Trying Not To Be Rude in Tasting Rooms

wspohn · September 25, 2021, 3:40pm

They take a fairly long time as they want to show you around the whole place, mind you I had arranged the special visit at Margaux the week before we were there when I shamelessly grabbed the chance to talk to Corinne Mentzelopoulos at a Commanderie de Bordeaux dinner the week before. She very kindly remembered to contact the chateau to arrange it for me while she was still on hre North American tour.

The Mouton visit was arranged through their Canadian agent. I would just do one a day next time - you don’t want to be pressed for time for that sort of thing.

A call to the local agent for a winery can result in a much better experience with behind the scenes content than just showing up at the chateau.

B_Davies · September 25, 2021, 5:38pm

Maybe I can help here. I have friends who work or have worked in tasting rooms from tiny family wineries in Virginia to cult Napa wineries to big brands and it’s preeeetty much the same story regardless. The number one most important thing you need to work in a tasting room is the ability to talk to strangers for 8 hours straight. The number two most important thing you need to work in a tasting room is the ability to sell wine, and in most contexts, that does not mean pouring people wine and then leaving them alone to contemplate it.

One person who worked at a tasting room in Napa Valley (small production, expensive wines) said that the majority of her sales came from charming the pants off rich Texan men. One person who poured at a large winery on Highway 29 said that if people seemed like they wanted to be left alone, if he didn’t try to engage with them they were much less likely to buy bottles than if he did. Someone who worked at a tasting room on weekends in the Sierra Foothills said that most of the people visiting were not oenophiles but wanted a fun day out while visiting the area, and that many people seemed to actively want to be told what they were smelling and tasting, so that they didn’t have to worry about offering an opinion that they were afraid might be “wrong”.

Being part of this (quite large) community here on WB can sometimes obscure the fact that most people who buy and drink wine - and visit wineries - are not mega wine nerds like us. Tasting room experiences are, by and large, not designed to cater to this market. There are exceptions, of course. Some of the winemakers/owners on this board may be examples of that. One of the most exciting tastings I went to recently was at Peay, tasting with the assistant winemaker in their cellar in Cloverdale, nerding out over wine chemistry and geology. If you want that kind of experience, you can try to prioritize finding it when you are going tasting.

If what you really want when you go tasting is to be left alone with the wines, you can say that, politely. Tasting room staff have usually seen a pretty broad spectrum of personalities come through and won’t be too surprised, and if you’re kind and pleasant then that already gives you an edge over a lot of other visitors. I did have a particularly gregarious host at a tasting recently at a large-ish winery. I said something along the lines of: “thank you so much for taking care of us today. If it’s alright with you, what we’d like to do is spend some time alone with the wines to get to know them and talk amongst ourselves, but then afterwards reconvene with you to ask some questions, hear some more about specific wines, and talk about what we might like to take home with us - how does that sound?” They were super nice and generally left us to our own devices except to occasionally check in. Mentioning up front that you are interested in buying - even if you really don’t like the wines and ultimately don’t buy anything - can help to put your host’s mind at ease, especially when their job description contains the term “drive sales” fifteen times. Oh, and tip well, especially if you don’t buy any wines.

Agree,

Some people have the style of handing people the bottle so it’s a psychological thing because many people won’t want to put it back and they’ll end up buying. I am more laid back and rather the customer have a pleasant time and not feel pressured at all. As far as tasting goes this happens everywhere and is often a sign that the pourer knows the wine. If you go to a wine tasting set up in a grocery store there is very little expectation that they know anything about it. This happens to us all the time in retail when an importer/distributor brings wine for us to try to. TBH the less knowledgeable wine people tend to say less.

wspohn · September 25, 2021, 5:43pm

It is particularly annoying when the servers argue with you - which is why I prefer not to offer them any opinions or rise to the bait when they ask what you think other than maybe to offer “interesting”.

I’ve had them argue about whether bottle was corked (the person arguing, obviously unable to detect TCA), and about overly sweet unbalanced wine that they thought were superb. Usually if they probe after my ‘interesting’ I might say something like “I can see how this would appeal to some people”

GregT · September 25, 2021, 5:48pm

Bill - you seem to have the unfortunate experience of finding the worst staff in the business. Out of many dozens of visits around the world, only once did I have someone argue with me many many years ago at Beaulieau Vineyards when they served me a corked wine and insisted that it was just fine because it had just been opened. This would have been back in the late 1980s.

But wine tourism is a thing now. You know that. Every wine region is trying to increase the tourist side of things these days, so it’s a bit like going to Disneyland. The staff is there to make the common experience satisfactory, not to accommodate the singular guest with specific preferences.

That said, people are people and perhaps I’m lucky but I have never encountered anyone anywhere who insisted on badgering me while they served me. If someone tells me I’ll pick up strawberry notes and whatever, I’ll just wink at them and tell them I think I can figure it out. Or sometimes, if I’m feeling chatty, I’ll ask them questions about their involvement and interest in the wine industry. And if you don’t like the questions, ask them something random, like whether they’re picking up some of the remaining yeast metabolites or megastigmatrienones. Works like a charm! At least to get rid of the tasting room server. Unfortunately, sometimes they’ll give you a blank look and get the wine maker or owner and then you’ll have to deal with them, so it can be a dangerous move.

B_Davies · September 25, 2021, 5:50pm

I think you’re in the right on this one. This is entirely the reason why they pour out a sample before the full glass. The server should’ve have apologized and opened a new bottle.

B_Davies · September 25, 2021, 5:51pm

Tell them you’re trying to get your sense of taste back after getting cov…(cough) and then they’ll leave you alone. xD

Jim_Stewart · September 25, 2021, 9:15pm

This thread led me to revisit a few tasting room scenes in the movie Sideways including the “are you chewing gum one?”.

B_Davies · September 25, 2021, 10:09pm

Did you also end up drinking the spit bucket? haha

John_Glas · September 26, 2021, 1:23am

I have no problem with a tasting room employee offering some information on what is in a wine and some data on how it was made, but when I start tasting it and they continue to prattle on along the lines of "You will/should taste/ smell this or that’ I want to tell them to STF up and let me taste, and that what they may think (or more likely have been told to recite or may have read) is of less than zero interest to me, as I will be forming my own opinions if and when they shut up and give me the peace to do so.

I understand that their next question after your taste may well be “How did you like the wine?” and when I didn’t, I have tried saying just that but they never, never leave well enough alone and always start grilling you about what you didn’t like about it and why, and I feel like saying that my impressions of a wine are my own business and that I don’t intend to waste any more time discussing it.

Makes me sound like some sort of curmudgeon (which may in fact be true) but I resent basically having to pass the inquisition. What are other people’s experience with tasting room personnel? Do they all take a course in customer annoyance, or are they just trying to be helpful because no one has told them not to do that?

Just tell them you are on Berserkers and if they don’t know the site then tell them to shut up!

John_Glas · September 26, 2021, 1:25am

When I go to tasting rooms I always email the owner or wine maker in advance so I don’t have to deal with this nonsense.