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Wine Touring in California — Part 1

© Alan Boehmer

Wine touring 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 touring 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 touring. 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 touring experience. But first, some basics:

STYLES OF WINE TOURS

Guided Winery Tours

Very common in Napa Valley, guided winery tours 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" Tours

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.

Tours 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.