Tasting Room Fees

[Kcwhippet]

I can understand both points of view. To many people the tasting room fees are a real pain, particularly those people who are more than casually interested in wine, such as many on this and other wine boards. A lot of us visit wineries a lot and all those fees add up, especially if one doesn't find an interesting bottle to purchase. On the other hand, it does keep down the hordes who are intent on racing around the wine country trying to visit as many wineries as possible and drinking as much free wine as they can. We've all seen those types. However, I believe the wineries have brought this condition upon themselves. They've built these marvelous palaces as tourist destinations to attract the consumers, but they've given birth to a monster. Now there are lots of people who descend on the wineries and many don't buy a thing - they just drink the wine and move on to the next winery. For my own case, I've been able to get around the fees. I work in a wine shop and I present my business card which waives the fee. However, for the past few years, Judy and I have been going to small wineries not open to the public, which actually are open if you call first and they can work you into their schedule. We're meeting some wonderful people, finding some fabulous wines and we rarely seem to get away without buying at least a half case - usually more. Anyway, the wineries are suffering from their own success at attracting people and now they have to be able to recoup some of their costs, even the larger wineries. Building a tasting facility, staffing it and pouring a lot of wines can be an expensive proposition.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 08-07-2003).]