THe Blending Party

The Blending party is our most exciting annual event for our wine club! First Time at the Mercury Blending Party? Here’s What to Expect.

Think of it as March Madness… but with wine.

Once everyone is seated, you’ll find everything you need at your table: graduated cylinders, wine samples, tasting sheets, and blending tools.

Brad Beard, owner and winemaker at Mercury Wine, will guide you through each barrel sample, explaining what makes each wine unique and sharing a few tricks of the trade that professional winemakers use when creating blends.

Then the fun begins.

You’ll start creating your own custom blend. Mix, taste, adjust, and repeat until you’ve created what you believe is the perfect wine. If you get stuck, Brad will be circulating throughout the room to answer questions and help fine-tune your masterpiece.

Once you’ve settled on your final blend, you’ll turn in your recipe. Our team will recreate it and return it to your table along with the other competitors’ wines.

Now you switch roles - from winemaker to judge.

Taste each blend at your table and vote for your favorite. We’ll tally the votes and crown a table champion.

The winning blend from each table then advances to the next round, where it goes head-to-head against other table champions. You’ll taste, judge, and vote again.

Eventually, the bracket narrows to two finalists.

The final two wines go head-to-head for the championship. One last vote determines the winner, eternal glory is awarded, and the rest of the competitors receive our deepest sympathies.

It’s competitive. It’s educational. It’s delicious.

And it’s easily the most fun you’ll ever have arguing over percentages.

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How to Blend Wine

The secret to blending isn’t creating the most complicated wine, it’s creating the wine you enjoy the most.

As Brad walks through the barrel samples, take notes. Think about what you love about each wine and what might make it even better.

For example:

Maybe Wine A has a beautiful aroma and rich texture but finishes a little short.

Wine B might not be your favorite on its own, but it has a long, lingering finish that you love.

What happens if you combine them?

A great starting point is 75% of your favorite wine and 25% of another wine that brings something different to the table. Taste it. Did it improve? Does it need more? Less? Did you completely ruin it?

That’s all part of the process.

Keep adjusting the percentages and experimenting with different combinations. Sometimes the smallest change can make a huge difference.

There are no wrong answers.

The goal isn’t to make the wine Brad likes best.

The goal is to make the wine you like best.

And if everyone else likes it too, you just might become the Mercury Blending Champion