{"id":729,"date":"2017-09-27T19:48:44","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T19:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=729"},"modified":"2017-10-01T19:32:08","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T19:32:08","slug":"going-back-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=729","title":{"rendered":"Going Back, Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We have in the past offered tips on tasting <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=411\">wines you may never have heard of<\/a>.\u00a0 But what about wines, and wineries for that matter, that you know very well?\u00a0 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?\u00a0 In fact, why go back at all?<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0 Even if you are familiar with a producer\u2019s wines, you don\u2019t know <em>these<\/em> wines.\u00a0 So just updating your understanding of a favorite winery is reason enough.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0 Have you ever seen a movie more than once?\u00a0 Re-read a book?\u00a0 Ordered the same meal at a restaurant?\u00a0 It isn\u2019t that one time was better than another but each experience was different.\u00a0 The same applies to wine tasting.<\/p>\n<p>We recently took this concept a bit far.\u00a0 We had some non-wine related reasons to be in Napa Valley and didn\u2019t have time for serious tasting.\u00a0 In fact, we barely had time for tasting at all.\u00a0 But the road home took us past a favorite winery, <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=491\">Etude<\/a>, so we decided just to stop for a quick visit before going along our way.\u00a0 We were there for several weekends in a row.\u00a0 Aside from a slight \u201cyou again?\u201d look from the staff, we were warmly welcomed each time.\u00a0 In fact, we feel as though the welcome was even warmer as the weeks passed.\u00a0 We were showing them that we really love their wines.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/etude3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-761 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/etude3-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"539\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/etude3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/etude3.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 539px) 100vw, 539px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Etude Winery&#8217;s tasting room<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So if you are going back to a favorite winery, here are a few ideas to make the experience even more worthwhile.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Get to know the servers.<\/strong>\u00a0 If you are going to see Susan or Jeannie or Angel over and over, it\u2019s only polite to learn their names and greet them as people, not just a means to getting wine in your glass.\u00a0 Any good wine tasting experience should include a sense that your patronage is appreciated; that works both ways.\u00a0 And there might just be a little something unusual that was left, say, from a trade tasting that you might be invited to try.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t bother tasting everything.<\/strong>\u00a0 It is quite likely that there are one or two wines in particular that bring you back over and over.\u00a0 Focus on those.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In our repeated visits to Etude, Lucie went right for the Heirloom Pinot Noir (their top end) and Steve only sampled the Cabernet Sauvignons.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Try something different.<\/strong>\u00a0 Despite what we just said, it\u2019s worthwhile sipping something you didn\u2019t care that much on previous visits.\u00a0 Maybe it was just a bad harvest.\u00a0 It happens.\u00a0 Or maybe it was what you had for lunch the last time that ruined your palate for a specific wine. \u00a0That happens, too.\u00a0 If you still don\u2019t like it, then your taste buds are confirmed and little is lost.\u00a0 But if you do enjoy it this time, you\u2019ve expanded your appreciation of this winery\u2019s production.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Revisit the wineries where you are a member of their <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=487&amp;action=edit\">wine club<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/strong>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).\u00a0 You\u2019re not a member?\u00a0 Then join right on the spot.\u00a0 If this winery makes wines that bring you back time after time, you will probably enjoy having their wines shipped to your home.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a lifetime commitment, and you can quit after a few deliveries.\u00a0 (It\u2019s poor form to quit immediately.)\u00a0 But we have found that cutting the cord with true favorites is hard to do, and so we remain members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Revisiting a well-liked winery is sort of like having a favorite pub.\u00a0 \u201cWelcome back, pal.\u00a0 What\u2019ll ya have?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have in the past offered tips on tasting wines you may never have heard of.\u00a0 But what about wines, and wineries for that matter, that you know very well?\u00a0 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 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=729\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Going Back, Again<\/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\/729"}],"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=729"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":763,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}