We have in the past offered tips on tasting wines you may never have heard of. But what about wines, and wineries for that matter, that you know very well? If there are particular sectors of Wine Country that you visit repeatedly, how do you get the most from revisiting a winery that you have been so many times before? In fact, why go back at all?
The best answer to these questions is that although you may know a wine well, each year renders a new variation on an old theme. Even if you are familiar with a producer’s wines, you don’t know these wines. So just updating your understanding of a favorite winery is reason enough.
But unless there has been a major renovation or a radical departure in winemaking philosophy, the experience at any given winery is and should be the same, time after time. Have you ever seen a movie more than once? Re-read a book? Ordered the same meal at a restaurant? It isn’t that one time was better than another but each experience was different. The same applies to wine tasting.
We recently took this concept a bit far. We had some non-wine related reasons to be in Napa Valley and didn’t have time for serious tasting. In fact, we barely had time for tasting at all. But the road home took us past a favorite winery, Etude, so we decided just to stop for a quick visit before going along our way. We were there for several weekends in a row. Aside from a slight “you again?” look from the staff, we were warmly welcomed each time. In fact, we feel as though the welcome was even warmer as the weeks passed. We were showing them that we really love their wines.
Etude Winery’s tasting room
So if you are going back to a favorite winery, here are a few ideas to make the experience even more worthwhile.
- Get to know the servers. If you are going to see Susan or Jeannie or Angel over and over, it’s only polite to learn their names and greet them as people, not just a means to getting wine in your glass. Any good wine tasting experience should include a sense that your patronage is appreciated; that works both ways. And there might just be a little something unusual that was left, say, from a trade tasting that you might be invited to try.
- Don’t bother tasting everything. It is quite likely that there are one or two wines in particular that bring you back over and over. Focus on those. If possible, ask if they have older vintages available so that you can accurately compare the wine you remember with the one that they are now releasing. In our repeated visits to Etude, Lucie went right for the Heirloom Pinot Noir (their top end) and Steve only sampled the Cabernet Sauvignons.
- Try something different. Despite what we just said, it’s worthwhile sipping something you didn’t care that much on previous visits. Maybe it was just a bad harvest. It happens. Or maybe it was what you had for lunch the last time that ruined your palate for a specific wine. That happens, too. If you still don’t like it, then your taste buds are confirmed and little is lost. But if you do enjoy it this time, you’ve expanded your appreciation of this winery’s production.
- Revisit the wineries where you are a member of their wine club. In this way, there is no charge for a tasting and they will probably give you refills of your favorite wine (within reason and safety limitations). You’re not a member? Then join right on the spot. If this winery makes wines that bring you back time after time, you will probably enjoy having their wines shipped to your home. It’s not a lifetime commitment, and you can quit after a few deliveries. (It’s poor form to quit immediately.) But we have found that cutting the cord with true favorites is hard to do, and so we remain members.
Revisiting a well-liked winery is sort of like having a favorite pub. “Welcome back, pal. What’ll ya have?”