What People Look for When Going Wine Tasting

Wine County visitation is big business, really big business, as in billions of dollars spent in wineries, hotels, restaurants, etc. in Sonoma and Napa. A key element of this is how visitors select what wineries to visit. Much of this info comes from a wine marketing article, How Consumers Choose Wine Tasting Experiences.

Items are listed in order of importance for the surveyed group. This was not a group of first-time, casual wine drinking visitors, but more experienced wine folks. I would think the only difference for a first-timer might be with prices being a bit more important.

Location of the Winery

When looking for new wineries to visit people often start by returning to a favorite spot, such as Napa Valley. They want to find something new in a place they are familiar with. Or they might branch out to Sonoma Valley because it's nearby. Visitors might choose a specific area based on the distance from their home/airport/hotel, convenience to other wineries (some areas are more spread out than others), crowds and traffic congestion, or other non-wine attractions.

Experiences Offered

Reasons for choosing a specific winery might be for drop-in tasting, reserved seated tastings, cellar, cave, or vineyard tours, views, picnics, food, and special events such as music. Many want drop-in tastings because it's informal and they aren't tied to a schedule. Others may want something special, less hectic, and more personal attention. In my experience those that aren't planning on buying or haven't done much wine tasting before are more likely to go for the drop-in and things like cave tours. This is why many wineries have seated, scheduled tastings. They know the dollars spent per visitor is much higher.

Wine Varietals

On the list, but not ranked especially high, is what kind of wines are offered. For instance, some people might be on a Pinot Noir tasting tour. Sometimes a certain region is known for a particular kind of wine and that will bring people there for that reason. Like the Russian River Valley is known for Pinot Noir. I do see that many folks go into any winery expecting to see Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon as those are the two most popular wines and the ones they are familiar with.

Price

This isn't a key factor for most except, I expect, when you get into really super-premium pricing. Most really high-end wineries like this are by appointment only and I'm not going to make an appointment at a winery where I can't afford their products. Some people do call around or search the Internet for the cheapest tasting fees. I don't know if many research who has the cheapest wines.


Recommendations

Do your homework based on what is important to you!
Location: Stick to one area per day. That is, spend the day in Dry Creek Valley and don't try to get over to Napa in the middle of the day. Too much time driving.
Experiences: If you've been wine tasting before you should try a seated, reserve tasting at least once. Pick a winery of interest and get an appointment at the start of your day then spend the rest of the day with drop-ins. It's easier to make that appointment if it's at 11 am than at 3:30 pm -- that's why you start with the appointment. Don't show up a half hour late!
Varietals: If you do some research you can find what wine areas specialize in certain kinds of wines. That doesn't mean that's all they'll make. Napa is a lot more than Cab; Russian River a  lot more than Pinot.
Prices: Check potential winery's websites to see if their tasting and bottle prices fit with your budget. While you're there check their hours, pet and kid policies, etc.