A winery visit is one of wine’s great pleasures: the barrels, the views, the pours straight from the source. It also comes with a small etiquette code that nobody hands you at the gate. None of it is snobbery; almost all of it exists so that you, the host and the wine all have a better afternoon. Here is the code, decoded.
Before You Go
Book ahead. The romantic image of wandering into a chateau unannounced mostly ends at a locked gate. Small estates are working farms; a reservation gets you a host with time for you, and at famous names it is often the only way in.
Plan around a designated driver or a tour bus; wine country roads and tasting flights do not mix.
Skip the perfume and aftershave. A tasting room runs on smell, and one strong fragrance can flatten the aromas for the whole group. This is the single most appreciated courtesy in the book.
Eat breakfast. Six pours on an empty stomach is how a lovely day goes sideways by noon.
In the Tasting Room
- Hold the glass by the stem, keeping warm hands off the bowl. It also keeps the glass clean for judging colour.
- Taste in the order poured. Hosts sequence flights light to full for good reason.
- Spit or dump freely. The spittoon is not an insult to the wine; it is the mark of someone pacing a full day. Professionals spit everything, and no host is offended by an emptied glass.
- Ask questions. “What do you love about this vintage?” opens more doors than any display of knowledge. The person pouring often made, or grew up with, the wine, and a curious guest is their favourite kind.
- Keep the phone polite. Photos of labels are universal and expected; loud calls mid-pour are not.
Run each pour through the quick 5 S method, or the fuller WSET Level 2 tasting sheet if you like structure, and if a wine truly is not for you, quietly use the dump bucket, no review required. Practise on the blind tasting trainer before the trip and you will notice far more in each pour.
Money, Buying and Leaving Well
Tasting fees are now standard almost everywhere and often credited against purchases. You are never obliged to buy, but at a small family estate that spent an hour with you, a bottle or two is the graceful thank-you, and usually a wine you will never see in a shop at home. In the US a tip for an exceptional host is a kind touch; in most of Europe it is simply not the custom.
If you fall for something, buy it there: cellar-door exclusives are real, and our guide to flying home with wine covers getting the haul back intact. Planning the wider route? Start with a first wine trip to Europe or the tasting valleys of Napa and Sonoma.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have to spit at a wine tasting?
You never have to, but you are always allowed, and at multi-winery days it is the professional move. Spittoons exist so you can taste twenty wines and still think straight by the fifth cellar door. Nobody who works in wine will ever judge you for using one.
Should you tip at a winery tasting?
In the US, a modest tip for a great host is appreciated though not always expected, especially if the fee was waived. In most of Europe tipping is not customary at cellar doors; buying a bottle or two is the traditional thank-you everywhere.
Do you have to buy wine at a tasting?
There is no obligation, and paid tastings owe nobody anything more. That said, at small family estates that host you generously, walking out with a bottle is the courteous close, and it is usually wine you cannot find at home anyway.
Explore with Sommo
The wines you meet at a cellar door are the easiest ones to lose forever. Scan each label with Sommo as you taste, jot a quick note in the journal between pours, and mark the region on your wine map before you leave the car park. Months later, when someone asks about that perfect afternoon, you will have more than a blurry photo of a barrel.
Download Sommo free and turn every visit into a page of your wine story.
