Tasting Rooms Vs. Wineries

You’re planning your first wine tasting trip and while doing your research you realize it can be overwhelming choosing where to go to get the most out of the time you have. While looking at websites and maps to plan the trip you discover areas with a ton of tasting rooms all clustered together allowing you to walk from one to the next to maximize the wines you’ll be able to try in a day. Then there are all those vineyards scattered around this area. They’re spread far apart and surrounded by vineyards for miles and miles, requiring you (or your designated driver) to spend some of your time driving from one to the next. How do you know which experience you’ll enjoy most? This is a pretty tough question to answer without knowing you, so let me break each of these wine tasting experiences down so you can decide for yourself.

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TASTING ROOMS

I first got bit by the wine bug after a day bouncing around tasting rooms in Solvang, CA. I was with a small group of friends and the fun of popping in and out of these small little store fronts and filling ourselves with wine all day was a dream. To this day I still love visiting tasting rooms and in many cases the only way you’ll be able to try some wines is at a tasting room. 

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The majority of wines produced in areas like Santa Barbara County and Paso Robles, California are by small independent winemakers who do not own large properties let alone their own vineyard to visit. The tasting room is the place these wineries can showcase and sell their wines in an accessible and comfortable setting at a low cost. They’re going to be smaller, intimate spaces for the most part where you’ll have a good opportunity to engage with the person pouring the wines. This can be a tasting room employee, manager or more often than not the winemaker themselves. Sometimes you might even meet an entire family. The smaller the wine production is, the more likely you’re going to meet the people making it in the tasting room and really get a chance to ask questions and get great answers. Do not let these opportunities pass you by. I learned so much about wine in the early years of exploring by asking questions. I didn’t care how basic or obvious they might have sounded to someone experienced. I wanted answers and I always got them. No one is going to laugh at your question (not to your face) and to really learn the nuance and artistry that goes into wine making. I argue there is no better way than talking to the people making the wine in your glass. 

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A day of visiting tasting rooms is also very convenient, especially if you’re eager to try as many new wines as possible. On average, tasting rooms are open from 11am to 4pm, with some open as early as 10am and open until 5 or 6pm. Since they are almost always located in groups at one location such as Tin City in Paso Robles or Los Olivos in Santa Ynez Valley where you can roughly 50 in walking distance, you can really get around and get your fill. No worrying about driving and drive time between tastings. I highly advise pacing yourself and taking a lunch break though. Trust me from experience, more than 4 tastings in an afternoon and you won’t be remembering what you loved and didn’t and you could easily think the last one of the day was your favorite, buy a ton of bottles and realize weeks later how off your palette was. You will definitely get drunk though, and if that’s the goal, cool by me. Sometimes that’s all we want with our day off. 

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WINERIES

Picture this. You’re sitting on a comfortable chair, a wine glass with a splash of some enticing juice swirling at the bottom, a soft breeze washes by as you enjoy a view of rows and rows of vines reaching for the sky just a few steps away. It’s peaceful and romantic.

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If you’re at a great winery, this is what you’re likely going to get. Maybe with a little less colorful description. Visiting the winery and vineyard where the wine is being grown and processed is its own kind of special. You’ll literally be sharing the space the grapes are grown in and if you’re really focusing you may even be able to connect the smell and taste of the wines to the terroir surrounding you. Approaching a winery will feel more ceremonial. The structure, the surrounding vegetation and vineyards, the walk up to the door, the smells outside and in all add to this unique experience you do not get at a stand alone tasting room. Everything about being at the winery itself among the grapes will enhance your senses and how the wines express themselves in the glass. 

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Depending on the size of the winery, you still might encounter the winemaker, though mostly the person pouring for you will be an employee. The good places do a great job of hiring passionate wine enthusiasts and training them properly to speak to the wines and answer questions nearly as good as the winemaker themself. The not so good, and usually the larger corporate wineries, hire fine people who just aren’t as knowledgeable or passionate about what they are pouring. I visited one such place in Santa Maria and the person pouring for me had never had a single drink of alcohol in her young life, let alone any joy for wine. It was a fine tasting, but I kept to myself and made it a quick visit. The bigger wineries will also attract larger groups, might have restaurants attached adding to the hustle and volume and will have an overall more party vibe suited for bachelorette and birthday parties (hello Temecula). There is a time and a place for these types of wine producing houses, but it's a good reason alone to do your research when picking places to visit. 

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Another special thing about going to the winery is you might be able to book a more elevated and exclusive experience like a food pairing, barrel tasting, tour and sometimes a sit down tasting with the winemaker. You’ll have more options to choose from at the winery than at the tasting room. 

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And lastly, even though you’ll be driving (or being driven) anywhere from 5 to 35 minutes between wineries in most cases, you’ll be driving down windy scenic roads through exceptional wine country scenery, and getting a chance to absorb and discuss where you just came from while getting ready for the next adventure.  

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Look at the above as a guide. There are always exceptions, but for the most part what I have laid out comes from over a decade of wine travel and what I’ve seen and experienced. My advice? Plan a combination of both tasting rooms and vineyard visits to get the best out of your time in wine country. If you’re spending two days, do one at the tasting rooms and the other touring the vineyards. Still not sure how to plan your upcoming trip? That’s kind of why I started this whole thing in the first place. Reach out. We’ll customize your dream wine country vacation. 

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