Samedi

Photos by Emma Boyce

by Emma Boyce

Bourbon Street gave the world delicacies like the hurricane, the hand grenade and the Big Ass Beer. So what does this lane of libations have to offer for its next to-go trick? The Tropical Wine Smoothie. Blend one cup of fruit wine and a half-cup of smoothie mix with ice and there you have it.  The combination of wine and a mixed Bourbon Street drink the creation would likely make the owners of Napa Valley vineyards cringe.  But in fact, it is quite delicious.  

Flavors like dreamsickle, blackberry, strawberry margarita, peach mango and cherry hurricane, offer plenty of choices for every sophisticated palette.          

“It’s our take on the frozen daiquiri,” says bartender Chapman Sowash, serving up a sample of blackberry to a new customer. A little older and classier than most Bourbon Street  bartenders, Sowash is a testament to the draw of wine smoothies.  

“We do equally well with locals and tourists [and] we have a lot of repeat sales,” says Sowash, suggesting that one taste is usually not enough.       

While Nola Tropical Wine Smoothies has only been open for a little over two weeks, the wine smoothie originated in the Riverwalk at the Nola Tropical Winery, where you can find not only wine smoothies, but also fruit wine.  

“It is there [at the Nola Tropical Winery where] we first started selling wine smoothies and we since came up with our own mixes and got the idea to do just a wine smoothie bar in the Bourbon Street area,” owner and creator Todd Judice said.

Because the wines do not involve grapes, and thus do not contain tannins, they don’t have the same bitterness that one would normally get from the average Merlot.

“The smoothies are made from a combination of a non grape based wine such as blackberry, peach, or orange and a special mix that are combined to create the wine smoothie,” Judice said.  

At the moment, Nola Tropical Wine Smoothies shares a space with Krazy Korner, just off of Bourbon on St. Peter St. But Judice plans to open a second location at Voodoo Vibe right on Bourbon.   

“It’s a hard district to start up fresh in,” said Sowash. But he still predicts the new product will help the establishment get a lot of foot traffic.

All of the Tropical Winery's fruit wines are locally grown from Amato’s winery in Independence, Louisiana. For those not brave enough to try the wine smoothie, they also offer plenty of beer on tap.    

“We thought we’d offer something different by going with Louisiana fruit wines,” says Sowash.  “A little gets you happy, but not as bombed as a frozen hurricane.”  

Tropical wine smoothies: keeping Bourbon Street classy.