Total Adventures

It was — to use a Lettermanism — ‘info-​tainment:’ these guys specialize in staging wine blending events for groups, and in a room full of wine drinkers, we had a ball (note: this might work with winos too, but I have a feeling that the results might be less discerning).
As it was, things tend to unfold a little like this: each team (there ended up being seven or so groups) chose a team name, and was presented with four carafes or so of Cabernet Sauvingon, Merlot, Malbec and one more (Cab Franc, I wanna say?). They laid down a few ground rules (you were required to specify a ‘base wine’ (my term) for each blend, sample each, and then ultimately choose one that would move on to the judging round at the culmination of the event.
Our theory, right or wrong (and actually, if you’re keeping score, it ended up being wrong, but oh well), was that we’d produce a blend that would be distinct enough on the palate that it would emerge from the pack. Apparently what that ended up meaning, of course, is that it ultimately wasn’t particularly good, and save one first place vote (!), we finished next to last in voting. That said, the voting was almost an afterthought here, mostly because we were all engaged in the gentle craft of wine blending, and learned along the way what the rules re: blending are when calling a wine a wine of a certain type of vintage. It’s a subtle science, perhaps, but Total Adventures served this one up just right: at room temperature, with just a hint of the bouquet of friendly competition. Cheers.

Thanks to Jenifer D’s incredible event planning skills and ideas, Total Adventures was hired to lead a team-​building event for our group this past Tuesday night. It was awesome. In fact, I’m super surprised that I’m actually getting an FTR for this business, but I’ll take it!
We had approximately 45 in our group of Unilocalloyees and we all randomly split up into groups of six or seven. It was a wine making event and we were all given four types of wines and told to concoct our own blend. Malbec was my favorite by the way… The Cabernet Sauvignon was a close runner up. Each group came up with a team name and then nominated one person to sit on a panel of judges. The judges selected the best wine from the groups and the winning wine was then bottled and everyone was able to take a bottle home. How cool is that?
Even cooler is the fact that my group won! Thank you Stephanie I, Paul R, Paul S, Vivek P, Laura N, and Zeva B for being such awesome team players. I had a blast drinking and concocting and winning with all of you! Our team name was «Tres» for the three wines we used in our winning blend and for the French meaning too. Plus, it just sounds sophisticated and cool, doesn’t it?! (We came up with the team name after throwing out a bunch of other cool names including Sexy Juice, Grape Expectations, Burst, Happy Ending, and a handful of others.)
Thank you, Total Adventures for working with us. I really do feel like I bonded with my fellow colleagues and I came home with an awesome bottle of wine to boot. As a matter of fact, I may just have to open that bottle this evening and relive the experience. I highly recommend this company if you’re looking for a super fun, well-​executed team-​building activity for a group.