So you've finally made it to the Hunter, or Mudgee, or Margaret River, and you are going on a winery crawl to end all winery crawls. You are going to hit the cellar door so hard it won't stop swinging for a week.
Stop!
Winery cellar doors are not simply free tipple spots. Like any retail outlet, they are the shopfront of the manufacturer - in this case the vineyard, or the wine company - and while most are more than happy to go along with the try-before-you-buy rule, you can expect their ready welcome to freeze over if they sense someone is just having a lend of them.
There are just some points of etiquette to remember that will help you to enjoy your cellar door-winery tour, and stay friends with everyone as well.
Firstly remember that even though the showroom of the cellar door looks like a bar serving free drinks, it is not. The expectation is that you will learn about the particular winery's range of wines, and like them enough to want to buy some - at least a bottle, or maybe a lot. Of course if you really do not care for their range, you should not feel bad if you don't make a purchase.
Be prepared to taste the range they have on offer, beginning with lighter whites and progressing to the heavier reds and possibly a dessert wine or even a port. The tastings will be very small, often served in disposable plastic glasses, and you are not expected to finish them and should be offered a spittoon if you don't wish to swallow.
Although spitting may not seem like the best way to enjoy good wine, it makes sense if you are planning to taste at many wineries in an afternoon, and especially if you are driving. Just think about it - supposing each taste is just 20 mls but you enjoy the full range of maybe six or seven wines at one winery. That's 140 mls, or over a glass at each winery. Repeat that several times within a few hours, and not only will you be over the limit, but your appreciation of the fine differences between wines - and wineries - will be affected.
If you've been drinking and you intend to drive then you must stay under the 0.05% limit. This means that men can have two standard drinks in the first hour, and women just one. After that, it's one drink per hour for both men and women. More information on Driving and alcohol...
So supposing you have found a wine that you do enjoy and would like to buy. Obviously if you are laying down a cellar, and it is a wine that will cellar well, you would be wise to buy a case of it. Most wineries have credit facilities, and many will also arrange to have your wine delivered to your home, to avoid you having it bumping around in the boot for the rest of your holidays. Often the delivery fee is minimal - around $10.
If you like several of the wines, many wineries will be happy to put together a mixed case for you, and this can work to your advantage too, as you get a good selection without a huge outlay.
Many people behind the bar at the cellar door are highly trained professionals in their field - wine. So it makes good sense to take notice of what they say regarding their wines - how long to cellar it for, for instance. You can also pick their brains, within reason, on technical points you may not have yet grasped about wine. That way a winery tour becomes further education for you, with expert tuition.
Quite often you will also meet the winery owner or the winemaker, and depending on how busy they are, they will be happy to tell you a little of the history of their vineyard, why they chose to plant certain grape varieties, how they came to produce a particular wine type, and some of the struggles they may have had in reaching their present level of success. This too is invaluable background information which will make your enjoyment of the wines you buy even greater.
You may, by going to the cellar door, even pick up wines that never hit the bottle shop shelves, that are rarer, and some may even be marked down. The winemaker will often be happy to explain why this is so. Occasionally you might find you have paid more at the cellar door than you would have at your corner liquor outlet. Them's the breaks, and you just have to hope that the wine you bought has been more carefully stored.
Which wine you choose to buy is totally dictated by your lifestyle (even down to the cash you can spare to buy more wine) and preferences as far as taste goes. But never buy a lot of a wine if you haven't tasted it. Nor should you buy too much wine unless it has a good long cellaring potential. There are limits (well, for some of us anyway) as to how much of a certain wine you can drink before it (or you) deteriorates.
Once you have bought your wine, if you are carrying it with you on your travels, keep it carefully stored in a cool dry place, away from sunlight. Do not subject it to knocks and bumps. Don't leave bottles in the boot for too long on a hot day.
For most of us, cellar door tasting and purchasing is just another form of tourism - but what a way to do it. It's one where you can enjoy the experience twice over. Once, at the winery, then again at home.
4WD
