You’ve probably heard of mixed drinks, but have you ever heard of mixed wines? If not, you’re not alone. One TikToker’s video went viral after they posted about an odd drink they almost got from a bartender at a Buccaneers football game in Tampa, Florida.
“Who do you think you are?” asks Sydney (@sydneyv.nichols) in the video, in reference to a bartender who tried to give her a glass of wine with two different red wines. Sydney says she went to a bar at the Raymond James Stadium and asked for a glass of Pinot Noir by Decoy. She says she saw the bartender preparing the drink with two different red wines and called them out on it. The bartender explained that they were mixing it because there was only an inch left of the Decoy Pinot Noir bottle, according to the TikToker.
“I told her I didn’t want her DIY blends,” Sydney says.
The video has gathered over 1,000 comments and more than 889,900 views.
Some folks in the comments section were just as perplexed by the bartender’s actions as Sydney was, while others mentioned this is a common bar practice.
“That’s so insane they thought that was okay- even if it’s at a stadium! Wines taste different, people would freak if it was beer on tap mixed together! Good for you for saying something!” says one comment.
“Bars do it all the time when in time crunch (not while customer looks tho) most time no one notices but if I’m paying for a certain wine I would want it to be that wine. Not a mix,” says another comment.
@sydneyv.nichols #goBucs #deceipt #bartender ♬ original sound – Sydney
Sydney goes on to say that when she called the bartender out on their actions, they were actually really upset that Sydney had an issue with the concoction they were making for her. As a result, Sydney says she went to another bar in the stadium for her glass of wine. While the bartender’s actions may have been bad customer service, the text overlay on the video suggests that the bartender did not commit any real crime.
“Apparently this is not illegal ?? I asked a police officer,” the text overlay states.
While the bartender reportedly admitted they were mixing the wines because they ran out of the Decoy brand Sydney wanted, blending wines is actually a thing.
According to winemaker and vineyard manager James Mantone in an interview for the site Wine Enthusiast, “You can take two really tannic wines and blend them together and all of the sudden they become much silkier.” However, Mantone also mentions that sometimes mixing two “soft” wines can be a horrible mistake, resulting in an “incredibly tannic and undrinkable” glass. Tannic wines are wines that have the property tannin in them, which is a compound found in a grape’s skin, stems, and seeds. While Pinot Noir has low tannin levels, wine mixing is an art form and a science. There are tons of other factors that go into creating a well-mixed wine blend.
Though the bartender might be well-informed about the best practices for wine mixing, it seems reasonable that Sydney would call them out on the blend because of their lack of transparency.
“Like why didn’t she just say they didn’t have any left???? That’s so weird,” mentioned one comment.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Sydney for comment via TikTok.
