Rolling vineyards, broken up by tree lined ridges, scrubland, or fields of grain…wine country tends to be pretty beautiful. You can close your eyes and picture it as you sip a glass, OR you can get out there and visit!
Michael and I have been visiting different wine regions for a while now. We started out just visiting tasting rooms, then we got sucked in and became a writer/content creator/ videography team, covering these beautiful regions around the globe.
As Linda Whipple of My Full Wine Glass, leads the World Wine Travel writers into our explorations on the road with wine, (read her Preview post here!) we thought we would share some of our favorite tips on how best to enjoy a wine-country visit.
You will find links to the other writers’ articles at the bottom. This might inspire your next trip to wine country!
Take your time!
One of the best tips we can give you is to take your time, soak in the place, and avoid playing the tasting room crawl game. You won’t remember what you tasted by the end of the day.
Break up your day with hikes, shopping, or other adventures! (more on that below). Mostly, don’t rush! Don’t plan a weekend with a different winery every hour! Allow yourself time to relax, breathe, and soak in the place.
Stay on a vineyard!
Find a place to stay in wine country in a region. Many wineries have weekend rental properties on the vineyard. The way to start your day is with a warm, comforting beverage on a patio or deck overlooking a vineyard.
Of course, to do this, you have to pick the right type of vineyard! Large commercial vineyards won’t have a cute cottage on them; they will be busy with industrial farming, and you won’t want to sip your coffee with the smell of chemical sprays.
So…look for a smaller, sustainable winery. The wines will be unique to that place, and the people will want to talk to you about the land and the winemaking. The sips of wine you take here will be more meaningful and memorable.
Explore and enjoy the town or region!
Wine Country is nothing if not picturesque. You’ll find quaint towns filled with charm that will give you a bit of the local flavor.
Sometimes, just a drive through the country can clear your thoughts and cause you to relax as you watch vineyards and scenery go by.
Walking through the nearby small town or hiking in the State Park over the hill will give you a sense of place. If you are hiking, you will burn off those calories and perhaps come back to the wine with a better understanding of the floral and fauna in the area. Maybe you will notice something new in the glass; plant life and soils significantly impact the flavor and aromas of wines.
Eat local!
In wine, there is a phrase, “What grows together, goes together.” You see this in Europe, where pockets between mountains were isolated, and for years, the plant life evolved together. Cheeses from local cow, sheep, or goat milk will inevitably make the best pairings with local wines.
Search out local restaurants sourcing from small local farms, and make sure to order a glass of wine from the area!
Many wineries offer small bites to pair with their wines. In Santa Barbara, one winery pairs its wines with mini cupcakes on the weekends! Other places also offer small bite pairings. Some even have restaurants or bistros. This allows you to enjoy the wine and keep your stomach full in a delicious way.
Drink Water!
Staying hydrated is important! Dehydration can cause your blood alcohol level to rapidly increase. Stay hydrated, with more than just wine to stay healthy, and upright!
Pack a water bottle! Most wineries will have a place to refill your bottle. If not, ask for a glass of water.
* Some wineries, like Tablas Creek, have reusable metal canteens for water that greet you! These keep you hydrated while you are on the property! They are also great for the environment, replacing single use plastic, and they keep costs down as you drop them into a basket as you leave the property, so that they can wash and sanitize them and reuse them! It’s a wine all the way around!
The etiquette of spitting
Spitting with wine is not an insult. Wine professionals (myself included) prefer to smell the wine, then take a little in our mouth, swish it around, and then spit the wine out into a spit bucket. The idea is to enjoy the aromas and flavors without getting a buzz. This way, we can enjoy the last glass as much as the first.
There are some tricks here. First, don’t just assume that the bucket on the counter is a spit bucket. Some regions with a high volume of visitors in the tasting room may have those there for tips for the pourers! Ask for a spit or dump bucket, and take notes so that you know which wines you enjoy the most! Any tasting room worth its salt will be happy to accommodate you!
If you are eating and others are eating, you should avoid spitting. No one wants that during lunch!
Remaining Upright
When you are tasting, remember that while these are tasting pours, they will add up. If you are not spitting, a tasting pour will be 2 to 3 ounces. 5 oz of wine is considered a standard drink. Your body can eliminate 1 drink per hour. More than that, and you are getting tipsy. So, if you taste 5 wines over the course of an hour, you have taken in at least 2 glasses of wine. Pace yourself!
