How Does a Winery Tasting Room Work?

You've got your winery maps, eaten some food, packed a lunch, snacks and water, got your special offers, and have an extra cooler for any wine purchases you might make, and now it's time to hit the road and visit a winery.

When you arrive at the winery, you will see signs directing you to the tasting room. Don't be tempted to poke your head into any of the other buildings or walk in the vineyard. They'll let you know if tours are available.  So head on into the tasting room. Once you enter the tasting room you'll be greeted by your host behind the serving bar and asked "Are you here to do wine tasting?" After a resounding "Yes!" you'll be presented with a menu of tasting options. This is a good point to present any coupons or special offers to see how that may affect your options.  

A winery's tasting menu is usually a single list but occasionally you'll have the option of either tasting their standard wines, or for a slightly higher price, you'll have the opportunity to taste their premium wines. The tasting menu will vary depending on what the winery produces and what is still in-stock. But, generally the list will start off with the lighter flavored wines (whites and rosés) and work up to the bigger bolder red wines, and sometimes you'll finish with a late-harvest (sweet) dessert wine.

Be open minded with the list of wines that are being offered.  You may believe that you only like whites or only like reds, but here's your opportunity to try some other wines.  This is a great way to broaden your wine experience and discover new wines.  But, you can certainly tailor the wine tasting menu. If you know you just want to try red wines, you can go straight to them and skip all the others. And, be aware that sharing a single tasting glass with another person is often acceptable. But ask just to be sure.

Now it's time to taste! You'll be presented with a glass that you'll use throughout the tastings that you choose. With each taste, your host will generally pour approximately 1 oz of wine in your glass.  Yes, 1 oz.  It's just a taste. Take note of the color of the wine, give it a swirl and smell the aroma. Then, sip a bit of wine letting it briefly stay on your tongue. At this point you can swallow, or if you choose, you can spit the wine into the provided bucket.  It's perfectly acceptable and a good option if you are doing a lot of tastings within a day.  But, make the 1 oz pour last for two or three sips.  You'll want to take note of your first impressions and then return for another sip to confirm you impressions.  You might also want to take some simple notes as you go. Usually the menu presented to you is available for note taking.

O.K.  So you've had your first sip! The journey has just begun.  And there's so much more to experience while at the tasting bar.  We'll get into that next time. For now, cheers!

How to Prepare for a Day of Wine Tasting

Maybe you are asking yourself "You need to prepare to go wine tasting?  Really?"  And, the answer is absolutely, positively, yes!  That is, if you want to have an enjoyable experience.

As mentioned last time, do your homework and pick a small region to visit, choose 3-4 wineries in close proximity, and do a little research about them on-line.  Especially look up the days and hours they are open. Finding the tasting room door locked is not fun; take it from experience.

Before you set out, check winery websites, Groupon and, if you are staying in a hotel, check with the front desk. There are wine coupons to be had.  You'll find everything from complimentary tastings, 2-for-1 tastings, and discounts on wine purchases. And, if you happen be going to Sonoma, in Northern California, take your Visa Signature Card.  It gets you complimentary tastings and discounts at more than 60 wineries in the area.  See the Visa Signature Card website for a complete listing of wineries with this offer.

Then there's food.  Ensure you eat a meal before heading out to taste wines. Each winery will usually offer five or more wines to taste.  With a one ounce 'taste' of each, you can end up drinking the equivalent of one or more glasses of wine (a typical glass of wine is 5 ounces). Or you may choose to spit or dump, but we'll address that another time. Also, pack a lunch. Many wineries have picnic grounds that you can use. I'd recommend visiting one winery, finding a good place for a picnic, then moving on to the next winery. And you should also have snacks in between winery visits.  Crackers, cheeses, nuts, mild dried meats, nothing spicy. Oh, and don't chew gum or eat mints in between wine tastings.  They really throw off your pallet. And, hydrate!  You need to be drinking the equivalent of a bottle of water with every winery stop.

Finally, along with your cooler full of lunch and snack items, take another cooler along.  You'll need it for safely protecting any bottles you purchase along the way.  Never leave a bottle of wine sitting in the car or trunk unprotected.  It will bake!

