Category: Wine Tasting Tips

Wine tasting these days in California, at least in Sonoma County and Napa Valley, almost always consists of sitting at a table, with a server coming by to pour wines on a preset list.  Depending on the winery, it can feel like an elegant way to taste or an arduous process of tasting what the winery wants you to taste versus what you want.  Also, almost all of the wineries say that you must make a reservation and that tastings will last 90 minutes.  That can be rather limiting if you want to make a day of sipping (not drinking) fine wines.

There are some tips to regain control of our wine tasting experiences.

• Reservations may matter.  Yes, there are some places that are serious about the reservation policy.  For the most part, these are wineries that make very high-end (i.e., expensive) wines and often entail a tour as well as a tasting.  Do a little homework in advance if you’d like to try one of these.  A rough rule in this regard is that the ones where you must be on the list to be admitted will say “By appointment only” rather than specifying reservations.  Ramey in Healdsburg is one of these.
• For the rest, reservations don’t matter.  We have pulled into wineries with signs outside saying “Only by reservation”, to find an empty room with a bored employee waiting for customers.  There are even signs popping up these days saying, “Walk-ins Welcome”.  We think that the restrictive policies were meant to manage labor cost of servers but have resulted in keeping visitors away.  Maybe a phone call while you’re on the way would be polite; still, if there’s a winery you want to explore, just go in.  The worst that can happen is you’ll just get back in the car.
• In-town tastings are more likely to be open.  These too are likely to be sit-down affairs, but so many rely on walk-ins that there is rarely a need to reserve in advance.  Most of these are relatively unknown, so the curiosity of passers-by is their marketing strategy.  There are also some well-known labels in the towns.  For example, if you walk around Healdsburg, you might encounter Hartford Family or Siduri, which have significant reputations.  But there are also some relative unknowns, such as Lurton, which also serve pretty fine wine.
• You don’t have to follow the list.  If you see that there are wines offered on the tasting list that you are uninterested in, skip them.  If, for example, you only want to sip red wines, say so.  In that case, you’re likely to get not only the listed wines but a selection of others that they make.  And if you’re only interested in a varietal, you may go through their entire inventory of that grape.
• Hurry the server along.  In some cases, they want to leave you to yourself.  In others they want to chat.  If your interest is tasting and then moving along, keep the server filling your glasses.  Of course, if you prefer solitude or conversation, ignore this tip.

• Ask for all the wines to be served at once.  This not only shortens the interaction with the server, it also gives you a chance to compare wines side-by-side.  Also, it’s pretty to see so many glasses of wine in front of you.

As detailed in another article in this edition, Spanish winemakers use a lot of grapes that are unfamiliar to most North American wine lovers.  Perhaps most people don’t care but the readers of Power Tasting are a demanding bunch.  They don’t just want to enjoy what they’re sipping but also know about it.  In California, wherever they go, they know they’ll find Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel in the reds, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc in the whites.

Tasting wine at tapas bars in Barcelona.

Not so in Spain.  A lot of it is geographical.  In the north, there will be Tempranillo; in the southwest, near Jerez, there will be Palomino and Pedro Ximénez in the sherry.  Macabeo in Pinedes, Mencia in the Priorat and in Galicia Albariño grapes go into the wine of the same name.  It would take a lot of travel to experience them all at the vineyards.

That’s where wine bars come in.  The fact that the bars also double as taparias doesn’t hurt.  Here are a few tips for diving into the various grapes that are used in Spanish winemaking.

• One option is pot luck.  There’s nothing stopping you from sitting down with a tapa and asking for a glass of tinto or a blanco.  Then ask the server what wine was served.  Crude but effective, if you go to enough tapas bars you’re likely to get a selection.  But it will also likely be a selection of mediocre wines.

• Skip the sangria.  A pitcher of fruit juice, red wine and fruit is (may be?) fine for a picnic.  If you’re interested in learning about Spanish wines, you won’t learn anything with sangria.

• A better plan is to go to the slightly better tapas bars (for the most part, you can tell the better ones just by looking at them) and order wine by region.  Even better, order several glasses from different regions and compare them.  In that manner we found that we prefer wines from the Ribero del Duero to those from Rioja.  Maybe that’s because Riberos are often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Riojas with Spanish grapes.  In the whites, we found we prefer Albariños to the Macabeos of Rioja.

