It’s been interesting watching the metamorphosis of the tasting room. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, tasting rooms were few and far between. About the only one most people would remember was at the Italian Swiss Colony in lovely downtown Asti. Wines offered were state-of-the-art “beverage wines,” “pop wines” or “cheap drunks”—take your choice what you’d like to call them. Remember all of those lovely wines like Spinada, Tyrolia, wrapped Tipo Chianti bottles, Silver Satin, Thunderbird, Annie Green Springs and Bartles & James wine coolers?
Back then, Gallo and ISC pretty much dominated the entire wine market, and the term “wino” was frequently used when referring to someone who enjoyed wine—if you could see through the paper bag and what was in it. Probably one of the only things many people would remember was the free postcards and postage available to all visitors. As a sidelight, Beringer (aka Fosters from Australia) has just recently reopened the ole Asti tasting room but without the great little old winemaker: me.
Back in those days, many wineries felt a tasting room was too much work and not worth the effort. I remember the Gallo philosophy about not giving away anything you could sell. There weren’t even any signs on its facilities, and the Modesto winery looked more like a Standard Oil refinery. (Actually, it still does, except the office, which looks more like the Taj Mahal.) Also at the beginning of the ’70s, Napa Valley already had a great head start with tasting rooms while Sonoma County was still making bulk wine and sold in tankers, not bottles.
Slowly, Sonoma began to mature with the planting of better varietals and then the making of premium wines. Mendocino and Lake counties are currently going through those growing pains. Yes, there are a lot of tasting rooms up there, but consistent high quality and the fame that goes with it has been alluding them. Both tend to still be export counties. Mendocino wineries also don’t seem to enter many judgings throughout the country, so that also makes it difficult to gauge quality against its peers. (Anderson Valley doesn’t count in that last statement.)
So the tasting room started out as a stepchild and has gradually worked its way up to being the tail that wags the dog. Especially with smaller wineries that can’t really afford to market through the traditional three-tier system, a direct-to-consumer method is mandatory. Tasting rooms today are major profit centers for many wineries. Not only do they let you sell your wine at full retail, instead of one-third or half off through normal channels, but you can sell other high mark-up items that make many tasting rooms look like a Macy’s (or, in some cases, Target). Sebastiani’s redone tasting room looks like Sur la Table.
I’ve definitely noticed local tasting rooms do sell high-quality products and charge a high-quality price.
It now seems the latest and newest fad is to not only have a tasting room, but two. Downtown Healdsburg is rapidly becoming wall-to-wall tasting rooms. One reason is the profit margins let them pay the ungodly high rents that most other tourist-driven businesses can’t afford. It also lets them reach even more tourists and, some say, reduces congestion on the back roads—which I really doubt. If you’re only interested in the wine and not the great beauty our area offers, then why not stay in town and crawl from one to the next?
It’s also interesting to note that, for wineries producing 5,000 cases or less, more than 60 percent of sales are through tasting rooms. For the state industry overall, it’s about 42 percent. (Outside of California, both numbers are much higher.) It’s all well and good that wineries sell a lot of wine through tasting rooms, but I still maintain the utmost purpose of a tasting room is to introduce people to your wine, show them a great time and then hope they remember you the next time they go wine shopping at their local retailer.
Selling your wine at full retail is one big profit incentive, but today we’re seeing a newer twist—charging for tasting. In an area where high-quality wine in itself is the draw, charging is one thing—but in new areas, where you’re trying to get initial recognition, charging generally doesn’t work. It can cut down on the complete freeloaders (or tire kickers, as they’re called), but it certainly adds to the till.
I do question the wisdom, or the reason, for not deducting the tasting fee if a purchase is made. Most charges run between $3 to $5 for two to six tastings, and sometimes $10 or more for a special reserve tasting that may also be served with matching finger foods.
It’s starting to sound more and more like a restaurant, if you ask me. What’s next: reservations required? Oh wait, some places already do that, too.
Seems to me it’s sometimes better just to sit on your own porch and do your homework. Snacks are on the house.
