5 Tips for Making the Most of a Wine-Tasting Tour
A wine-tasting tour can be a fun and educational experience for wine lovers of all levels of expertise. It’s a great way to explore different wines and learn about the winemaking process.
Whether you’re a novice who is just beginning to explore the world of wine or an experienced connoisseur, there’s always something new to learn on a wine tour.
Here are five tips to help you make the most of your next wine-tasting trip.
1. Do Your Research
Before you book a tour, do some research on the different wineries in the area. Read reviews, check out their websites, and see if they offer anything that interests you.
Is it a guided tour? Is it private or will you be with a large group?
Which wines will you be tasting? Do you get any discounts on bottle purchases?
You’ll also want to have an idea of what you want to get out of the experience. Are you looking to learn about a specific type of wine? Or are you simply interested in trying as many different wines as possible? Knowing your goals ahead of time will help you choose the right tour and get the most out of the experience.
2. Ask Lots of Questions
It’s not often you get ‘in-person’ access to the real experts, the people that actually make wine. These are the people that control every stage of the winemaking process and they understand wine more than any critic says they do.
What’s more, they’re usually more than happy to talk ‘winemaking details’. It’s their passion and what they ‘live’ from day to day. So don’t be shy, ask away!
3. Keep a ‘Loose’ Schedule
What I mean by that is, don’t pack in too many wine tastings in one day. Leave plenty of time between visiting each winery.
You’ll meet lots of interesting people and find yourself in some really beautiful settings so you don’t want to be rushing between places making up time. One of the great things about wine is that it happens to be made in really beautiful areas! Sure, Tuscany has Chianti but it’s got castles too!
So take some drinking your wine and take as long as you want to talk to the winemakers, farmers, or tour guides.
4. Take Notes
So you’ve been to four wineries today and tasted twenty wines, what do you remember about the Pinot Noir at the third winery? Probably not much!
Both the really good wines and the really bad ones will probably stand out, but what about the ones that had a characteristic that you’d love to explore more of?
This is why it’s important to take good wine notes. Just basic notes, I’m not talking about time-intensive reviews here. Just basic descriptions of wine characteristics like the appearance, aroma, flavor, structure, finish, and a score or rating.
You can find great wine-tasting note templates online that can be printed for your convenience. They offer a standardized format that allows you to easily compare the wines that you tasted on the tour.
5. Don’t Drink Every Glass
Although it may seem counterintuitive, spitting out the wine after each taste is one of the best ways to ensure you enjoy your tour (and don’t end up too drunk!).
Spitting may seem rude, but it’s actually expected (and encouraged!) at wine tastings. Spitting out the wine after taking a sip will help prevent you from getting too intoxicated and will also allow you to taste more wines without feeling overwhelmed.
So swish the wine around in your mouth before spitting it into a bucket. This will help release all the flavors and aromas so that you can fully enjoy each glass without getting too buzzed in the process.
I’m not advocating doing this with every wine (come on, we need to drink some wine!) but it really is the sensible play when it comes to tasting lots of wine.
Top Tip: You can always circle back to the wines you really enjoyed near the end of the tasting. This time have a proper drink and end the event on a high! This also allows you to double-check your first judgment.
To be honest there’s not really a right or a wrong way of doing wine-tasting tours
Ultimately, just make sure you stay safe, have fun, and don’t spend too much money!
I’ll end with an important bonus tip and that’s to make sure your transportation to and from each winery is sorted ahead of time. Some tastings will provide their own minibusses but if not it might be a good idea to enquire about taxi availability in advance.