{"id":1691,"date":"2020-11-30T16:26:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1691"},"modified":"2020-11-30T18:10:55","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T18:10:55","slug":"cold-weather-tasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1691","title":{"rendered":"Cold Weather Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago, Power Tasting ran an article called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=859\">Rainy Day Tasting<\/a>\u201d.\u00a0 It provided tips on how to enjoy yourself while making the best of bad weather.\u00a0 If you should be travelling in wine country when it gets cold, there are some of the same considerations to keep in mind but also a few that are unique to the winter months.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1692 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/napa_winter-300x200.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"651\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/napa_winter-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/napa_winter.png 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 651px) 100vw, 651px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo courtesy of the Napa Valley Register.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Of course, our mental image of Wine Country contains bright blue skies with grapes hanging heavy on the vines.\u00a0 Very few wine making areas are immune to cold weather and many depend on it for various reasons.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=114\">Canadian wineries<\/a> use the freezing cold to make their famous ice wines.\u00a0 In most others, a period of dormancy is the basis for a finer harvest the next summer.<\/p>\n<p>If you are visiting Wine Country from late November through March, here are a few tips to keep in mind.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dress for the weather.<\/strong> Ignore the mental image previously mentioned and bring a heavy coat, gloves and a hat.\u00a0 You probably won\u2019t be sitting outside sipping wine (although there always a few polar bears who like to do just that).\u00a0 But you may have a long walk from your car to a winery\u2019s door and you might want to walk around one of the towns.\u00a0 Be prepared for it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Watch out for icy roads.<\/strong> It does freeze in Wine Country.\u00a0 We well remember a trip to Napa Valley in December where the temperatures descended into the 20\u2019s\u2026during the day.\u00a0 You can be fairly certain that the major thoroughfares will be de-iced, but a lot of the places you\u2019d like to visit are on small, windy roads, sometimes up in the mountains.\u00a0 Keep your eyes open and drive carefully.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be doubly careful about the amount of alcohol you consume.<\/strong> If you do hit an icy patch on a back road, you want to be attentive and quick in your reflexes.\u00a0 Too much alcohol doesn\u2019t help.\u00a0 Remember the name of the game is <em>tasting<\/em>, not <em>drinking<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Find a hotel that features fireplaces&#8230;<\/strong> Many of them do, specifically because they want to attract winter visitors.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing like opening a bottle of local sparkling wine and snuggling with your loved one while you\u2019re in Wine Country.\u00a0 Some hotels have gas units while others have real, working fireplaces.\u00a0 They usually supply you with one of those fake logs, and in the United States you can find more of those \u2013 or real firewood \u2013 in the local pharmacies.\u00a0 Fair warning: those with real fireplaces don\u2019t always have the best ventilation, so be prepared to open a window, even if it\u2019s freezing outside.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Or firepits.<\/strong> There are other hotels that have firepits where you can gather with your loved one and friends outside, despite the cold. \u00a0This is an awfully nice way to spend an evening, too.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add some wine tasting to a ski trip.<\/strong> No, not at the same time.\u00a0 But there are many ski areas that are relatively near to vineyards.\u00a0 For example, the slopes in Bear Valley, CA are not far from the wineries of Amador County.\u00a0 And in Europe, many of the most famous mountains are in the general area of where wine is made.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Have fun tasting wine in the cold, both by taking extra precautions and taking advantage of winter\u2019s special treats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago, Power Tasting ran an article called \u201cRainy Day Tasting\u201d.\u00a0 It provided tips on how to enjoy yourself while making the best of bad weather.\u00a0 If you should be travelling in wine country when it gets cold, there are some of the same considerations to keep in mind but also a few &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1691\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Cold Weather 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":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1691"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1701,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1691\/revisions\/1701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}