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<\/a>There are several reasons why this is reprehensible, even if it is necessary for the financial health of the wineries. For one thing, there doesn\u2019t seem to be any correlation between the cost of the wines being served and the fees charged to taste them. If a bottle of \u201celite\u201d wine costs, for instance, $100 then why does a chance to try four or five small pours \u2013 equivalent to about a glass \u2013 cost $125? We think it\u2019s more a snob effect: Charge a lot and keep out the riff-raff. But they are also keeping out visitors eager to learn about fine wine as well as people with educated taste but more meager pocketbooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those unwilling to pay the big bucks, there are alternatives that provide plenty of interesting wine tasting but don\u2019t require a second mortgage to indulge in them. We term these \u201cvalue\u201d tastings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Take the least expensive option offered in the tasting room<\/strong>.\u00a0 They say you should buy the worst house in the best neighborhood you can afford.\u00a0 The same may apply to wine tasting.\u00a0 For example, Beringer, a winery that we have enjoyed greatly over the years, charges $150 to sample the best of their current and library wines.\u00a0 But they also have tours and tastings that range from as low as $35.\u00a0 You won\u2019t sip the best on the less expensive tastings, but you won\u2019t get plonk either.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Or try the opposite approach<\/strong>. There are occasions where the best house in a lesser neighborhood works just fine. And there are wineries that don\u2019t have the same cachet as the biggest names in the valley but are capable of making some better quality wines. Many of these are only available at the tasting room, so you can take advantage of them while you are there. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Manage your expectations<\/strong>. If you enter the tasting room looking forward to an exceptional wine adventure at a low price, you\u2019re likely to be disappointed. But if you anticipate some good wine served in a pleasant environment by knowledgeable people, you will likely have a good time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Ask a lot of questions<\/strong>. If you are a newbie to wine tasting, the questions will probably be rather elementary, which is just fine. A decent server will use the opportunity to explain some basics about wine making, different varietals and how to get the most pleasure out of a glass of wine. On the other hand, if you have some experience and are interested in gaining knowledge, the server may just discover a little bit of some better wines that just happen to be open and give you some little extras.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the years that we have been involved in wine tasting, there\u2019s one thing we can say for sure: It has gotten a lot more expensive. On our earliest trips, tastings were free and you got to take the glass home with you. These days, the fees for the opportunity to sip top-tier wines can … Continue reading \u201cValue\u201d Tastings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3282"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3292,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions\/3292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Or try the opposite approach<\/strong>. There are occasions where the best house in a lesser neighborhood works just fine. And there are wineries that don\u2019t have the same cachet as the biggest names in the valley but are capable of making some better quality wines. Many of these are only available at the tasting room, so you can take advantage of them while you are there. <\/li>\n\n\n\n