When a winery or vintner states that tasting is “by appointment only,” GO! For years this turned me off because I assumed the winemaker pretentious. Growing up in an open-door policy lifestyle, I didn’t understand why they were closed to the public when all the other wineries were open. I changed my mind in the spring of 2000.
My husband and I were on a quest to taste ALL the wines of the California Central Coast before we moved to Germany. We had only a couple of weeks to hit all the wineries, including those that were “by appointment only.”
We discovered these to be quaint mom & pop set ups with a small inventory. We called on a winemaker located on the outskirts of Paso Robles. His wife was most friendly when we called and set a time within the hour. Just enough time for her to bake us a loaf of bread to enjoy with our wine.
When we got there her husband, a man in his 70s greeted us on the driveway. He was a retired engineer from Italy turned winemaker. After showing my husband his prized Alfa Romeo we were invited into his home to enjoy the fresh baked bread, wine and listen to stories from Italy to America. It was their story that brought the flavors of the wine to perfection.
I never looked at my watch. It didn’t matter that we had many more wineries on our list. By Appointment Only: “Wherever you are, be there.”
If you could schedule an appointment for somewhere special, where would that be?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
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I enjoyed this post, especially because I have had several experiences like that as well. One in Italy and one off a side road in Delaware!
ReplyDeleteMoreover, I went to a small goat cheese farm once in France and they were selling fresh cheese out of a refrigerated vending machine! It was so delicous and fresh and the same wrinkled old lady came out of the house to great us as well!