ships docked in Nassau

Our 11-day cruise on MSC Meraviglia made two port stops at Nassau, Bahamas. On the first visit John booked tours for us through Vacations to Go, who sends out a list of tours you can book through them at the port stops when you use them to book your cruise. These tours are generally at a lower cost than ones booked through the cruise line, but typically don’t provide transportation from the port. That was not an issue for us in Nassau as both the tours he booked were at Graycliff Hotel, about a 15-minute walk from the ship. He wanted to do the wine tour, but since I don’t even like the smell of wine or most other fermented things, I did not want to join him for that. Not wanting to leave me out when I said to just go by himself, he booked me for a chocolate factory tour, which turned out to be an excellent experience. Since I did not accompany him to the winery he was kind enough to write a blog about it. The winery is called Bahama Barrels.

courtyard in front of the winery

Bahama Barrels offers a unique opportunity to become a winemaker for a day.
Actually though, this is not wine making but rather wine blending, tasting and
learning.

inside the winery

The winery is housed in a quaint, historical 1937 church built by the Sisters of
Charity Academy and convent. Locals say the building went from one kind of spirit
to another. The winery is also part of the historical Charleston and Heritage
Village across the street from the historic Graycliff Mansion and belongs to the Graycliff Hotel.

stainless steel vats of aging wine line the back of the winery

Unlike most wineries, Bahama Barrels does not grow their own grapes because of
the climate, soil and mostly lack of fresh water. Instead of growing grapes they
have partnered with several vineyards from around the world. Each vineyard they
partner with adheres to Bahama Barrels strict, proprietary methods of turning
grapes into wine. Wine barrels from these vineyards are shipped to the winery in
containers. Upon arrival to Bahama Barrels the wine continues to age before
blending and bottling. Several varieties of reds and whites fill barrels or vats
throughout the old church property.

wine tasting & blending note sheet and sample labels

After quick introductions, a very charismatic young lady named Ravelle Dean
smiled and said, “I have a strict rule for this class, don’t waste any of my wine!”
Everyone laughed and then sat down on the tall wood bar chairs surrounding the
red wine-stained long wood table. Six small beakers along with one tall, 750 ml
beaker sat at each spot in front of the chairs. Five other wine enthusiasts join me
at the table with smiles waiting for the first taste of wine.

the wine class gathers around a table

Next, Dean asks several questions about wine to gauge the level of knowledge of
the students. She then explains her vast experience as a winemaker as well as
apprenticeships in several other spirits. Clearly this young lady knows her wine –
and has the experience from working, learning, and qualifying as a Master Wine
Maker.

the guide mixes John’s custom red wine blend

Each small beaker she explains, will be filled with one of the wines they
offer. Each participant tastes, grades and jots down notes about each wine tasted.
Not everyone tastes the same wine because participants are asked if they like dry
or wet sweet wines. As we learned, dry wines have less residual sugar in the wine while sweet or “wet” wines contain more sugar during fermentation. Surprisingly I thought I did not like dry wines until tasting and learning more about wines.

another participant filling their custom blend

Dean expertly guided the group through each of six wines, both white and red
varieties. By the third or fourth beaker everyone felt the effects of good wine.
After our sixth sample we began the process of blending the different wines into
the large beaker. Twenty percent dry red wine, 15 percent wet white wine etc.
Everyone created their own blend from trial and error until their own unique blend
pleased their individual palate. After everyone had their custom blend formulated
Dean and other staff members began pouring the formulas together to create the
blend. They also provide a custom label to create our own named bottle. The class
included one custom personally blended bottle per person except for a couple of
people that earned a second bottle by correctly answering wine questions, which I did.

a happy wine blender shows off his custom blended wine

Once the correct formula of wine went into the bottle, we sprayed nitrogen into
the bottle to keep air out followed by corking it and applying the seal to the top. Bahama Barrels saves each custom formula for everyone who has taken the class. If anyone ever
wants to order another bottle of their special wine, Bahama Barrels can blend it
and put the custom label on the bottle. These personalized bottles make excellent
gifts.

John gets ready to cork his wine

The length of the class was listed in the tour booking as an hour and a half, but ended up taking nearly three hours. Their address is: 8-14 West Hill Street, Nassau, The Bahamas, and is super easy to find using google maps. I gave this tour a five-star rating.

sealing the bottle

John’s tour was scheduled to start half an hour before mine, but since it was also supposed to take half an hour longer we expected to finish at the same time and set a meeting place in a row of colorful swinging tables outside the winery. I wandered over to the chocolate shop a bit before my tour was to start, but since I ended up with a private tour they went ahead and started early. It took a bit longer than the scheduled hour so I thought John would be waiting for me when I came out, but he was nowhere in sight so I went to the meeting place expecting him to come out soon.

row of swinging tables in front of the winery

Instead I received a text saying his tour was running late. An hour later after having sent him 4 texts that went unanswered I finally sent one saying I was heading back to the port because I wanted a shower before dinner and wouldn’t have time for that if I waited any longer. That text also went unanswered, as did an attempt to call him before I left. I got all the way back to the port and through security – which had a very long line – and was nearly to the gangway to get back on the ship when he finally sent a text saying his phone hadn’t beeped for the texts (neither had mine, but I checked it often to see if any had come through) and he was ready to go back to the ship. He had hoped for me to escort him since he’d had a bit much to drink during his tour, but since I was already there he had to find it on his own – which he managed to do just fine since it’s an easy walk.

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