"How about visiting some wineries?"
You just have to love a couple like this. They not only communicate - they think wine!
Oregon is a great place to live if you want to visit wineries. They stretch from the Portland area to the California border. From Milton Freewater to Lincoln City.
So where do you start? Depending upon where you live, select four to five wineries to visit. Pack a picnic lunch and some snacks (food is always a great idea and pairing it with wine is the best).
If you and your "other half" or a friend or friends, go tasting, remember to be responsible. The person driving, ideally, should not consume wine. If they do, they should use the "taste and spit method."
Now, if you have not yet been to a winery to taste, you may be asking "What do we do when we get there?"
There are a few rules. They are simple yet important.
"Dah-ling, I love your perfume!"
But not in a winery. To spoof an old ad "Leave your perfume and home and leave the scenting to us." Wearing any scented items will interfere with your enjoyment of the wines as well as those around you. So, no scented perfume, deodorant, hairspray, dryer sheets and/or tobacco.
I had to laugh at a comment I saw on a limo service website. They said "No smoking in our vehicles. There will be plenty of room to smoke at the wineries." I was appalled! These people must not visit wineries often. No offense to smokers, but, the scent of tobacco takes away from the wine. Please abstain for the day. You will be glad that you did!
Also along this line, abandon lipstick and chapstick for the day. The chemical make up of these items can and do change the flavor of the wine as it passes over your lips.
Leave the chewing gum and mints at home too. Or at least save them until after your last stop. Spearmint and Pinot Noir just don't mix well.
"Hey, they aren't open!"
There are many wineries that are only open on weekends or on a few major holidays.
When you plan your day, be sure to consult one of many local winery guides to make sure that the winery you want to visit it open.
Also, check the hours of operation. Most wineries are open from noon to 5:00 PM. A few open earlier. A few are closed on weekdays, or in the case of Lange Winery, they are closed on Tuesday’s.
“Wow! We made it! They are open for another five minutes!”
As someone who worked behind the tasting bar for eight years, I can tell you, the above statement will not win you the praise of the tasting room staff.
Please try to arrive a minimum of 30 minutes before closing time. This allows the tasting room staff time to pour tastes for you and chat about the wines. It also allows them to close up the shop and head home at a reasonable hour.
Several years ago, I had a customer come in at 4:55 PM (we closed at 5:00 PM). She and her friend tasted through the wines, chatted, re-tasted and then made a purchase. They left the tasting room at 7:15 PM! At that point, I had to take a complete inventory of the wine and gift items, balance the cash box to that and then head to a friends home for dinner…where I arrived over two hours late.
I guess the best way to say it is “put yourself in their shoes.” At the end of your workday, you like to get off on time and head home.
“Hey we are in the front row!”
Well, that’s great at the Cher concert, but not necessarily at a winery tasting table.
If there is ample room for everyone in the tasting room to be at the table great. If not, be sure to get your taste and step back so that other guests can step up to the table.
“I wonder if this is barrel fermented?”
Great question! Be sure to ask the tasting room staff that or any other wine related question. They are there not only to pour tastes of wine, but also to educate you about their offerings.
Winery people are passionate about their craft (trust me we live the life more for the passion than the money….although the money is a definite plus.)
"Cool, they didn't charge a tasting fee!"
That is great news, but remember, the winery has poured several wines for you. The tasting room staff was there to answer questions. Common practice is to purchase at least one bottle of wine at each stop.
"Yuck! That wine tastes like toxic waste!"
Making a comment like that in a winery is almost as bad as being at a Blazer game and yelling FIRE! Wine is a very personal "thing." What you love, someone else will hate. What you can't stand, will be the largest portion of someone else's wine cellar.
Wine is a living "thing" and means something different to everyone who tastes it. My old saying is "If you love it, it is the best wine in the world." I could tell you that ABC winery is the best in the world. If you like XYZ better, then that is the best for you.
That being said, if you smell wet socks or a musty basement smell, you can point that out (quietly) to the tasting room staff. Wines that are "corked" are more common than we like to think. You would be doing others a favor as they may not yet recognize a corked wine – instead they just assume the do not like this wine.
A corked wine is one that has had air get through the cork into the bottle. It happens and we, as wine consumers, must accept that fact. Although many wineries are using screw caps (or as Rollin Soles from Argyle calls them – twist tops) on many of their wines. This may stop cork taint. It's not as glamorous to twist off a screw cap, but if they solve cork taint, the loss of tradition is worth it.
“Okay everyone, get off the bus. Let’s go in!”
Tours are great! I love them! Now the word of caution – please be sure to call ahead when you have a group of more than ten people.
Many wineries are small and only have one person to handle the tasting room. If 36 unexpected guests arrive at once, it can be quite overwhelming.
This is another experience I had. I knew that I had a bus tour arriving at 1:00PM. Twenty-five people. Cool. The bus arrived a few minutes early and the guests came in. Not more than five minutes later, a second bus arrived with twenty-five people I now had over fifty people to handle all at once by myself!
As it turned out, the first bus to arrive was not the one that had booked the tour.
So, please call ahead and arrive on time. If you find that you are running a bit late, give the winery a call.
With a large group, allow an hour at the winery. This then goes back to…arrive with enough time to allow the winery to close on time. I find that for large groups, booking the last stop at 3:30 works out very well.
Of course, we highly recommend that you book your tour with a tour company. We have a great suggestion, hire us! Adventures In Wine would love to plan a fun-filled day in wine country for you!