Dear Wineries, It's Time to Rethink the Winery Visit

Close to three decades, countless cellar doors and thousands of wine-loving guests later, here is my take on what makes a truly memorable winery experience.

I've spent close to three decades bringing visitors to wineries in Tuscany, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's this: making great wine and creating a great winery experience are two entirely different skills.

I've visited hundreds of estates, walked through more barrel cellars than I can count, listened to countless explanations of fermentation, and watched thousands of guests discover the world of wine.

I've seen winery visits that were absolutely magical. I've also seen visits that were, well, rather forgettable - even when the wines were great.

And I've often wondered why.

The answer, I believe, is that too many wineries are still approaching wine tourism from the producer's perspective rather than the visitor's.

They focus on explaining what they do, how they do it, and why their wines are special. All perfectly understandable. But sometimes they forget to ask the most important question:

What does the visitor actually want to experience?

Because let's face it: most people don't travel halfway around the world to hear another explanation of alcoholic fermentation.

They come to wine country to discover something beautiful, meet interesting people, taste delicious wines, learn a little, laugh a little and return home with wonderful memories.

And perhaps a few bottles of wine.

So, dear wineries, here are my five cents on how I think the winery visit should evolve.

1. Your Guests Are Not All the Same. Stop Treating Them That Way.

A great winery visit begins before anyone sets foot in the cellar.

Welcome your guests properly. Introduce yourself, mention the name of the estate and where you are geographically. Then ask a few questions.

Where are they from? Is this their first winery visit? Have they visited other wineries during their holiday? What interests them about wine?

These questions are not simply polite conversation. They're valuable information.

Imagine someone on their fourth winery visit in three days. Do they really need to hear another fifteen-minute explanation of how grapes ferment?

Probably not.

But they might love to hear why your family decided to plant a particular grape variety, what makes your vineyard different from the one next door, or why you chose to age one wine in cement rather than oak.

Conversely, someone visiting a winery for the very first time may genuinely appreciate an introduction to the basics.

The point is that a winery visit should be a conversation, not a memorised script.

The best hosts know how to read their audience and adapt accordingly.

Your guests are not all the same

2. Make People Comfortable Before You Try to Impress Them

First, explain how the visit will unfold.

For example:

"First, we'll take a short walk through the vineyards to see how we grow our grapes. Then I'll show you our ageing cellar, where we'll talk a little about how we make our wines. Finally, we'll sit down together to taste four wines with some small food pairings. The whole experience will take about an hour and a half."

And please, show guests where the bathrooms are!

It may sound like a small detail, but hospitality is built on small details.

People feel more relaxed when they know what's coming, how long the experience will last and when they'll finally get to taste the wines.

And relaxed guests are happy guests.

3. Tell Your Story, but Leave Something for Later

Every winery has a story worth telling.

Perhaps the estate has been in the family for generations. Perhaps it was rescued from abandonment, or perhaps someone left an entirely different career to pursue a dream of making wine.

These stories are fascinating because they involve people, decisions, challenges and emotions.

They're what make one winery different from another.

But please resist the temptation to tell the entire story in the first ten minutes.

Start with a short introduction outside the winery, weather permitting. Five to ten minutes is usually plenty to establish the history, ownership and philosophy.

Then save the rest.

You can share additional details as the visit unfolds, and particularly during the tasting, when guests are sitting comfortably, and can connect the stories to the wines in the glasses in front of them.

Think of it as storytelling rather than information delivery.

A good storyteller doesn't reveal everything in the opening paragraph.

4. Wine Begins in the Vineyard, Not in a Stainless Steel Tank

Wine is both agriculture and chemistry.

But for most visitors, agriculture is considerably more engaging.

Take your guests into the vineyard, or at least to a viewpoint overlooking the vines.

Talk about the landscape, the soils, the grape varieties and the challenges of farming your particular piece of land.

Are you organic? Do you harvest by hand? Does the altitude make a difference? What happens when there's a late frost or a particularly dry summer and you're not allowed to irrigate your vineyards?

These are things visitors can visualise and relate to.