• Rely on sommeliers.  While this is good advice anywhere, having someone guide you through the mysteries of a Spanish wine list is very helpful.  A better restaurant will offer wines from smaller producers of higher quality that are probably unknown to foreign visitors.  Always with consideration for the food order, you can ask a sommelier or a server to suggest a wine specifically from regions other than the best known ones and from less well known grapes as well.  That’s how, in the past, we discovered Priorat wines and Verdejo from Castille.

• Try as many as you can, then decide.  It is easy to fall back on Tempranillo as a favorite because these are the most widely available wines back home.  But if you’re in Spain, experiment.  You may never get to taste wines from some grapes again.  And if you find one you do like, you can search for it in wine stores around where you live.  You may get lucky.

We recently received a newsletter from Etude, a winery where we’re members, on the subject of Pinot Noir clones.  The subject of clones seems to be getting more attention recently, and this item further piqued our curiosity.

Pommard 5 clone of Pinot Noir.  Photo courtesy of Etude Winery.

First of all, what are clones in the world of wine?  If we were vinicultural scientists, we could give a long, complicated answer but we are just humble wine tasters.  Simply put, a clone is a variety of a particular grape that is chosen by a vineyard owner because of its characteristics of taste, aroma or color.  It is propagated by grafting a cutting from a desired vine onto existing rootstock.  (That’s how cuttings from American vines saved French wineries from phylloxera in the 19th century.)

Winemakers select specific clones to emphasize certain qualities that benefit from the terroir of their vineyards.  Also, some clones are more prolific than others, so a particular clone may be chosen just for the volume of the harvest.  So, for example, the qualities of the Pinot Noir Dijon 777 clone are very dependent on the individual vineyard, whereas the Dijon 115 clone is most likely to produce a complete wine, without blending, and is thus the most widely planted (at least in the US). 

Note that Dijon is a city in the Côte d’Or in Burgundy as is Pommard, which also has numerous clones.  This is important because the type of wine we drink today has been made in Burgundy longer than anywhere else.  With all that time, more clones have been cultivated for Pinot Noir than for any other varietal.  Yes, there are clones of just about every other grape, but the differences between two Cabernet Sauvignon clones is nowhere near as great as between, for example, a Dijon and a Pommard clone of Pinot Noir.

Part of the reason that clones are receiving more attention these days is undoubtedly the increasing sophistication of wine lovers willing to pay the cost differential for a single clone wine.  But we think that what is driving the discussion even more is that climate change is creating stress for some clones more than others.  As a general rule, Pinot Noir grapes do best with warm afternoons and cool nights.  Evidently, Dijon clones are more susceptible to warming temperatures – really hot afternoons and warmer temperatures overnight – than are Pommard clones.  For a vintner who has heavily planted, say, Dijon 115, the prospect of ripping out vines and replanting his vineyard can be very daunting.

Increasingly, vineyard managers are planting so-called “heritage” clones with names like Swan or Calera.  They seem to be doing better in warmer climates than the more widely planted grape clones.  Etude’s Heirloom Pinot Noir is made from these clones. 

What does this mean to the average wine taster?  On the one hand, not much; it’s only what’s in the glass that counts.  On the other hand, recognizing that certain clones produce flavors and aromas that one prefers (or not) can help in selecting wines that meet his or her tastes.

A new car is the pride and joy of your driveway.  There’s a special feeling when you put on a new suit.  But tasting new wines doesn’t always bring the same enjoyment.  There’s such a thing as a wine that’s too new.  We once had the experience of a private visit to a fine winery in Bordeaux, in September.  The grapes had just been pressed and the juice had been fermented only a few days before.  Our host, with a subtle smile, gave us a little taste.  Ugh!  It was awful, although we knew that in the years to come it would become wonderful.

That’s an extreme case of a truism: Wine improves over time.  Like so many truisms, this one comes with lots of exceptions.  Some wines improve over time.  At a certain point they stop improving.  Beyond that point, many of them become worse.  And then a lot worse.

The cellar at Volpaia in Tuscany.

For the most part, wineries offer the latest releases for their wine tastings.  There is an implied commitment that once the wine is put up for sale, it’s drinkable.  Fair enough, but that doesn’t mean it’s at its peak.  Many wineries offer tastings of so-called library wines, of older vintages that are supposed to show what the potential these wines have for improvement over time.

Here are a few tips for balancing the new and the old wines you might have the opportunity to sip when you visit a winery.

