Poll: Wine Tasting Fees

How Much Would You Pay For a Wine Tasting?

The Scene: a nicely appointed tasting room in Sonoma, open to the public.

The Wine: five or six wines (reds & whites) to sample, priced between $30 and $80.

assume the wine is of good quality, standard 1.5 - 2.0 oz. pours, person serving the wine is knowledgeable about the product and wine in general, and the tasting fee is waived with wine purchase.

how much are you comfortable paying for this experience?

Do you get your tasting fee refunded with a specific purchase amount?!?!?

for this poll, let’s say the fee is waived with any bottle purchase.

Although I have no experience tasting in the region, I’m really not averse to paying to keep the cellar door idea worthwhile for producers.

In Italy most would never dream of charging, nor would accept an offer of such. Buying something is a welcome validation of what they’re doing, though they do appreciate the restrictions inherent in modern air travel. Oddly the only place I’ve ever been pressured to buy, was a famous Vino Nobile producer who charged for the tasting!

One or two Italian producers though have asked for bizarrely high tasting fees for a tasting, one I recall in Illasi (Valpolicella) and another recently in Bubbio (remarkable, as this is not a famous wine region at all). The former did explain it as he employed someone (perhaps with English language skills?) and so had to pay them. I understood his reasoning, but a tough sell for my 3 fellow travellers to shell out €25 a head for a tasting (especially when better producers were doing it for free).

An Aussie producer (Voyager) had a cool approach - standard wines were free to taste, whilst the reserve bottlings attracted a fee.

regards
Ian

This used to be the approach at Beringer in Napa 15 years ago. I don’t know if it still is. I thought that was very reasonable. Keep the riff raff downstairs drinking the swill while letting those of us who were serious go upstairs to drink the good stuff and pay for it, which I was happy to do.

I’ll pay if they don’t know me and I am not a regular customer. I would not expect to pay if I go to a place where I have been buying regularly, and I have never been asked to. I waffled between $10 and $15 and chose $10, but I would pay $15 is it was a wine I was interested in.

I don’t like the idea since the whole tasting experience is essentially for customer relations and to help build a customer base - why should I have to pay for the privilege? That said, I recognize that having a fee may help keep those away who taste solely to get wasted - particularly in places like California (and even with a fee, there are plenty of those people). For some reason, most of the old world doesn’t charge and doesn’t have that problem.

One of those philosophically divisive issues for WB’s, I think.

Personally, if the tasting isn’t waived with purchase, i won’t be a customer. And I’m spite-my face stubborn about it too! Drove past an absolutely beautiful estate in Sebastapol a couple weeks ago and thought to myself, “nice place, too bad they’re dead to me.”

I went for the $25+ option. For me it would be rare not to buy at least a bottle, if only as a courtesy. But in this scenario where the wines are good quality, I’d presume a higher posted fee would result in a smaller crowd of more serious wine folks. This would result in a better tasting room experience.

My brain spewed, “15 dollars,” but I’d likely spring for the 20.

In Italy most would never dream of charging, nor would accept an offer of such.

That’s because they’re not Napa and Sonoma. Don’t forget, Napa created the idea of wine tourism, which still barely exists in many places. So you have busloads of people showing up, bachelorette parties showing up, and people planning their vacations to “do wine country”. The wineries would go broke if they poured everything for nothing.

Nothing. I’ll let Anton pay my way

No problema!

After 6 2 oz. pours, I’d be in the bag!

that’s an avatar win, by the way, nice one!

I prefer this type of arrangement when visiting a winery I’ve never been to. I will gladly pay a fee if I don’t want to buy the wine, but on the other hand, don’t want to pay the fee if I choose to buy.

I have visited many places that only gave a refund for3 bottles or 2. I simply don’t go back. So much wine, so little time.

Public tasting - fee - serves the tourist / bachelor party crowd

Private appointment - free - for the people who are truly tasting to see if they want to buy, this is a sales opportunity. the customer shouldn’t have to pay for this…

I kind of like paying a fee of some sort, so I don’t feel like I’ve done something wrong if I don’t want to buy the wines (whether because I don’t want them, or don’t have room in luggage to take them home, or for whatever other reason) or join the wine club. And I think some wineries don’t want to charge them, because they want you to feel obligated instead. It’s kind of the opposite of what you think the two sides might want.

I think many tasting rooms in more frequently touristed areas charge fees and figure out the price as a way to regulate traffic. If you have a nice tasting room with good wines on the main drag in Napa and don’t charge anything, you’re probably going to get overrun with visitors.

I’m more than happy to pay a fee to do a tasting if it means I get to see the better wines of a producers portfolio.

I voted for $15, but I would “pay” more if I knew in advance that I probably would like the wines and would buy at least one bottle, thus getting the fee waived. If I know absolutely nothing about the wines but want to try them, I’m certainly comfortable paying $10-$15 with the understanding that that is the price of my personal education.

Bruce

Imagine hitting six of your wineries in one day - $150 to taste a few wines - what a deal…

I like the idea of charging minimal $5-$10 - which they would get back with purchase. I also like the idea of charging more for reserves.