And make the experience multisensory!

Let guests touch the rocks in the soil, feel the vine leaves, smell the herbs growing nearby or, during harvest, taste a grape straight from the vine when appropriate.

Here's another simple idea I love: during the growing season, pick a vine leaf and use it to explain how the vine actually works. Show guests how the leaves capture sunlight and, through photosynthesis, produce the sugars that eventually help ripen the grapes. Explain how the roots absorb water and minerals from the soil, and how the vine works throughout the growing season to produce and ripen its fruit. You don't need to turn this into a botany lesson. Just a couple of minutes with a real leaf in your hand can make the entire process of growing grapes suddenly understandable.

Instead of simply explaining that your soils contain limestone, pick up a piece and show them.

Instead of delivering a technical lecture about vineyard management, explain why you made certain choices and how they affect the final wine.

See the view. Touch the stone. Smell the herbs. Examine a leaf. Taste the grapes.

Five to ten minutes of meaningful interaction in a vineyard can teach visitors more than half an hour of technical explanations.

Because people remember what they experience far better than what they're told.

There are so many opportunities to connect guests with your place. Let them hold a leaf of a specific grape variety and observe how beautiful it is.

5. Nobody Needs to See Every Tank in Your Winery

Now for something that might upset a few winemakers.

You don't have to show visitors every fermentation tank, barrel room, bottling line and storage facility.

Really. You don't.

I've been on winery visits that felt more like industrial inspections than enjoyable wine experiences.

We walk past rows of stainless steel tanks while someone explains their capacity, temperature controls and fermentation procedures. Then we move to another room to hear about another set of tanks.

And sometimes another.

Meanwhile, the guests are beginning to wonder when they'll actually get to taste the wine.

But here's an exception I'd wholeheartedly encourage: if you can offer visitors a taste of wine directly from a tank, then by all means, let's talk about that tank!

Suddenly, the stainless steel vessel becomes interesting.

Guests get to taste a wine that isn't finished yet, perhaps still cloudy, recently fermented or waiting for its next stage of development. They experience something they wouldn't normally encounter when opening a bottle at home.

And now your explanations about fermentation, temperature control or ageing have a purpose. Guests can connect what you're telling them to something they're actually tasting.

The same goes for tasting wine directly from a barrel. It's a wonderful opportunity to explain how a wine evolves before bottling.

Of course, these experiences depend on the season, the stage of production and what the winery can safely and practically offer.

But the principle is simple:

Don't just show visitors how wine is made. Whenever possible, let them experience it.

Otherwise, choose the most interesting or unusual part of your winery to show them.

Perhaps it's an ancient cellar, a remarkable piece of equipment, an unusual fermentation vessel or a curious tradition.

For example, guests love to know about the colmatore, the little glass device sometimes found on top of barrels. There's a legend that Leonardo da Vinci invented it. We can't establish whether that's true, but it makes for a wonderful story, and an opportunity to explain something about wine in an engaging way.

Have a colmatore ready to show, either in your hand or on top of a barrel where guests can see it properly.

A memorable curiosity beats ten minutes of technical data every time.

From boring tanks to joyful tastings

6. Stop Trying to Teach Everything You Know

One of the biggest mistakes in wine hospitality is confusing knowledge with communication.

Knowing a great deal about wine is wonderful.

But being able to communicate that knowledge in a way that's interesting, accessible and relevant is an entirely different talent.

I've listened to hosts explain volatile acidity, malolactic fermentation and the origin of different types of oak to groups who were clearly struggling to follow.

And I've seen those same guests light up when someone tells them a funny story about a disastrous harvest or explains why the family grandfather refused to age wine in barrels.

This doesn't mean visitors are unintelligent or uninterested.

It means they're on holiday.

They're not sitting an exam.

Unless you're hosting a specialist group or someone specifically asks for technical details, keep the explanations simple and meaningful.

Use anecdotes, ask questions and encourage participation. Don't be afraid of humour.

And remember that a good host knows when to stop talking.

Sometimes the most useful thing you can say is, "Now, let's taste the wine."

