What to expect on a winery tour

Have you ever been to a winery? Don’t know what to expect?

Let me tell you a few things to keep in mind before you decide to go on a self-guided winery tour.

1) Maps are VERY important. Most of the vineyards are located off the main roads, so you may get lost looking for them. Write them down online before you leave and print the instructions. If you requested an information packet from a state winemakers association, they may provide you with a map.

2) Plan to eat before your tasting. You don’t want to get drunk and have to leave. If you eat before the wine tasting, you are less likely to get drunk. If you don’t drink regularly, you’ll probably feel the effect of alcohol much faster. So if you plan on doing a lot of tasting (and gulping down the wine), you should prepare your body by drinking a glass of wine with dinner several days in a row.
before your wine tasting tour. This should slightly increase your tolerance, at least for the wine route.

3) Once you arrive at a winery, you will most likely see a store or market-style setup. Gold rain
shine, these are open for business, selling wine and related goodies. Plan to look for some great things that you won’t find in a supermarket. The vineyards themselves could be closed, for example, due to the weather.

4) Request a private tour. If the winery does not offer one, they will recommend a scheduled group tour. But if you go at a time when they are not busy, the owner will be happy to show you around the grounds and cellars.

5) Before paying for the wine tasting, ask if they have complimentary featured wines. The winery is interested in advertising their product, so they will most likely have some open bottles as a promotion, even if they don’t advertise free tastings.

6) If you don’t know much about wine, ask for a wine 101 course at the winery. The person doing the tasting can really enhance your understanding and enjoyment of what he is tasting by explaining how the wine or grape fits into the world of wine in general. If you’d rather know what you’re doing before you go, sign up for winery-explorer.com’s Wine 101 e-course.

7) Have a bottle or two of the wines you liked. Oh, and if you have something on your mind to buy and it’s not available for general tasting, don’t be afraid to ask them to open a bottle so you can try it first! Saved me a lot of money! Some wines I bought without trying them first were horrible! So I learned to ask first.

8) Take photos! ‘Recording’ your memories will allow you to enjoy them later and make your winery visit story more fun when you share your experience with friends. Send me your favorite photos and they will be published on this site, if you wish! Otherwise, photo submissions are entered into a quarterly prize drawing for a complimentary surprise getaway.

9) Record your experience in an article. Pretend to be a travel writer and post your article on review sites or forums. Send me a copy too, and it will appear as a link to the page of the state whose wineries you visited. Share with others what to do and what not to do, where you would like to go back or where you would rather not go back.

10) DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE. If you’re feeling tipsy, have a bite to eat at the cellar cafe (or pick up some goodies at the cellar shop). If they have a patio or restaurant, sit back and relax a bit, and drink plenty of water to flush the alcohol out of your system. Coffee also increases alertness, or better yet, espresso. Do not sit in the driver’s seat unless you are sure your blood alcohol level is below the legal limit, your vision (especially in the dark) is not impaired, or you can walk, talk, and think as you do when he’s sober. . Give the driver’s seat to the person in your group who drank the least, ate the most, and weighed the most. The effect of alcohol is proportional to our measurements. Women, therefore, feel it more than men, earlier.

Happy tasting!