Love this thread, and especially Steve’s reply…
No way you’d get me tipping at a tasting room, no matter how many “hints” were dropped.
My aversion to tipping is not anti-American. I don’t like it when tour guides here come with outstretched hands at the end either.
Best regards,
Alex R.
Does anyone know when tipping became the norm in the food service industry? It seems like this slippery slope of the tip being expected in many other situations occurred during the past 20 years or so. And what defines the occupation in which the tip is considered OK? Is it annual income, difficulty of the work, expectation of service beyond the usual job description, the feeling that the employer is not sufficiently compensating the employee? These are all very subjective measures. I am a primary care physician. Other primary care providers would probably agree that our workdays are very demanding, draining and unsustainable in many cases. We perform this work in the setting of annual reduction in reimbursements, increased patient loads, and exploding risk of litigation. My specialty colleagues make double or triple what I make. My family of four lives in a modest 1600 sq foot home that would be considered a starter home by many (though we’d probably be able to afford a better house if I didn’t spend so much on Burgundy). We are middle class in today’s society.
Would it be acceptable for me to put a tip jar in my exam room? I’m being facetious, of course. My point being there is really no objective measure of when it’s appropriate to tip. So, while I have an opinion, or rather a gut feeling, on the appropriateness of a tip jar in a tasting room, it really doesn’t matter. In the end, the consumer will decide whether the practice will become the norm.
It probably became more normalized beyond the restaurant/server role with the advent of coffee house ubiquity for the tip jar along with credit/debit cards becoming a widespread form of payment for things.
If you wanted to put a tip jar in your exam room. I’d be cool with it.
First off, I’m bummed you didn’t reach out Jeff - would have been nice to pour for you . . .
As a winery owner and an owner of a tasting room, I find this thread interesting as well. Though I don’t have a tip jar when I work there, others who work for me do and regularly accept tips. Why? Because they do a service, they are good at what they do, and if people want to compensate them for what they do, they will. I don’t believe there is any obligation to do so, but ‘tipping’ has become pretty normal in any and all service industries . . .
As others have said, there are all types of experiences folks can have when they go to tasting rooms. You have some pourers who look at it just like any other job and really don’t care; but in many other cases, you have servers who really know their stuff and take care of the customers well. I pay my staff pretty well, but no one is going to become rich manning a tasting room - including the owner 
I also do not do what other tasting rooms do - I do not add ‘bonuses’ for each wine club member that you sign up. Perhaps it’s bad business on my end, but I just don’t like the ‘pressure’ I see that other places put on customers so I’m not going to do it myself.
I worked my room yesterday because it was the birthday of the woman who normally works for me. I did not have a tip jar out, but I had several people leave tips for me. I did not ask for them and told them it wasn’t necessary - but they felt compelled to do so. I will not turn the money away - instead, it goes into a communal envelope used for coffee money, etc.
Curious to hear others’ takes on this . . .
Cheers!
And by the way, it’s interesting to hear about the tasting fee differential between SB County and Paso - never knew . . .
I’m pretty much past my time just dropping into tasting rooms hoping to find domestic wines that can wedge their way into my packed cellar. If tipping became de rigueur when tasting appointments/tours were undertaken I would comply.
That being said I am basically in a service industry and tips/gifts are pretty rare. Most feel I make enough money already and they’re correct. Real gratitude is always nice though.
Maybe this is a California thing? I can’t recall seeing one tip jar at the several dozen tasting rooms I visited in Willamette Valley a couple of years ago. Or maybe this is a newer trend?
Larry, I thought about contacting you but this was an improvised couple of days in each area, so we just stopped in to tasting rooms and didn’t make any appointments. We had a great time and found a lot of great wine, so we’ll definitely be back soon.
By the way, the woman pouring in your place was wonderful to chat with and was quite different from most we experienced in Los Olivos. And it goes without saying that we loved your wines.
… and in 2015 the employees get paid less the amount of % of all the tips granted by ustomers …
Do you provide entertainment with the exam? If so, I would totally tip my physician if he could make me laugh during my physical…
Bruce
As for my own tipping in tasting rooms, since I don’t view the people working there as substitute bartenders, I don’t generally tip them. If they were to go above and beyond the usual, that would be different. But like most folks here, I’m there to taste and not get to “get my drink on.”
Bruce
I’m reminded of a quote of Dwight’s from The Office:
Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.
Probably whenever “tipped wages” became law, $2.33 per hour in WI:
Interesting snippet from the wiki link:
As of May 2012, the average hourly wage – including tips – for a restaurant employee in the United States that received tip income was $11.82
Would love to see how this # averages out per establishment definition (fine dining vs. non-fine dining).
Pretty much this, other than the fact our laws basically make tipping a necessity when dining out.
Thinking aloud here.
Is it possible that this arrangement might mean the fancy wines ‘evaporate’ more quickly in such tasting rooms? Human nature is what it is, and anytime there is a variable pay element, it is natural to assume that staff will do what they need to in order to maximise their pay - even if that is to the detriment of their employers.
regards
Ian
I first saw tip jars in Temecula tasting rooms on a visit about 2-1/2 years ago–four of four TRs had one. About six months later I saw no tip jars in 5 TRs in Paso Robles. Now it sounds like they are becoming common. I did see one in a Santa Ynez TR about three weeks ago.
I would not be surprised if the north-bound trend continued and they become pervasive everywhere–at least for “walk in” tasting rooms.
It really does’t bother me.
Yeah, but in many cases they DON’T.
Does the phrase wage stagnation ring a bell? Income inequality? The 1%?? But feel free to direct your well-practiced ire to the minimum wage earners in this country; I’ll save my indignation for the numerous larger offenses against the public good.
Can’t see myself tipping in a tasting room, but can’t really see myself in a tasting room these days. I make sure to have cash on hand to avoid the ever present tip line when using a credit card.
Why would tipping be dependant on whether or not there’s a fee? That doesn’t make sense to me.
I seriously doubt that there’s any tasting room staff making minimum wage. If it happens, I know those cases would be unusual. Maybe in Virginia…
Sometimes I tip a small amount. I usually tip, and more substantially, if the person pouring has demonstrated enough commitment to their job as to be able to provide me with some interesting information about their wines and/or the region. That doesn’t usually happen. When it does, it’s usually when I have made an appointment, in which case I’m not talking to regular tasting room staff, I’m definitely buying wine, and I don’t feel the need to tip. I never feel obligated to tip tasting room staff, and if I were made to feel obligated, I wouldn’t be happy. I probably wouldn’t return.
In California, tasting room staff must be paid at least the state minimum wage, which is higher than the federal minimum wage. The state does not allow tipped employees to be paid less than the minimum wage, ie the minimum wage is the same for tipped and non-tipped employees. It’s the same in Oregon and Washington, as well as several other states.
In the states that allow tipped employees to be paid a lower minimum wage, the employer is required to ensure that wage plus tips is at least as great as the minimum wage. Since most people don’t tip in tasting rooms, this means it would be difficult for an employer to pay tasting room staff much less than minimum wage in those states.
-Al
The only tip I’ll give in a tasting room is, “Don’t be so cheap with the pours.”