7. The 30/60 Rule: Less Touring, More Tasting

Here's my strongest recommendation, and perhaps the one I'd most like wineries to consider.

For a typical 90-minute winery visit, I would suggest:

30 minutes exploring the property, vineyards and cellar.

60 minutes sitting down, tasting the wines and interacting with guests.

That's one-third of the experience dedicated to seeing and learning, and two-thirds dedicated to tasting and connecting.

Of course, it's not a rigid formula. Some estates or specialist visits may require a different approach. But I believe it's a useful starting point.

Why?

Because the tasting is where the real relationship develops.

It's where guests begin asking the questions that genuinely interest them. Where conversations become more relaxed and personal. Where they discover which wines they love, and why.

It's also where the host has the opportunity to listen.

And listening is one of the most undervalued skills in wine hospitality.

I've seen far too many visits where the first hour is spent explaining everything imaginable, leaving very little time to rush through four or five wines.

What a missed opportunity!

And here's another thing: if your winery produces 30 different wines, congratulations! But please don't explain all 30 of them.

I've been on visits where the host describes wine after wine after wine, explaining grape varieties, fermentation techniques, ageing periods and tasting characteristics, while the guests try desperately to remember which wine is which, and eventually give up.

And the funny thing is, most of those wines won't even be tasted!

So why waste precious time talking about them?

Focus on the wines your guests are actually going to taste.

If you're showing visitors a fermentation tank, you can certainly mention which wine is being made there. But save the detailed explanation of that wine for the tasting table, when guests have it in their glasses.

Suddenly, the information becomes relevant. They can smell, taste, compare and ask questions about what they're experiencing.

And here's something worth remembering from a commercial perspective:

With very few exceptions, guests buy the wines they fall in love with, and it's rather difficult to fall in love with a wine you've never tasted.

Of course, if someone expresses interest in a particular wine outside the tasting selection, by all means tell them more about it. Better still, if possible, offer them a taste.

But don't turn your winery visit into a verbal presentation of your entire product catalogue.

A handful of wines, thoughtfully presented and properly enjoyed, will make a far greater impression than thirty labels hurriedly described.

Less information. More experience. Better memories. And quite possibly, better sales.

8. A Tasting Should Be an Experience, Not a Conveyor Belt

I particularly love tastings where guests have the opportunity to compare wines side by side.

Four or five wines is usually an excellent number for a tasting.

Whenever possible, give each wine its own glass and allow guests to return to previous wines.

Yes, that means more glasses to wash.

But the educational value is enormous.

Guests can compare colours, aromas, textures and flavours. They can discover how one wine changes after tasting another, and begin to understand their own preferences.

A little food goes a long way, too. A piece of local cheese, a slice of cured meat or a simple regional speciality can illustrate how beautifully wine interacts with food.

You don't need to serve a banquet. A few thoughtfully chosen bites are often enough.

And please, don't be stingy with the pours.

I'm certainly not suggesting encouraging excessive drinking. But a tasting should feel generous and welcoming, not like every drop is being carefully rationed.

A proper tasting pour should allow guests to appreciate the wine, return to it for comparison and enjoy the experience without feeling rushed.

Most visitors are not professional tasters, and many have deliberately chosen a guided wine tour precisely because someone else is taking care of the driving.

They want to enjoy the wines in a relaxed, convivial atmosphere.

Give them the opportunity to do so responsibly.

Bites of food with the different wines, make them stand out more and showcase their purpose in guests' lives...

9. Don't Hide Your Guests Away in a Boring Tasting Room

Here's something that has puzzled me for years.

People travel thousands of kilometres to visit wine country. They come for the rolling hills, the vineyards, the fresh air, the beautiful landscapes and the feeling of being somewhere special.

And then, when it's finally time to taste the wines, they're led into a dark, stuffy room with four walls and no view.

Why?

I understand that wineries need dedicated tasting spaces. And of course, there are practical considerations: weather, temperature, staffing, accessibility and the logistics of serving wine.

But whenever possible, let people taste your wines while actually enjoying the place where those wines come from.

A terrace overlooking the vineyards. A shaded courtyard. A table beneath an old olive tree. A panoramic window framing the landscape. Even a simple bench with a beautiful view can make a tasting feel special.

You don't need an expensive designer tasting room when Mother Nature has already done such a spectacular job decorating the surroundings.

And there's something rather magical about tasting a wine while looking out over the very vineyards where its grapes were grown.

Suddenly, the connection between wine and place becomes real.

Of course, tasting outdoors isn't always practical. In the middle of summer, the heat can be unbearable, and nobody wants to drink warm white wine or sit squinting into the sun. Wind, insects and rain can also make an outdoor tasting rather less romantic than it sounds.

But even an indoor tasting room can be designed to celebrate its surroundings, with natural light, views of the vineyards and a welcoming atmosphere.

And while we're on the subject, please think about acoustics, too. A beautiful room where nobody can hear the host, or each other, isn't necessarily a great tasting room.

The point isn't that every tasting needs to happen outdoors.

The point is that guests have come to experience your wine country, so don't make them forget where they are.

After all, they can sit in a room and drink wine anywhere in the world.

They came all this way to drink it here.

10. The Best Sales Pitch Is Often No Sales Pitch at All

Let's talk about something wineries understandably care about: selling wine.

Wine tourism is not just about hospitality. It's also an opportunity to introduce visitors to your products and hopefully create customers who will continue buying your wines long after their holiday.

But I've noticed that the commercial side of the experience is often handled rather awkwardly.

A wonderful tasting comes to an end, guests are preparing to leave, and suddenly the host announces that wines are available for purchase and shipping can be arranged.

Sometimes there's a rushed explanation of prices, order forms and shipping costs just as everyone is putting on their coats.

Why leave this until the last minute?

Instead, place a simple tasting list on the table from the beginning.

If you're hosting a mixed group, provide a copy for each guest or couple, ideally with a little space to make notes.

Include the names of the wines, the order in which they'll be tasted and their prices. You might even add some information about shipping possibilities, particularly if you regularly welcome international visitors.

And make it something guests can take home!

They may not decide to purchase anything during the visit, but perhaps they'll rediscover that tasting list when they're back home, remember the wonderful afternoon they spent at your winery and decide to place an order.

Guests appreciate knowing what they're drinking and what it costs. They can make notes, compare their favourites and begin considering what they might like to take home.

And something rather interesting often happens.

Someone asks, "Do you ship to the United States?"

Perfect!

Now the sales conversation has been initiated by the guest, rather than pushed by the host.

It's natural, comfortable and, in my experience, far more effective.

Remember, visitors don't necessarily want to be sold wine.

They want to discover wines they love enough to buy.

There's a big difference.

11. Hospitality Is a Skill. Invest in It.

Here's something I think deserves far more attention in the wine industry.

Wineries invest enormous amounts of money in vineyards, equipment, cellar technology, architecture and tasting rooms.

But how much do they invest in training the people who actually welcome their visitors?

A beautiful tasting room is lovely.

A knowledgeable host is important.

But a genuinely engaging hospitality professional can transform the entire experience.

And the person who makes the wine isn't necessarily the person best suited to explain it to visitors.

That's not a criticism of winemakers. It's simply recognising that different professions require different skills. And of course, some winemakers are gifted with both.

A great winery host needs to be knowledgeable, of course, but also curious, empathetic, observant, adaptable and comfortable with people.

They need to recognise when guests are interested, confused, tired or ready to move on.

They need to know how to tell a story, manage time, handle questions and create a welcoming atmosphere.

They should never speak badly about other wineries, regions or countries. Criticising the competition rarely makes your own wines taste better.

And if they're conducting visits in a language that isn't their mother tongue, communication becomes even more important.

Speak clearly. If you have a strong accent, slow down a little. Use simple expressions, make eye contact and smile.

Don't confuse speaking a lot with communicating well.

A winery's hospitality team deserves the same attention and investment as its winemaking team.

Because these are the people who turn first-time visitors into lifelong ambassadors for your wines.

12. