle up the second version of my Bordeaux blend (out of 3 total variations) and my husband ended up with a Merlot, Syrah, Grenacha blend similar to his initial blend to take home and drink another day.
With all the wine left over, we were able to sit and drink some more of whatever blends or single varietals we liked! We played and took to pouring blends directly into our glasses since we were done measuring. We also checked out the wine shop at the Ritz – it had a great selection for bottles to take home.
Tips:- Take a Lyft or Uber or plan to stay in uptown for the night. With 2.5 total full size bottles of wine available to each person for drinking and blending it is the safest option…
- …but, avoid the urge to drink a half glass or more of each wine on the first round of tasting. You’ll end up with a more coherent blend if you start more coherent yourself!
- If you are unsure, work with your leader to determine a starting point with your blend.
Think you can make the best wine blend? Share your recipe on social media by tagging @amateurConsumption in the caption of your posts!
Note: The Ritz Carlton did comp our wine blending experience and food.