• Use your imagination.  As you taste a recently released wine – or even better, if you are offered a barrel tasting – mentally trick your nose and tongue into recognizing what a wine could be, beyond what it is.  Wine critics and importers do this all the time.  Oh, you’re not a critic or an importer?  Do your best or consider some of these other tips.
• “Age” the wine artificially.  As we have written previously, we bring a clef du vin (or wine key) with us.  This handy little tool simulates the aging process, giving an idea of what a wine might become.  There’s no way to know if it creates the exact tastes and aromas that will be there five years hence, but it gives you an idea.
• Compare a library wine to the current bottling.  The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon may be delightful, but the 2010 of the same grape is profound.  Or not.  Some people prefer the youthful exuberance of newly bottled wines to old, tired stuff.  Then there are those who won’t open a bottle for the first decade after the grapes were picked.  There’s nothing like a side-by-side comparison to calibrate your palate.
• Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion.  Just because you paid extra to sip a vintage from yesteryear doesn’t force you to prefer it.  And if you liked the older wine at one vineyard more than another, that’s okay too.  It’s okay to speak your mind, but do so quietly if you’re not a fan of the library wine you’re tasting.  Of course, if you do think the older wine is fantastic, say so openly and with gusto. 

It doesn’t happen often, but there are times when we have served wine to someone who has recently gained majority and is eager to learn about wine.  There are laws against pouring for anyone under 21 years of age, but we remember that our parents let us have a few sips when we were not quite at that age.  We might do the same at home today, but of course that cannot happen at a winery (or any other public place).

Photo courtesy of Willows Lodge.

If you are open to teaching a young taster, you’ll find some challenges.  Here are some tips we’ve picked up over time.

• Sip, don’t slurp.  For the most part, children are raised drinking milk, water and Coca-Cola.  They don’t understand sipping.  If they had a few drinks at college, they probably chugged beer or cheap wine.  (Most students can’t afford anything more.)  So the first step is to get them to slow down.
• “They all taste the same”.  It is probably true that whatever wines they have tasted are undistinguished.  It’s a good idea to remember what you were drinking at their age.  It is also a good idea to give them the chance to try some wine that interests you.  It’s likely to have more character than what comes out of a bottle that costs less than five dollars.
• “It still tastes the same”.  Tasting one wine, by itself, is not enough to educate them away from what they already know.  So serve two rather contrasting wines.  Maybe a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Pinot Noir or a buttery California Chardonnay and a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.  Then ask the young person to describe the difference.  First, they immediately recognize that all wines aren’t the same.  Second, they begin to find the vocabulary to describe taste experiences.
• The wine tasting procedure.  At this point, you can explain some of the basics of tasting wine.  Don’t fill the glass too much.  Swirl it before smelling it.  Smell it before you taste it.  At that point, say, “Don’t think about it, just tell us what the aroma reminds you of”.  Try to get your guest to differentiate the tastes in the attack (the first sip), from mid-mouth (what’s it like on your tongue?) and the finish (what do you still taste after you’ve swallowed it?)
• Wine and food.  If you can, serve some appropriate food with the wine.  This is easy if you’re serving wine with dinner, but it’s harder at a winery.  The primary point is to teach that fine wine is meant to be an accompaniment to good food.  Moreover, you can demonstrate that what you eat affects what you taste in a wine glass and vice versa.
• Avoid excess.  If young people already have some experience with alcohol, it probably came from something like a kegger at the frat.  They need to learn that wine – at least quality wine – is meant to be an extension to other good things in life, not a way to get drunk.  Of course, too much wine – of any quality – can get you drunk.  Try to get across that that’s not why you are a wine afficionado.

Wine tasting is a very simple process.  Someone pours some wine into a glass.  You pick it up and take a sip.  Repeat.  Of course there are many subtleties beyond that: smelling the wine, noting the color, swirling it around your mouth, etc.  This process applies at wineries (and bars and homes) around the world.

Photo courtesy of Schramsberg Vineyards.

But tasting sparkling wine is somewhat different.  There is more to it, in some ways, and less in others.  So if you’re visiting a sparkling wine producer, anywhere from Champagne to Calistoga, here are some tips to add to your enjoyment.

