Get the most out of your cellar door visits with our top tips
Wine tasting is such a great experience to head out to cellar doors in wine regions to taste the day away with a group of friends, on a romantic date, girls’ weekend… the list is endless. Going into wine tastings, sometimes people feel like they’ll be judged for not knowing about the wine making process or the tasting notes.
Rest assured, you absolutely have nothing to worry about and to make you feel more at ease, our number one tip to take away from this blog post is to always ask questions during your tasting! By asking genuine questions you show the wine maker or staff at the cellar door that you have a genuine interest in getting to know their product.
Not only does this start conversation with the wine maker or cellar door staff, but it’s a great opportunity to find out the vineyard and what it has to offer. You’ll often end up chatting about what you look for in a wine, what you veer away from and this often will create an opportunity for the winemaker to show you more wine varieties that are better suited to your palate. You might also get to try a new variety that you like that you otherwise wouldn’t have tried.
A cellar door may charge a tasting fee or may waive this if wine is purchased, this is completely normal and to be honest we are always happy to support wine regions and our wine producers in whatever way we can.
But let’s get into our tips to get you on your way...
Do some research for the day and plan, plan, plan...
Whichever wine region you do go to, make sure to plan your day and suss out what cellar doors you’d like to visit. We recommend checking out cellar doors you aren’t familiar with to venture out of your comfort zone!
While you’re in your planning zone, keep in mind the timing you’ll stay at each tasting and try not to rush them. A tasting will generally take between 45 minutes to an hour so make sure you factor this in for your day movements or for getting any transport.
Choosing wines to taste
Generally, there will be a tasting menu available with a mixture of varieties to taste and the cellar door staff will talk you through the tasting notes. You’ll usually start with the lighter bodied, white wines and move to rosé and then red varieties, again the sequence of this is to compliment the experience.
We would always recommend giving new varieties a go and getting out of your comfort zone! If you do arrive at a tasting and there is no tasting menu be sure to start up a conversation with the cellar door staff so they can get you started on trying some new varieties.
The spit bucket (Spittoon)
Spit wine you say? Are we crazy? It is very acceptable to spit the wine out during a tasting, it doesn’t automatically imply that you don't like the taste of the wine. You can actually taste a wine without swallowing it, so it is completely ok to use a spittoon during a tasting, just be graceful with it!
Once you have sipped and swirled the wine in your mouth, pick up the spit bucket and discretely lean across to spit into it. You might also pour remaining wine from a tasting glass into the spittoon as well. This is totally fine to do and no cellar staff will blink twice (as long as you remember to be graceful). You might be going to 4-6 cellar doors in a day which might become a blurry experience by the end if you weren’t to use the spittoon.
Be respectful but enjoy the experience
Cellar door staff will more than likely always know you’ve got a day of tastings planned, chances are you might be starting to mix up all the wines you’ve tried and starting to feel some of the effects of those wines you’ve had through the day!
Always remember to be respectful and not get too rowdy, you’re there to discover the wines so remember to have water through the day and take the time to listen to the cellar door staff when they’re explaining the wines to you.
Just to tie this one out, my last comment is to be polite if you don’t like the wine. After all wine is subjective. The style of wine you like may not be the same style I enjoy and vice versa. As humans we are built with loads of taste buds, some people are extremely sensitive to different tastes. Not to mention wine making is an art and every bottle has had human input to create a well-balanced drop. If the wine isn’t doing any favours for you, politely pour it into the spittoon.
Always get permission to walk through the vineyard
The vineyards are so magical to walk through, not to mention the insta-worthy pics you can get at sunset but let’s be real, a vineyard is technically like walking through a business’s back office. Some of the vines across Australia’s wine regions are very old and are vulnerable to any bacteria you might bring on your shoes or clothes. Unless you are getting a tour by the winery, it’s ideal to not enter the vineyard unless you have permission.
Think about your outfit for the day
Sounds a little bizarre, but you should definitely give some thought to this. Firstly, and most important, when you’re tasting wine all day my tip is to wear darker colours and no white. Simple - you’ll thank us later.
Also consider sleeves, loose tops or jumpers, if you are leaning you don’t want to tipple a glass of wine over your outfit (if this happens hopefully you’ve listened to above mentioned and at least no one will notice on your dark clothes).
Generally casual shoes or small high heels are ok for tasting but keep in mind you might have some walking so always go with something comfy.
Last of all, for the ladies mostly, hold back on perfumes when you’re tasting wine. It can interfere with the aromas when you’re trying to assess in a wine. You might think you’re getting delightful aromas of rose and berries and it could just be your perfume taking over!
Now you’ve got the basics down pat you’ll be on your way to exploring the Australian wine regions! These are our top tips but after all just enjoy the experience and the company of friends and family through the cellar doors! It’s an amazing experience to discover new wines so take it as it comes and soon enough, you’ll be a seasoned wine taster.
Cheers!
