Ten Tips for Visiting a Winery Tasting Room
Suggestions for Visitors to Wineries and Tasting Wines
Jun 30, 2009
How many times does someone drive past a winery with flags waving and continue on past? Numerous people hesitate to walk into a tasting room because they are unsure of the expectations once they pass the threshold. The following tips may help the hesitant visitor to enjoy a winery visit.
Visiting winery tasting rooms can offer delightful experiences. Visitors may leave the winery wanting to return or perhaps visit a tasting room down the road. Each location offers a different experience.
Many of the suggestions are “common sense” but the following recommendations may make a visit to a winery tasting room even better. Winemakers are proud of their wines. Be interested and ask questions about the wines, winemaking process and history of the winery.
Ten Tips for Visiting a Tasting Room
- Visitors should make sure to eat prior to tasting or drinking alcohol.
- One should dress comfortably. Casual clothing is appropriate.
- If the wine attendant inadvertently leaves the wine bottle on the counter, wine tasters should not pour their own tasting.
- Visitors should not hog the tasting counter space. During crowded times especially weekends and summer days, tasting rooms can be very busy. Enthusiasts should not spread out their arms across the counter to stake out a place.
- Anyone drinking wine should drink as much water as wine. If water is not available, ask for it.
- Ask questions about the wine and winery. Most winery staffs are willing to answer or find out the answer. Some wineries have a notebook filled with information that the wine attendants can use to locate the correct information.
- Wine enthusiasts should not belittle the person who is new to wine. This type of attitude makes everyone uncomfortable.
- When tasting a wine that that is not enjoyable, guests should not announce it to everyone. Others may just enjoy that particular wine. Just like fingerprints, everyone’s taste buds are different.
- Frequently crackers are available at a tasting counter. No matter how tasty these may be, they are not there for lunch. Crackers may cleanse the palate in order to properly taste the next wine but one should be aware that the flavor of the crackers may interfere with tasting wine.
- Even though very small amounts are poured during a wine tasting, after numerous tastes, the alcohol level builds up. Wine tasters can use the spit/dump bucket. It is perfectly okay to spit and dump wine into the dump bucket.
Check Winery Hours
Call the winery or check their website for hours of operation. Anyone planning on arriving at a winery with six or more people should call the winery in advance. Wineries like to be prepared for visitors. This call ahead is especially important for celebrating birthdays, engagements, bachelorette parties or some other small private event. While numerous wineries are equipped for small events, others are not.
Most important of all the general public can enjoy a visit to a winery. For further information about visiting wineries go to a Wine Trail Traveler newsletter.
