The Tasting Room Only Winery – What Do You Miss?

I’m totally amazed at the number of tasting-room-only wineries that have set up shop in the Napa Valley. I’m not talking about a wine bar, but a pure tasting room where visitors can come in and taste small amounts of wine just as you would at a real winery. In the town of Napa there is Ceja, Stonehedge, Rocca, Gustavo Thrace, Mason Cellars, and a few others that represent several small boutique wineries.

If a winery is located off the beaten path were hoards of tourists are unlikely to travel, a tasting room in the downtown area is a good option. The same can be said for many of the “new breed” of wineries that do not have “brick & mortar” businesses. They do not own any vineyards or winemaking equipment. They source their grapes and custom crush. The tasting room in town makes the most sense to showcase their wines.

For the visitor the advantage is convenience. The visitor can walk and visit several tasting rooms within a relatively short distance and not have to drive. Why not walk out of your hotel or B&B and spend the day leisurely strolling along without worrying about who will be the designated driver or about spending all that cash to hire a limo.

The town of Napa has devised a coupon card called “Taste Napa Downtown.” For $20 you can taste at each tasting room for 10 cents. How many wines and how big a glass varies at each winery. In addition, if you buy a bottle of wine from one of these tasting rooms and bring it to one of the sponsoring Napa restaurants, the corkage fee is waived.

So if you park yourself in Napa and stroll the 14 different tasting rooms, what do you miss? Well, first and foremost, the amazing beauty of the Napa Valley. Driving from Napa to Calistoga at any time of the year is not to be missed. The hills and vineyards are special and give peace of mind and tranquility. The majority of visitors that come to the Napa Valley want to get the sense and feel of a real winery. We love to walk or picnic in the vineyards. We want the chance to smell fermenting wine, catch a peak of a bottling line, or walk through a room full of oak barrels, or even get the chance to taste a barrel sample or meet the winemaker. Don’t miss out on all this, as an old friend of mine used to say, “Be there or be square.” The working winery in the Napa Valley is the place to be.