GUEST OPINION: Time for tasting rooms to re-evaluate their purpose

<p>Tasting room hours roll over into cocktail hours (“Setting limits on tasting,” April 12), busloads of rowdy bachelorettes (or other party animals) appropriate tasting rooms and the county threatens action .<TH>.<TH>. </p><p>As hospitality professionals, perhaps we should review and renew and reiterate our business model. What differentiates a tasting room from a wine bar?</p><p>What is a tasting room? Short answer: A forum, a venue in which to present our wares to potential customers. Compare, contrast the wines flavor and character; learn about our product. Try it, like it, buy it.</p><p>Longer answer: A face for the winery; a personality; an experience and a relationship that will inspire long-term loyalty and affection for our products.</p><p>Better answer: We are ambassadors, educators and tour guides for California, Sonoma County and, in a greater sense, the culture and mystique of wine itself. In a culture that often views alcohol consumption as a zero-sum game (either absolute abstinence or Saturday-night-binge-drink-'til-you're-stupid excess) we offer a glimpse of a culture of moderate, consistent, thoughtful consumption.</p><p>We educate (and if that sounds a bit dry, just think how much fun the homework is); not just in terms of how wine is grown and made but also its historic and cultural significance and its ability to enhance and enrich a meal.</p><p>Unlike mass-produced beverages, wine invites the consumer to pay attention; pay attention to flavor, texture, aroma; the uniqueness of each wine as expressed by the combination of site, varietal, vintage and producer. Unlike manufactured beverages, no two wines are alike.</p><p>The esthetics of wine invite the consumer to take time and pay attention to what one eats, as well; not just grab-and-go-to-fill-the-void and not the all-you-can-eat (steaks-as-big-as-your-head) model but thoughtful, deliberate preparation of quality, esthetically pleasing foods. We offer a glimpse of a lifestyle where time is devoted to coming together at the table with family and friends.</p><p>People come from all over the country and the world to learn about this unique commodity that we produce and partake of the way of life that it enhances.</p><p>Our responsibilities as hospitality professionals: We encourage moderation; we emphasize the difference between tasting and drinking.</p><p>We encourage guests to share tastes; sip and dump; we provide opaque plastic cups for those brave enough to sip and spit (explaining that this isn't wasting; it's tasting). We encourage guests to pace themselves and drink water between tastes. We communicate how, at the winery, the staff sips and spits. We communicate how, when we are tasting for pleasure we sip and dump. We assure that, at the end of the day, when we open a bottle of wine to share we are drinking it (we're regular people after all).</p><p>There is a difference between tasting and drinking. We emphasize to our staffs that serving alcohol to an inebriated guest (whether the individual is driving or not) is illegal and irresponsible.</p><p>How do busloads of rowdy partiers (bachelorettes or not) fit into this tasting model and how do they affect the experience and enjoyment of our other guests? Not well and significantly, respectively.</p><p>What do we want our business model to be? Wine bar? Wedding/Event/Party/venue? All-you-can-drink-buffet? If we are trying to be all things to all people, do we dilute the experience that sets us apart and attracts visitors from throughout the world? Let's re-evaluate our focus on our mission and business model.</p><p><i>Alan Wastell, a Sonoma resident, is tasting room manager at Charles Creek Vineyard in Sonoma.</p>