Fifteen years ago, most winery visits would feature a quick flight of four to six wines, with maybe a few crackers on hand, ostensibly to cleanse the palate. Travelers would rove from winery to winery, often hitting five or more in a single day. For wineries, the revenue generated from tasting fees — if they were even charged — mattered less than bottle sales and wine club memberships.
Yet over time, many wine drinkers have tired of such a simple, same-y experience, and have begun demanding more and more from wineries. Whether from the reservation policies and social distancing mandated by early Covid protocols, or just an ever-escalating pricing structure at the most in-demand wineries and regions, the old way of doing things has never seemed more dated.
These days, tasting wine isn’t enough. When it comes to trying to bring in potential wine tourists, a tasting room, a few pours, and a perfunctory cheese and charcuterie board is woefully behind the times. With tasting room visitation on the rise according to Silicon Valley Bank’s most recent direct-to-consumer report, wineries ignore those demands at their own peril. Now, many travelers want intricate pairings, or even a full-fledged restaurant, and can often expect to spend hours at a given winery, perhaps only visiting one or two per day. Indeed, many of these experiences seem carefully designed to keep guests on the property as long as possible, all in hopes of generating not just a momentary sale, but a lasting relationship with a customer.
A big shift
As is often the case, Napa Valley has helped inform this seismic shift in wine hospitality. As prices for tastings grow higher and higher, the guest experience at many Napa wineries has shifted toward one more reminiscent of fine dining than of sampling a few bottles. While reservations were becoming more and more a part of the landscape before the pandemic, the requirements imposed by Covid regulations have become fully codified in the subsequent years, with set times and, in many cases, prepaid experiences replacing a more casual, drop-in atmosphere.
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