{"id":859,"date":"2018-01-30T22:59:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T22:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=859"},"modified":"2018-01-30T22:59:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T22:59:25","slug":"rainy-day-tasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=859","title":{"rendered":"Rainy Day Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the great things about touring in Wine Country is that you can generally expect lovely weather, if a bit hot.\u00a0 Making great wine requires plentiful sunshine, so that\u2019s what you\u2019re likely to get when you go wine tasting.\u00a0 However, into every vineyard a little rain must fall; after all, the grapes need water too.\u00a0 So if you wake up to find it pouring and the weatherman says it\u2019s likely to continue all day, what are you to do?\u00a0 You\u2019ve come to taste wine and perhaps today is the only day you have to indulge yourself.\u00a0 You could just give up and go home, but why?\u00a0 Pretty much all tasting rooms are indoors, after all.\u00a0 (Iron Horse Winery in Sebastopol in Sonoma County, is the maker of some pretty good sparkling wines and is the exception.\u00a0 Their tasting \u201croom\u201d is outdoors, so maybe it\u2019s not a super choice for a rainy day.)<\/p>\n<p>So if you\u2019re facing a day of fine wine mixed with rainwater, here are a few things to keep in mind.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Drive extra safely.<\/strong>\u00a0 Aside from the usual caution you should exercise while mixing alcohol and driving, you should take extra care.\u00a0 Many Wine Country roads are rather windy, narrow and have no guard rails.\u00a0 Even if you are exercising due care, the person driving that on-coming or overtaking car may not be doing the same thing. Or maybe this is the day to hire a driver.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-860\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/ridge_rain-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"667\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/ridge_rain-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/ridge_rain-768x576.jpg 768w, http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/ridge_rain-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Old Zinfandel vines at\u00a0Ridge Lytton Springs winery.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Enjoy the special majesty of the vineyards.<\/strong>\u00a0 Of course, it\u2019s best to see the vineyards just before harvest, with the leafy vines hanging with ripe fruit.\u00a0 But maybe you picked an overcast day in February because that\u2019s when you happened to be there.\u00a0 We think that bare vines under gray skies have an allure of their own, especially stumpy, non-trellised old Zinfandel, as shown in the photo above.\u00a0 You may not get this sight very often, so enjoy it while you have it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take advantage of slow days in the tasting rooms.\u00a0 <\/strong>Rainy days don\u2019t generally attract big crowds, so you get the chance to spend more time with knowledgeable servers.\u00a0 Not only do you get their undivided (well, less divided) attention, but they may be just a little more inclined to find something special to pour for you.\u00a0 Anyone who ventures out in bad weather is pretty likely to be a dedicated wine taster, so it\u2019s the servers\u2019 pleasure to reward you just for showing up.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bring an umbrella.\u00a0 <\/strong>Sure, you knew that, but maybe you don\u2019t have one in your luggage.\u00a0 Most hotels have a supply and they are happy to loan you one.\u00a0 (Be considerate and return it when you\u2019re finished with it.)\u00a0 Plan B might be to look for an umbrella in your first tasting room\u2019s gift shop, emblazoned with the logo of that winery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, the message is to make the most of a bad day and enjoy your tastings anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the great things about touring in Wine Country is that you can generally expect lovely weather, if a bit hot.\u00a0 Making great wine requires plentiful sunshine, so that\u2019s what you\u2019re likely to get when you go wine tasting.\u00a0 However, into every vineyard a little rain must fall; after all, the grapes need water &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=859\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Rainy Day Tasting<\/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\/859"}],"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=859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}