Page 26 - Spring/Summer Taste Magazine
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Great Finds
the service that's being used, you'll be able to book and, if you have to, even pay in advance for your tasting.
Getting Around Wine Country
Once you know you're going to wine country, you should think about hiring a local driver. While Uber and Lyft are some- times available, the drivers may not be ready when you are, especially on heavy traffic weekends. To find a driver to take you around wine country, the best option is to contact the wineries for recommenda- tions or ask your hotel for some. A driver who knows the local wine scene is worth every penny, as they often will share tips about new producers and changes in wine quality. A good driver has the winery tast- ing room manager on speed dial. Since tastings can sometimes run long and appointments may be delayed, having that type of rapport makes all the difference in the world when it comes to keeping appointments, even if they won't be on schedule.
Great Finds
Wine Country Travel: Get the Most From Your Visits
Vineyards in Barolo, Italy
By Andy Abramson
With travel starting to resume, and for many, as the pandemic begins to subside, there's nothing better than planning a trip around
wine and food experiences. A wine and food getaway, whether for a few days or an extended period of time, can be a lot of fun. An epicurean adventure, either internationally or domestically, can be nothing less than a fantastic experience with the proper planning. Let's start with winery visits.
Getting The Appointments
These days, appointments and reservations are more the rules than the exception, and with the better wineries often saying they don't have a formal tasting room or tasting room staff, that may be a plus. Often you end up tasting with the winemaker or winery owner, and that means you get a great experience.
There are a few easy routes to getting appointments. The most simple is to call the winery and ask. Tell them you're a collector or a long-time buyer of their wines. You don't need to be a wine club member -something often assumed, nor do you need to be in the wine trade. Winery owners love to have guests who share their love and pas- sion for wine.
The next best route is to ask your local wine merchant to arrange visits. Their request will go through the winery's local distribu- tor, so plan those with enough notice to make it easy for the person to make the request. That means don't decide that you'll be in wine coun- try that weekend on the previous Thursday.
Book online. Many wineries have resorted to services like TOCK or Open Table to manage visitation appointments. They are the ideal way to get your tastings scheduled. Often you can simply go to the winery's own website and find the reservation link, so regardless of
Stick to the Schedule
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Once you have your appointment scheduled, you should do your best to keep your schedule as planned. There's nothing better than showing up on time or a little early. By keeping on schedule, wineries and the staff on hand can then deliver you the best experience possible. The winery tasting room staff or owners will roll out the red carpet for you. This means you'll not only taste the wines they have on offer, but they will also likely pull out some gems that are not open for the regular crowd that shows up, if at all. One of the things you should always ask surrounds the question of having library wines available to taste. If they do, you'll enjoy wines that are not on the list and are not usually still in distribution. This also means you'll be able to acquire them, and if you want enough of them, have the Winery ship them directly to you.
Do's and Dont’s
Some other tips for showing up at a winery include avoiding smoking as there's nothing worse than having smokers breathe or smokers' odor on your clothes. Another thing not to use when visiting a winery is cologne, perfume, or aftershave. Wine is an experience of smell and taste. When wearing cologne or aftershave you end up throwing off your sense of smell and taste as well as that of those around you,
One more tip is not to carry a large bag over your shoulder or wear a backpack into the tasting room. Nothing is worse than when you turn around and hit somebody else in the tasting room who's about to taste a glass of wine in your backpack or purse, or bag hits someone else, sending their wine flying all over their face or their clothes so be sensible in your movements but also in what you carry.
Last is tipping. It's very polite to tip tasting room staff. Just the act of handing them a $10 or $20 bill in cash, based on how many people are with you, is undoubtedly the least you should do. If you're


































































































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