• Notice the glass.  In the past, at least in the United States, the glasses for sparklers were coupes.  Wide and shallow, they would enable the bubbles to tickle your nose.  Of course, the wine rapidly became flat.  For some reason, they’re still popular at weddings.  Flutes then came into fashion.  These tall, thin glasses kept the bubbles in and away from your nose, exposing as little of the surface of the wine in the glass to the air.  Now, in many wineries that specialize in bubbly, the glasses are tulip-shaped, with a bit of a bulge at the bottom and narrowing at the top.
• Enjoy the aroma.  The reason the glass matters is that the shape affects what and how you smell it.  Coupes are all about bubbles, so you’d better sip in a hurry without worrying about smelling the wine.  Flutes retain the carbonation, but give less space for the aromas to expand in the glass.  The tulip is kind of a compromise, allowing the smells to circulate a bit before you sip.  So hold a flute as horizontally as you can and breathe in the delicate aromas of citrus and warm toast, often found in some sparkling wines.  With a tulip, stick your nose into the glass right away, before even thinking of sipping.
• Don’t swirl.  With tasting of table wines, swirling it before sniffing and tasting adds to the enjoyment of the contents of the glass.  Not so with sparkling wines.  All swirling does is release some of the gas and thus the bubbles.  So it detracts from your enjoyment.
• Take a look at the bubbles.  You should see a steady upward stream of them that should continue unabated for a while.  If you don’t, the bottle has been open too long and has gone flat.  Give it back to the server and ask for a new bottle to be opened.  (If you’re doing this at someone’s home, smile and enjoy your glass of white wine.) 
• How long should the bubbles last?  Scientists will tell us that some bubbles will be present for hours after being served.  But the whole point of sparkling wine is to have a lot of fizz.  Once it goes flat – practically if not scientifically – there’s no point in drinking it.
• A bit more about bubbles.  Cheaper, less well-made sparkling wine has big, fat bubbles.  Because each one has more gas in it, it takes less time for more to get out of the wine, i.e., go flat.  Smaller bubbles are more elegant and longer lasting and are found in premium sparkling wines.
• Don’t over-intellectualize it.  Despite all the above it’s still just wine, albeit fizzy wine.  Savor it as you would any other fine wine and take in the scents and tastes emanating from the glass, without trying to make it a sacred experience.

Artificial Intelligence seems to be on everyone’s lips these days, right where some nice wine ought to be.  So we asked ourselves how AI could be used to enhance the wine tasting experience.  We thought it might help in doing the pre-visit research into the wineries to visit, and so asked three popular AI platforms a test question, “What are the five best wine tasting experiences in Napa Valley?”

Picture courtesy of The Economic Times.

Here are the results:

Microsoft CoPilot

Napa Valley is a wine lover’s paradise, and here are five exceptional wine-tasting experiences to consider:

1. Andretti Winery

This winery combines award-winning wines with a touch of racing history, all set in a beautiful 42-acre estate.

2. Napa Valley Wine Country Tours

Offering private and group tours, this service provides a luxurious way to explore Napa’s finest wineries.

3. Monticello Vineyards

Known for its limited production estate wines, this family-run winery has a rich history and a reputation for excellence.

4. Vermeil Wines

Specializing in bold Calistoga red wines, this spot is perfect for those who love robust flavors.

5. Castello di Amorosa

A medieval-style castle winery offering a unique and immersive tasting experience.

Each of these places offers something special, whether it’s the ambiance, the history, or the wine itself.

OpenAI ChatGPT

Napa Valley offers a multitude of exceptional wine tasting experiences that cater to a variety of preferences. Here are five standout options to consider:

1. Opus One Winery

Renowned for its exclusive experiences and fine wines, Opus One offers intimate tours that delve into its winemaking philosophy and architecture. 

• Robert Mondavi Winery

Celebrated for its Fumé Blanc, this winery also boasts an impressive art collection and hosts summer concerts, blending culture with winemaking. 

• Inglenook

Owned by Francis Ford Coppola, Inglenook is praised for its wines and ambiance, offering a rich historical experience alongside tastings. 

• Raymond Vineyards

Known for its innovative and sensory tasting experiences, including the Crystal Cellar and the Red Room, providing a unique blend of wine and art. 

• Napa Valley Wine Train

A unique excursion that combines gourmet dining with wine tasting aboard a vintage train as it traverses the picturesque Napa Valley. 

