What to Expect When Winery Tasting Rooms Reopen

As I write this in late April we don't yet know when tasting rooms will be allowed to reopen or exactly what the rules will be for wine tasting. So some of this is guesswork. What you can expect is for things to be different.

You won't be seeing this again for awhile

You might be chomping at the bit to get back out and do some of your favorite activities like wine tasting. One thing that may be different for you is that you'll have to plan ahead.

The six foot distancing rule will have a large impact on tasting rooms and restaurants. For tasting rooms I'm guessing the tasting bar is out and table service is in. The only way for a bar to work is if you somehow have it set up to keep people apart and I don't see a good way to control that. Also, using the tasting bar can put the guests within less than six feet of the server much of the time. So I expect, where possible, tasting will be at table side. For very small tasting rooms they may only be able to allow one couple in at a time. This means there will be less capacity so expect most, if not all, to be appointment-only to control the flow of people.

Do not bring your children. I see no way to control the six foot distance rule if there are kids running around. Maybe some wineries will have a way to manage this with their layout. This info should be on their website.

If you haven't done wine tasting by appointment before you will want to check the websites of wineries you plan on visiting and set up an appointment. This might be don't via an online reservation system similar to what hotels do, it could be via a phone call, or email. Sure, most like the ease of an online reservation, but not every small winery will have the means to do this. Each winery will have their own rules around what happens if you don't show up on time.

The six foot distancing rule means less capacity so many wineries may be difficult to get into. This will depend on the number of visitors. I don't expect a lot of out of the area folks flying in, but there could be a lot of Bay Area traffic for the Sonoma/Napa wineries.

I expect you'll see disposable menus and maybe disposable drinking cups instead of wine glasses. I don't know if food or even water will be available. Wine may all be pre-poured when you get there.  They may be credit card only. Don't expect a lot of interaction with the tasting room staff. They can be masked, but you can't, of course.

The key here is to plan ahead. Don't expect to just walk into a tasting room. If you do and there's room they may accommodate you, but you never know.

Everybody loves going out to a wine country restaurant while in the area, but they will also be operating at lower capacity so you'll probably want advance reservations.

If you wait until the last minute to plan you may be disappointed. Again, this will depend on the number of travelers once things open up.