Nectar of the Vine

Nectar of the Vine co-founder Dennis Hart first became involved in the food business back in 1992, when he created European Gourmet Almonds, selling maple sugar and gourmet roasted nuts with his three sons. After many years in the food industry, he and partner (now wife), Carol Nastasi started Nectar of the Vine in 2006, because of their entrepreneurial spirits, energy, and their tastes for fine foods. They wanted to provide a fun, new way for people to enjoy wine. Dennis and Carol are now retirement bound, and while they both still have ties to the day to day operations, theyve decided to slow down a bit and pass the baton to Carols son, Anthony Nastasi. Our company is stationed in Burton, Ohio but our entire line of signature Wine Frapps and other gourmet products can be found at events across the country. We have built a wonderful client base at these events and look forward to returning year after year to introduce new flavors. We sell our gourmet wine slushy mixes at events, online, and to smaller boutique shops in an effort to maintain uniqueness. The inception of a new flavor typically comes from trending mixed cocktails, which well recreate to taste great with wine. To begin a new flavor, our mix starts with an all natural cane sugar base. We then begin adding the raw ingredients, such as dried fruit flavor, and depending on the flavor, there could be up to five different dried fruit products in one mix. Once we feel the ratio is correct, we record the weights and amounts, and test it with the wine. We sample the flavor once its mixed and frozen, and yes we do have wine slushy tasting parties! We then collect all the comments from the taste-testers and start the process over until we reach the perfect flavor. This could take several attempts, but the art is getting the right balance of all the flavors.