Each of these venues offers a distinct perspective on Napa Valley’s rich winemaking heritage, ensuring a memorable visit for both novices and connoisseurs alike. [Note: Most of these choices seem to have come from the London Times.]

Anthropic Claude

Based on my knowledge, here are five exceptional wine tasting experiences in Napa Valley:

1. Schramsberg Vineyards

Known for their exceptional sparkling wines and historic cave tours. Their guided cave tour takes you through hand-carved caves dating back to the 1800s while tasting their premium sparkling wines.

2. Castello di Amorosa

A meticulously recreated 13th-century Tuscan castle with medieval architecture, defensive towers, and a torture chamber. The unique setting pairs with their Italian-style wines for an immersive experience.

3. Chateau Montelena

Made famous by the “Judgment of Paris” in 1976 when their Chardonnay beat French wines in a blind tasting. Their stone chateau and Japanese gardens offer a beautiful setting for tasting their world-class wines.

4. Robert Mondavi Winery

A pioneer in Napa Valley winemaking offering educational tours and tastings that showcase the region’s winemaking history alongside their acclaimed wines, particularly their Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

5. Domaine Carneros

 A stunning French-inspired château specializing in sparkling wines and Pinot Noir. Their terrace tastings overlook expansive vineyard views of the Carneros region.

These wineries combine exceptional wines with unique settings, educational experiences, and Napa’s picturesque landscapes.

It’s notable that none of the three lists is the same.  We are familiar with all the wineries mentioned and agree with some choices, but not all.  But a wine tasting trip to Napa Valley that included all of them would be very representative of the best experiences to be had in that section of Wine Country.

There are multiple meanings to “hot wine”.  Around Christmas time, it is popular in some circles (not ours) to drink mulled wine, spiced and heated.  The trendy wine that everyone seems to be drinking these days may be called a “hot” wine.  (Non-alcoholic, so-called wines are “hot” these days.  Yecch!)  And wines with a lot of alcohol, that sting your mouth, are also called hot wines. 

In Power Tasting’s last issue, we gave tips on dealing with the alcohol.  In this issue, we want to focus on what’s in the glass rather than who’s behind the wheel. If you are fond of wine tasting trips, as we are, you are more likely these days to encounter wines that pucker your mouth, more so these days than ever before.  So, here are a few things to think about if you’re not a fan of hot wine.

Some grapes just don’t make it.  Photo courtesy of One Green Planet.

• Winemakers are driving up the levels in many areas.  Bordeaux, for example, almost uniformly made wines that were 12.5% alcohol by volume (ABV).  Today, they are in the 14% to 15% level, matching northern California.  One factor was the taste preferences of one man, Robert Parker.  He liked (and presumably still likes) big, bold wines.  Many growers in both Bordeaux and Napa Valley sought his approval and his magazine’s ratings and so pushed both ripeness and alcohol upward. 
• And climate change is another big factor.  It’s no secret that the world is getting hotter.  Winemakers we have spoken with tell of changing to more resistant grapes or moving their vineyards to higher altitudes to keep a better balance of ripeness and alcohol.  It may prove worthwhile, especially at better wineries, to taste the current releases and also try some library wines if available, just to see how the winemakers have dealt with increasing warmth.  Even if a tasting room won’t offer these older wines for sampling, they will tell you the amount of alcohol in some of the older bottles.
• Consider the flavor, not the alcohol level.  There is a rough equation that says more time on the vine means more sugar means more alcohol.  But more time on the vine also leads to greater ripeness of the grapes and thus more flavor.  In areas with naturally high temperatures, such as Paso Robles, alcohol levels can be extreme, sometimes tasting overripe.  At the other extreme, in northern climes such as in Alsace, low-alcohol wines may taste drab and a little flabby.  Vineyard managers and winemakers attempt to find the perfect time to harvest, with maximum savor and manageable alcohol.  As you taste, you are in effect serving as the jury as to how well they did. 
• Alcohol levels haven’t increased everywhere.  Champagne makers still keep their wines in the range of 12% to 12.5%, as do those who make Prosecco.  Rieslings tend to be under 13%.  And many sweet wines have less than 10% alcohol.  (Careful with these latter wines, though.  Many dessert wines, such as Port or Tokay are fortified with additional alcohol.)

