I tip any tasting room staff member that provides excellent service and can answer my asinine questions. Owner/winemaker I wouldn’t consider tipping.
Fees weren’t comped? Yikes. That’s steep. I would not have tipped either.
At the prices charged at almost all of the Napa places, the idea of tipping is the equivalent of saying, “Thank you, sir, may I have another?“
We went to two wineries this weekend in the Yakima Valley. At one, we were the only ones there and the winemaker, a very nice young man, was pouring. There was no charge for the tasting, but we each bought a few bottles (which is customary for me when there’s no tasting fee). Then, upon swiping my card on the iPad setup thingy, he turns the display around for my fingertip signature and there’s the first screen: how much to time. It was based on the price of the bottles and I absentmindedly hit 15%. I just tipped the dude $10 for selling us wine. I don’t blame him, but I just don’t see the need to tip someone for selling me something (which, for me, is what a tasting is designed to do).
I tip the winery owners too. Have you seen the country club dues in the Napa area?