Family Friendly Tasting Rooms: thoughts?

[Bob_Wood]

Would it have been better if I’d proposed boiling the children in oil?

[Terence_T-Bone_Livingston]

@Bob Wood

Would it have been better if I’d proposed boiling the children in oil?

oh Silly Bob…your grandkids must adore you. Christ, what’d you to the poor kid?

[John_Davis]

@Bob Wood

@Jacki Bessler

So, what do those of you who are buyers think of kids in the tasting room? Are they fine if well-behaved?

Yes, and if they’re not I go postal on the parents.

It shouldn’t be your responsibility to tell the parents. That’s the winery’s responsibility. Then again, I feel for them b/c they don’t want to piss off the parents who are potential customers! Its a double edged sword and I’m glad its not my problem.

John

[Mary_Baker]

@John Davis

It shouldn’t be your responsibility to tell the parents. That’s the winery’s responsibility. Then again, I feel for them b/c they don’t want to piss off the parents who are potential customers! Its a double edged sword and I’m glad its not my problem.

One time … we had a couple with a screaming baby. Said couple would not take Baby outside, where the weather was lovely. The shrieking got so bad that I offered to carry their baby outside, leaving my attendant to work the room. Now the object was to gently imply to the parents that they could do this all by themselves. Baby and I visited the bark of trees, diddled footsies in the grass, petted the dog, petted the cat, threw stones in a bucket, and Baby loved it, no crying. Twenty minutes later the couple came outside, collected Baby and said, “Oh, we had a such a nice time! We’re definitely coming back here!”

[Bob_Wood]

@John Davis

It shouldn’t be your responsibility to tell the parents.

John, you should know by now that I have a penchant for hyperbole.

[Eric_Anderson]

@Mary Baker

@John Davis

It shouldn’t be your responsibility to tell the parents. That’s the winery’s responsibility. Then again, I feel for them b/c they don’t want to piss off the parents who are potential customers! Its a double edged sword and I’m glad its not my problem.

One time … we had a couple with a screaming baby. Said couple would not take Baby outside, where the weather was lovely. The shrieking got so bad that I offered to carry their baby outside, leaving my attendant to work the room. Now the object was to gently imply to the parents that they could do this all by themselves. Baby and I visited the bark of trees, diddled footsies in the grass, petted the dog, petted the cat, threw stones in a bucket, and Baby loved it, no crying. Twenty minutes later the couple came outside, collected Baby and said, “Oh, we had a such a nice time! We’re definitely coming back here!”

Sounds like they worked you pretty good. “Always leave them wanting more,” 'eh?

[Bob_Wood]

@Mary Baker

One time … we had a couple with a screaming baby. Said couple would not take Baby outside, where the weather was lovely. The shrieking got so bad that I offered to carry their baby outside, leaving my attendant to work the room. Now the object was to gently imply to the parents that they could do this all by themselves. Baby and I visited the bark of trees, diddled footsies in the grass, petted the dog, petted the cat, threw stones in a bucket, and Baby loved it, no crying. Twenty minutes later the couple came outside, collected Baby and said, “Oh, we had a such a nice time! We’re definitely coming back here!”

Let’s see . . . what’s the going rate (in bottles) for babysitting these days?

[Sarah_Warner]

@Jacki Bessler

A group of local tasting room managers from around the Willamette Valley gets together every couple of months or so, and a recent discussion was about the impact of making tasting rooms family friendly. Obviously there are both negatives and positives associated with inviting families, and there was some pretty good discussion on both sides of the coin. I thought I’d toss this out there as a topic to see what thoughts folks here might have.

Please, feel free to be direct and honest. I can tell from reading the last couple of days that I’m dealing with some pretty shy and retiring folks here, and it may be hard to tease out your real thoughts on the subject.

[taunt.gif]

When drinking “ADULT BEVERAGES” why would we want kids around?

Say — wasn’t there a tasting room that was going to be built in Napa with a swimming pool for kids to use?

I mean: Booze, glassware, kids, swimming pool? What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

[Paul_Luckin]

i think it depends partially on the tasting room itself, and partially on the “vibe” the winery is trying to convey. if the room is large enough to have chairs or tables away from the bar itself, then there’s a way to accommodate families who bring their children in with them to taste. additionally, if the tasting room in question is traditionally not that crowded, then having kids around is less of concern when trying to gauge potential reactions from other people who might be in the room at the same time.

that said, my issue with kids in the tasting room is this: are the parents watching their children and making sure they are not being disruptive and disturbing other patrons in the room? if so, then i really don’t mind if the kids are there. some people might see that as “bad parenting” but most of the families who come through our tasting room are simply stopping in to stretch their legs and get the kids out of the car for 15 or 20 minutes. typically, they are not the case buyers, and if they choose to buy a bottle or two, all the better for everyone. as long as i’m doing my job with providing them with the best experience possible, then the word-of-mouth exposure should benefit us in the long run.

on the other hand, if their “precious little darling” decides to spill his hot chocolate all over the tasting room floor and the parent gives me a shoulder shrug and goes back to his Cabernet, then i have a more serious issue to deal with. ( this actually happened in the last month and i’m still bitter about it; but, i digress…) this is what i would call “bad parenting” and it is not confined to simply wine tasting, but to any sort of public environment you can think of. i believe that type of thing is way more the exception rather than the rule.

bottom line - as long as the kids are not taking away from anyone else’s experience, and not creating any more work for me or my staff, then come on down and enjoy the show.

[Jacki_Bessler]

@Mary Baker

Twenty minutes later the couple came outside, collected Baby and said, “Oh, we had a such a nice time! We’re definitely coming back here!”

YIKES! And I noticed you didn’t say “…the couple came outside CARRYING A CASE OF WINE…”