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Below are a couple excerpts on Tasting Rooms.

What Sells in the Tasting Rooms
Wines & Vines, August, 2003 by Jane Firstenfeld

On a brilliant Sunday morning, a dozen well-dressed adults belly up to a long bar and chat convivially as clean-cut servers hustle to keep their glasses damp. The room is architecturally striking, with slate floors and cathedral ceiling; trestle tables display colorful arrays of earthenware and crystal; preppy apparel shares floor space with crates of wine. Except for the bar, it could be a Union Street boutique in San Francisco, but this is, in fact, the tasting room at Kunde Estate Winery & Vineyards in Kenwood, Sonoma County.

There was a time in living memory that winery tasting rooms were simply that--places where, perhaps after an obligatory tour and almost always gratis, winery staff poured and described samples of their specialties and gently persuaded their guests to purchase a bottle or a case. If anything besides wine was offered for sale, it was probably for practical and perhaps immediate use: corkscrews and wine glasses being the most obvious examples. A relaxing drive in the country, the wine, the process of making it, a possible conversation with someone involved in that process, these were the attractions at all but the grandest Napa Valley operations when I began visiting wineries in the 1970s.

Well, just as winemaking in the United States has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, tasting rooms have evolved, some of them taking on blockbuster proportions as they serve voracious flocks of seasonal tourists. And just as the number of wineries has proliferated, so has the variety of wares available in their tasting rooms.

Tasting Rooms Author: Alan Boehmer
Published on: April 29, 1999

Wine tasting rooms can be one of life’s most pleasurable experiences. It can also be exasperating. The key to success is to think out what kind of experience you wish to have and visit only wineries which meet your criteria.

The California Central Coast, Sierra Foothills, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Mendocino regions are much like Napa Valley was back in the 60s, but with a little different twist. Today, wine tasting rooms in Napa is big business. You will contend with such unpleasantness as tour buses unloading scores of visitors at many of the wineries of your choice. Tasting rooms which only pour wines you have little interest in. Tasting room personnel and tour guides who know only what’s on their memorized (or unmemorized) scripts. And everywhere, parking problems and seemingly endless waiting.

Other wine regions are beginning to take on the dimension of big business also, but slowly. The more capitalized wineries have opened lavish tasting rooms which are beginning to attract tour buses and the general public. Don’t expect such wineries to cast their free (or otherwise) pearls before unappreciative palates.
There are different styles of wine tasting rooms. We’re going to be brave (or foolish) enough to offer, in upcoming articles, specific suggestions for several California wine regions in the hope that we can assist you in planning a successful and delightful wine tasting rooms experience. But first, some basics:

STYLES OF WINE TASTING ROOMS

Guided Winery Tasting Rooms
Very common in Napa Valley, guided winery tasting rooms are rarely found elsewhere. If you’ve never taken one, you should certainly do it once. Once is quite enough, because the basic process of winemaking is the same everywhere. God, however, is in the details. Is the juice gravity fed, pumped, or siphoned? Is the fermenting cap pumped over or punched down? These are among the myriad variations to basic procedures. You will want to learn the basic procedures first.

“Class Act” Tasting Rooms
Wineries can be classy places. Beautiful landscaping, tasteful architectural appointments, spreading oaks and potted annuals and grapevines everywhere. Picnic tables set out in scenic settings. And all ameliorated by our splended California weather. Bring your own picnic and enjoy it with a bottle of lovely wine purchased on the premises. We’ll tell you the nicest wineries for this kind of experience.

T asting Rooms for Serious Wine Lovers
You’re going for the wine, not tasting room ambience. You want to learn about those details in which God might be found. You want to taste cutting edge wines, splendid wines, experimental wines, barrel samples. You want to talk with knowledgeable winery employees, or even the winemaker himself (herself). This kind of tour is altogether possible, but you must plan your visits carefully and in some cases, call ahead. Again, we’ll offer specific suggestions in upcoming articles.

Prearranged Personal Visits
Perhaps the pinnacle of the wine tasting rooms experience will be found in prearranged personal visits with individual winemakers or winery personnel. At this level commercial interests give way to the sharing of knowledge. Most winery people are enthusiastic about the special things they do to distinguish their wines and are eager to share every aspect of their procedure with truly interested wine lovers who might become fans (and repeat customers) of their winery.

WINE TASTING ROOMS ETIQUETTE
1. In every case, a tasting rooms party should never leave a winery without making a purchase, if the opportunity exists. Wineries are not non-profit public service organizations. Purchases should be appropriate to the level of “bother.”
2. When at a tasting room counter, be sensitive to the needs of others around you. It’s very easy to engage tasting room personnel in conversation, oblivious to other tasters waiting for attention.
3. If you want to taste wines not offered, don’t hesitate to ask; but be sure to make a purchase.
4. Don’t think twice about using the dump bucket or spitting out into a floor receptacle. Winery staff do it constantly. The whole point of wine tasting is to experience the wine, not to become inebriated and no winery personnel will be offended by such practices.
5. Not strictly a matter of etiquette, but important: Rinse out your tasting glass when going from red to white or from sweet to dry, or at any other time you think appropriate. For example, if you’ve been tasting dry reds and are moving to a white dessert wine, a rinse is definitely in order.

The articles ahead will focus specifically on wine tasting rooms in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and the Sierra Foothills regions — California’s new cutting edge.