Ask Questions!
Even when a tasting room is busy, a good server will happily give you the details on the wine and vineyard. Sometimes, you just have to let them warm up to you.
I have been to crowded tasting rooms where most people were just there to drink, and the server assumed we were, too. When they saw we were interested and wanted details, they made the time to tell us more about the wine.
Learning more about the wine, will help you discover what you enjoy best! Do you like red wines with oak? Do you taste a difference with a wine made in amphora? Does the single vineyard wine from the coast, where the vines get a little salt spray really taste delicious to you?
Do the research!
Before you head to wine country, do the research! Most regions have an association and website that will give you a list and links for information about the wineries.
Find the places that speak to you! It might be the people, the story, the types of wines they make. I often find beautiful websites that give me the right feel. Check the hours, and if you need reservations (many do, and really, that’s a good thing!) Explore the experiences they might have! We once went on a spring flower and wine excursion, where we were taken far out into a ranch, looked at spring flowers in the fields, and had a magical picnic lunch with the wines and local foods while watching peregrine falcons overhead. Then we drove to their vineyards and spoke with the winemaker!
Wineries will have different experiences and tastings that will fit their style! These make unforgettable memories.
I can’t not emphasize this part enough. It has been proven that travel is the gift that gives multiple times! Dopamine is released in your system as you plan and anticipate a trip, again while you are experiencing it and then again Over and over as you remember your trip.
Take wine home!
Now that you have had this fantastic experience, you will want to relive it! Take a bottle or more home with you. Scent memory is an amazing thing. You will find that you will tuck your nose into a glass of wine from this trip, and suddenly, you are no longer on your couch; you are transported back to the winery and region. So your trip, well, keeps on giving!
Think of it, rather than pulling out the photos or home movies of your trip, you can pull out a bottle of wine and share the experience!
There are so many regions captured in articles here on Crushed Grape Chronicles! Take some time to explore and find the region you are drawn to!
Get out and discover wine country!
#WorldWineTravel Writers – On the Road
My fellow wine writers at #WorldWineTravel will have some wonderful suggestions for you on where you should travel in Wine Country! Read on and start planning your trip! (These articles will go live on 8/9 to 8/10)
- Regenerative Organic: Farmed Like the World Depends on It + the Feral Wines of Tablas Creek by Camilla at Culinary Cam
- Exquisite Sips and Sailings: Carnival Cruiseline Wine Package by Terri at Our Good Life
- On the Road from Paris to Champagne by Jeff at Food Wine Click!
- A Dreamy Day Trip to Rioja from Balboa by Deanna at Wineivore
- On the Road – Tips for Planning Wine Travel by Alison of Vino Tripping
- Travel in Tuscany: From Rome to Altura at Isola del Giglio and La Maliosa at Saturnia and back by Gwendolyn at Wine Predator
- Planning A Relaxing Wine Trip – Thank Gosh Our Strategy Changed! by Lynn at Savor the Harvest
- Our Visit to Youngblood Vineyards by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm.
- At home and abroad, all roads lead to wine by Linda at My Full Wine Glass
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
Check out our book series, “Tempting Spoonfuls” available through Amazon!
Inspired by the flavors and aromas in wines, these books create “tempting spoonfuls” of flavors to pair with wines.
“Tempting Spoonfuls – Pairing single bites with glorious wines” – Our first book paired wines from boutique wineries on the west coast, in California, Oregon, and Washington, with delicious spoonfuls.
This book is 60 pages, 18 recipes, lots of beautiful photos, and insights into some fantastic small wineries!
“Tempting Spoonfuls – small bites paired with wines from around the Globe” – This book takes us around the globe to explore 12 wine regions, a wine from the region, and then gives you a recipe for a pairing!
A slightly larger book at 104 pages, this time you learn about pairing with a type of wine from a region. Rather than a specific bottle, you can look for a style of wine from a region and feel confident that it will go well with the recipe pairing we provide. We give you 12 recipes, each to pair with a wine.
The goal is to make your mouth water and encourage you to create your own “Tempting Spoonfuls.”
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