It starts with a little education. Three glasses, three very different grapes: Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot. We taste them slowly, one by one, and try to put into words what makes each one what it is.

The earthy pull of the Sangiovese. The way the Cabernet wants to take up space. What the Merlot gives you that the others don’t. By the end of this part, everyone thinks they know exactly what they’re doing.

That confidence is half the fun.

Then comes the real challenge. Each person gets a graduated cylinder and goes off on their own — no sharing strategies, no peeking — to build their personal Bolgheri-style Super Tuscan blend. You can try up to two versions before you commit. Some people are decisive. Others agonize. A few talked a big game during the tasting and then completely second-guessed themselves once they were holding the cylinder.

There was a lot of fun talk going around that table!!