Tasting Room Treasures You Don't Want to Miss
by Sandra Silfven

If you want to try the modern Michigan wines people are talking about – pinot gris, pinot blanc, barrel-fermented chardonnay, gewurztraminer, pinot noir and more – you have to go to the source, the winery tasting rooms.
Just like in other wine-growing regions, Michigan wineries prefer to sell their better, limited production wines, along with offbeat experimental lots, in their own retail shops.

That's where you go for ice wines, aged champagnes and quirky things like Bowers Harbor's Otis wine, a chardonnay named after the yellow lab who romps around the grounds.

From the rural farm atmosphere at Lemon Creek to the rustic-chic of Shady Lane and the grandness of Chateau Chantal, tasting rooms are an extension of each vintner's personality. That includes the humor at Larry Mawby's place; the homespun-warmth of Good Harbor; and respect for the sheer beauty of Michigan lake country at Bel Lago.

Visiting a tasting room can be a thrill, such as shaking the hand of Madonna's father, Tony Ciccone, at Ciccone Vineyards, or an adventure – driving the winding narrow road to Willow or exploring the grounds at Leelanau Cellars. And then there's unmatched old-world quaintness of the venerable Warner, and Peninsula Cellars, located in an old one-room schoolhouse.

There's an art to visiting a tasting room, says James Van Der Kolk, marketing manager of Fenn Valley Vineyards on the southwest side of the state. "Don't go in with a preconceived notion of what you are going to find," he says. "Tell the winemaker or clerk whether you like dry wines or sweet. Usually you will get what those people consider the best."

Here's a sample of some of the treasures you don't want to miss.
Chateau Grand Traverse:
Your eyes may glaze over at all the choices, but don't lose sight of the special half-bottles of ice wine, made from frozen grapes, picked in the month of December. And look for Edelzwicker, made of equal blends of gewurztraminer, riesling and pinot gris, and the new vintage of Whole Cluster Riesling, a specialty of Sean O'Keefe, son of founder Ed O'Keefe. Ask for the best Dry Riesling, and taste the Gamay Reserve. This is also a good spot to load up on dried Michigan cherries.

St. Julian:
Home base is in Paw Paw, but there are also tasting rooms in Frankenmuth and Union Pier, and the big news is that the Monroe store has moved to within arm's reach of Cabela's outfitter's store in Dundee. Ask to taste the new fruit infusion dessert wines, made by blending fruit juices with brandy made from the same fruit. New flavors are pear and raspberry. Consider this: It takes two-and-a-half pounds of grapes to make a bottle of wine, but 25 pounds of fruit to make a single half bottle of infusion. Also look for the new Serious Rose, made from Cabernet Franc, and the new vintage of St. Julian's big red, El Nino.

Bowers Harbor:
You'll find everything from unique wine-related gifts (dried flowers from Bowers' own wildflower garden and locally made grapevine art) to Spiced Cherry Wine. This novelty, popular in the fall, is served warm to release sweet scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and fruit peel. Pinot Grigio and Unwooded Chardonnay are longtime specialties, but new releases include the touted Estate Chardonnay and a Sweet Reserve Riesling. Also new: Radial Flyer red wagons to haul your purchase to the car, and a Red Wagon Red wine to match.

Fenn Valley:
The top-selling wine is Harmony White, but don't pass up the much-awarded Capriccio, a nonvintage blend of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc; Late Harvest Vignoles, which you better snap up before it's phased out; and my favorite, the dry, European-like Chardonel, made from a clone of chardonnay and seyval. There's a different featured fruit wine every year – it's Raspberry in 2001.

Heart of the Vineyard:
Owner Rick Moersch is the ultimate passionate winemaker, who brought in a Frenchman to help him make sparkling wine when he worked at another Michigan winery. His Artesia Brut should be high on your list, but you may be surprised to find a Mersault-like Chardonnay, a dry Riesling, a dry Scheurebe, a dry Mueller-Thurgau and a very respectable Merlot. The round barn that dominates the landscape was brought to Michigan from Indiana in boards, and reassembled by Amish carpenters. You can book it for weddings.

Tabor Hill:
Everybody likes the soft, fruity, semi-sweet Classic Demi-Sec, but the first wine to reach for is the Grand Mark champagne. The famous French-style Brut is made in small quantities and vanishes when it's available. Don't pass up the unfamiliar Traminette, a clone of gewurztraminer with a delightful melon bouquet and a spicy finish. The Lake Michigan Shore Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are sold exclusively at the tasting room. Also save time to enjoy the highly praised restaurant with windows overlooking the vineyard. It's worth the drive for that alone.

Black Star Farms:
Smart shoppers grab bottles of Arcturos Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc, and Leorie Merlot, and then sample them at the tasting bar. Next, they head to the Port-style dessert wines, which include one deluxe line flavored with pears with a real, whole pear in the bottle. The unfruited bottles, in cherry, pear and apricot flavors, are less expensive, just as good. Leelanau Cheese Company, which makes fresh raclette, is located right in the tasting room.

Raftshol Vineyard:
How can you not love a tasting room where the eccentric owner says his tasting room treasure is the collage of souvenirs from country singer Chely Wright (hit song: "Single White Female") framed on the wall? "Last July, she was playing at the casino, walked in wearing short shorts, had a cell phone in her ear, and wanted to taste Merlot," says Raftshol. "'Umm, my goodness,' she said, after a sip. 'I've been wasting my money on that Chateau Latour.'" Raftshol's reds are treasures, but don't miss his inexpensive Chardonnay and Quaffer wines.
Sandra Silfven, a copy editor at The Detroit News, writes about wine and is a columnist for the Wine Report at Detroit News Online (http://detnews.com/wine).