Whew!  That's a bunch of things to think about!  But, you'll have a much better wine tasting experience with proper preparation.  Next time we'll get into what goes on in the tasting room. Until then, Cheers!

Planning a Trip to Wine Country

A trip to the wine country to visit wineries and do wine tasting is a great adventure. But to get the most from your trip, planning is imperative.

Before you head out, do some research.  The wine country is full of wineries that all have websites and social media ready for you. And, usually the wine region, or in the U.S., the AVA (American Viticultural Area), will also have on-line resources.  And maps are a great place to start.

When you are going wine tasting, you will want to focus on a particular area or wine style.  So, just planning a wine tasting trip to Sonoma isn't specific enough.  You'll want to focus in on one region each day, such as Alexander Valley.  Once you find on-line resources for the particular region, ensure that you learn what wines the region is best known for producing.  Then, find a winery map and look at the wineries in the area.  Even with an AVA such as Alexander Valley, there are dozens of wineries. So, to narrow it down, see if there are any wineries you recognize.  It's always fun to visit a winery where you already know something about their wines. Then, pick two or three more in the vicinity.  You'll find that visiting 3-4 wineries can fill your day.

Once you narrow it down to a handful of wineries that you'd like to visit, check out their websites for the days and hours that they are open.  Wineries tend to open no earlier than 10 am and generally close by 5 pm.  And, many may only be open for a limited number of days, usually centered on the weekend.

Then look to see if reservations are required.  Usually, if you have a group of six or more, a reservation will be required.  Also, check to see what amenities the winery offers. See if they offer tours, food service, or have picnic grounds.  And, before you go, see if the winery lists their prices for wine tasting.

Doing a bit of prep work will really pay off before getting to wine country.  Next time we'll address final preps and the items to take with you to the wineries. Cheers!

Visiting Wine Country

Having had the recent opportunity to re-visit wine country brought to mind that although wine tasting is a simple and enjoyable experience, there are many factors that should be considered when making visits to wineries.

The first issue is where to go?  It seems simple, but once you get into wine country you'll find that there are numerous wineries and tasting rooms and you simply cannot visit them all. So a plan is required.  And doing some homework is necessary.

Then, you walk in the door of a winery and are greeted by a member of the winery. Now what?  What do you say? What do you do?

Wine tasting is quite different from going to a bar or restaurant. And you alway need to keep in mind that it is wine tasting, not wine drinking.

It's actually quite an involved process. And there are a lot of things you should do while wine tasting, and also a lot that you should not do.

Over the next series of blogs, we'll address these and many more questions regarding visiting wine country.  It's an amazing experience, and one that you should definitely try.

But for now, I'm going to pull the cork on one of the great bottles acquired during my recent visit.  Then we'll get into all the wonderful things to experience during your next visit to wine country. Cheers!

Do You Need a Different Wine Glass for Each Varietal?

You may have seen that some wine glass manufacturers make different glasses for different varietals of wine made.  So, it would seem, you could end up with a couple dozen sets of wine glasses just to make sure you have the 'right' glass for each wine.

If money and shelf space were no object, having a wide variety of wine glasses would be a fine approach. And the wine glass manufacturers would love for you to purchase multiple sets of wine glasses.  But practically speaking, you can get away with two or three different types of wine glasses.

First, as previously described, you should have a tall, large bowl, stemmed red wine glass.  This will allow you to enjoy all the aromas and favors that a red wine has to offer.

Second, you should have a smaller stemmed glass, with a more U-shaped bowl, for a white wine.  Not a whole lot smaller.  Remember, even with a white wine you are not filling the glass, just pouring to about one-third full. And you can use these for sparkling wines as well.

Finally,  you might consider picking up an inexpensive set of multipurpose wine glasses for occasions when you are outside. Whether the backyard, a picnic or the beach, accidents happen and you don't want to put any of your nicer stemware at risk.

So this wraps up the series on wine glasses.  Remember, the type of wine glass you choose can truly enhance your wine drinking experience. Cheers!