After many years of visiting our great state of California’s countless wineries, I've found the key to creating the perfect wine tasting experience. Furthermore, I'm sharing it with you. Shhhh...we don't want everyone learning about this. It's our little secret.
Create a Moment with the Pourer
Just
about everyone loves attention and the pourer at the winery
is no different. This person usually
knows quite a bit about the wines and most often wants to share it. So, inquire about the wines, how the grapes
are grown, and where. Ask questions,
even if you consider the questions to be too simple. The plus side is that you just may learn more
as well. My favorite question is,
"What am I smelling in this wine? I
can't seem to identify it."
Now
if the tasting room is empty besides you and the pourer, usually, the more you
engage this person, the more he/she will share.
For example, during a visit to Silverado Vineyards in
Napa where we were the only visitors, we became so friendly with the pourer
that he poured reserve wines just because he was excited to share his knowledge
of the wines. It wasn't the extra pours
that made this visit memorable, although the wines were exquisite, it was our
moment with the young man. He was kind,
knowledgeable, and one we will always remember.
We learned quite a bit.
Connect with Fellow Tasters
Alternately,
it seems that if there is a chance of "connecting" with your fellow
wine tasters while also including the pourer, most often we have the rarity of "the
trifecta of wine appreciation." Pure
nirvana.
For
example, while tasting at the Lone
Madrone winery in Paso Robles, we struck up a conversation with
our fellow wine tasters after introducing ourselves to the pourer. The couple was celebrating their
anniversary, so we, naturally, shared the news with our pourer. We had quite a nice visit with all three
chatting about the couple's celebration, the wines, the area, and were offered
reserve tastings.
Another
more recent example of wine-tasting nirvana was our visit to J Vineyards and Winery near
Healdsburg. We had just experienced the
"empty tasting room" delight at Rodney Strong Vineyards – directly
next door to J – where we learned about all the wines, received reserve wine
pours, and shared a delightful conversation.
So,
we arrived in high spirits (double entendre, wink-wink). This tasting room was elbow-to-elbow crowded. Luckily, we found space at the end of the bar
and squeezed in next to three gentlemen who had come straight from a
marathon. They'd been there for a while
and apprised us of their favorites.
One
of the three was busily joining the wine club.
Lucky for us, because we were all so friendly toward each other, we were
treated as special as the three of them were.
The best part of the interaction was learning about the three. I now know all about Marathon Etiquette. Thank you, James.
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