3 Tips
for a
Great Winery Experience
As the temps begin to increase and the general population has anticipated getting back outside, winery visits will have begun to increase. As a wine lover and one who respects the art and science of winemaking, I thought that it would be good to share some things that can help to make each of your winery experiences to be great ones.
The three tips below come from personal experience. The only hard and fast rules are the ones set by law and the wineries themselves. However, what follows are tried and true tips by myself, as well as other wine lovers.
These are just a few of my tips to help your winery experiences to be memorable without having to do much extra.
- Know the bar staff.
Knowing the bar staff, as much as is respectful, is not only an added benefit to your safety. but also a great way to enhance your experience. First, on safety. When building a mutual respect with the bar staff, they are more likely to give an extra bit of attention to ensuring you are safe. Disclaimer here, I have yet to meet any bar staff who didn’t observe and try to keep all patrons safe. However, what I am mentioning here is the added level of protection. Some patrons can get a little rowdy and disturb others and the bar staff will know who needs what and when. They are then able to protect you and everyone else, better if they know (of) you. Let me add in that I don’t mean that you and the bar staff know each other’s life stories, like the time that your kid accidentally swallowed a penny. I just mean that you have built a friendly rapport and respect. Secondly, on enhanced experience. The staff know the ins and outs of the winery and its product. Where permitted, they may let you sample wines that weren’t on the list or give you inside information on upcoming events/products. For my purposes, I have met people who were interested in the content that I provide and it was the bar staff who went out of their way to introduce us. Some of those people follow this very website because of our introduction through the bar staff. In addition, the bar staff know the wines inside and out. They can offer insight and guidance into what you’re tasting like no one else.
- What you eat matters.
In a previous article 6 Tips for Visiting Wineries, I spoke about the importance of eating before you attend a wine tasting. Located in the section entitled “Come hungry, Leave drunk”. In this section I spoke on the importance of having enough protein in your system to combat drunkenness. However, what you eat matters for more than just the after effect. Have you ever brushed your teeth and then drank something acidic like orange juice? Horrid, I know. I can imagine the taste as I am writing this! Some strong foods have the same effect when tasting wine. I am a coffee lover, and on rare occasions I take it black. Usually, I like unsweetened and with a bit of oatmilk as my favorite way. But trying to taste wine behind coffee is repulsion waiting to happen. Coffee has acids and tannins (the mouth-drying effect) on its own. When mixed with wine, you are likely to get a dry, acidic tongue that won’t seem to revert for a while. Forget about tasting anything after that. There are other foods which can have negative effects when wine tasting such as garlic, onions and citrus. Also dairy, butter and heavy fats/oils coat your palate and can cause the wine to taste bland. While we know that all of these can pair well with certain wines, if they are strong on your palate at any given time, your wine tasting can go sour, literally. In moderation these will be ok, but a big basket of oil-fried garlic fries alongside that heavily oaked Chardonnay is sure to make your wine tasting less than satisfactory. It won’t be that the wine is bad, but it will be that your palate has been temporarily altered.
- (Arrive)Stay hydrated.
This one is very important in my opinion. Firstly, I will address something I mentioned in the “6 Tips” article. “I do not advise drinking lots of water before or during…”. The reasoning behind that tip is because too much water in your system can cause the alcohol to travel through the blood quicker, thus causing more immediate intoxication and overall negative results. When I am suggesting you stay hydrated, I simply mean, be sure that you have drank enough water prior to the tasting. You don’t want to put alcohol in a dry system the same way you wouldn’t want to put it on an empty stomach. The alcohol itself can be drying and dehydration is not what we’re going for here. It is also good to have a cup of water with you during the tasting in order to rinse your palate between wines. And of course, sipping a bit of water as you taste will again help to combat dehydration. Just don’t overdo it with the water, running to the restroom every few minutes will ruin your tasting experience as well. Thing to remember, stay hydrated always, just don’t overfill with liquids when you’re doing a wine tasting.
Bonus: No Two are the same
This tip comes directly from a wine producer. Something to always keep in mind is that no two wines or winemakers (wineries included) are the same. Maybe you are a chardonnay fanatic. You can pick up three bottles of chardonnay from different winemakers and they will all taste different. Sure they are the same grape, however; growing conditions, harvesting and winemaking vary by winery. Not to forget that technique and aging are strong factors as well. On the same token, the winemakers themselves all find their own way of creating wines. Therefore, all of their wines will taste different from one another, even if it is made from the same varietal (kind) of grape. In addition, each vintage (year the grape was harvested) will differ. So within the same winemaker’s bottling of different years, the wines can taste slightly different. This is important so that when you are judging wine, you are judging on its quality and not the comparison of each winemaker and their techniques.
Do you have any tips for visiting wineries that you would like to share? Leave a comment for us. Wine is community and this community loves to share.
Cheers!
-Brandon