We have noticed, in recent years, that the amount of alcohol in the wine we’re tasting (and drinking at home) is increasing.  Now there could be a few reasons for that.  Maybe our tastes have just turned towards more alcoholic and therefore more flavorful wines.  That’s possible, but we don’t remember a shift in the wines we buy, so it’s unlikely.  Perhaps the winemakers for our favorite labels have all decided to make more alcoholic products.  It’s even unlikelier that all of them would do that at the same time.  A more reasonable answer would be that accelerating climate change has made grapes ripen faster, making more sugar in the process.  More sugar turns into more alcohol, so there’s a probable solution.

California always produced a lot of high-impact wines; 14.5% is not unusual.  But wines north of 15% are more common, and those from areas such as Paso Robles venture into the 16% to 17% range.  Even Bordeaux wines that weighed in at 12.5% for decades are now creeping up into the 14% level.

This situation does create a problem for people going wine tasting.  If each bottle contains a higher percentage of alcohol and tasters consume the same amount as they did in the past, they’re taking on more of an intoxicant.  Here are some tips for dealing with the increased alcohol when visiting wineries.

• Ask to see the label of the bottle being served.  This is a good idea anyway, since there’s a lot of information on a label.  One such bit of data is the alcohol level.  Don’t rely on the server to tell you; they usually don’t know.  One problem is that the amount of alcohol is often printed in a teeny-weeny font, and it can be anywhere on the bottle, front or back.  It’s hard to be unobtrusive when looking forward to it.
• Calibrate intake based on the amount of alcohol.  For a particularly big boomer (we’re looking at you, David Coffaro) maybe have two sips of each wine instead of three.  Or if you’re there for, say, the Cabernet Sauvignon it might make sense to skip the Pinot Noir that the winery is not particularly known for.
• Choose wineries to visit with the amount of alcohol in mind.  If the plan is to visit a few places that specialize in Zinfandel, for example, it’s clear that there will be big alcohol involved.  That grape is so sweet anyway that wines made from it are usually quite potent.  So maybe another winery ought to be one that specializes in sparkling wines, which generally are lower in alcohol, in the 12% range or even lower. 
• No, white wines are not lighter than reds.  Plenty of Chardonnays pack a punch.  There’s a Chardonnay from Lewis Cellars, for example, that weighs in at 14.7%.  So white wine lovers have to be just as careful as those who prefer a meaty Merlot.

We love wine.  We love tasting it, drinking it with meals, talking about it, reading about it and writing about it.  But we can’t overlook the fact that wine is a product that contains alcohol.  So when people go wine tasting, they need to be aware of the effect that the alcohol is having and will have on them.

Photo courtesy of Metro Parent.

Here are some tips that can help wine tasters to avoid excess when they are visiting wineries.

• Know your capacity and limit the number of wineries you visit in a day accordingly..  Before the era of seated tastings, visitors could step up to a tasting room bar and sample only one or two wines that they were interested in.  Now, especially with the higher cost of wine tasting, each winery tends to serve more.  Take that into account in choosing your destinations and keeping the number within a reasonable range.
• Sip, don’t drink.  There is probably no more important advice to wine tasters than this.  If you are wine tasting, you only need a sip or two to know what a wine is like and if it’s for you. Oh, there’s still wine in the glass?  Pour it out.  That’s what those buckets are for.  Professional wine people don’t even swallow; they put some in their mouths, taste it and spit it out.  They have to, because they taste so many in a single session.  Learn from the pros: You’re there to taste, not drink. 
• Share a tasting.  A good way to limit your intake without cutting into your tasting pleasure is to share the wine.  The server will not mind you asking just for one glass even if you are two people, saying that you will share the tasting.  After all, you are going wine tasting not wine drinking.  Believe us, no one will care that you are being prudent and you will appreciate your time in Wine Country all the more.
• Consider in-town tasting.  There are excellent locales for wine tasting (such as Santa Barbara, Montepulciano or Los Olivos) where you can visit a tasting room, walk to the next and all the nexts after that, finally walking back to your hotel.  You can slacken your inhibitions a bit because you won’t be driving.  Of course, a day in town followed by a drive back home doesn’t work.
• Let someone else drive.  If, in an honest analysis, you realize that almost any amount of wine is going to impact you too adversely to drive, plan in advance not to get behind the wheel.  Maybe there’s someone in your party who won’t taste and can be the chauffeur.  Or you could take a tour.  In lots of places, you can call for an Uber or you can hire a car and a driver for the day.  Just don’t be a risk to yourself and others around you.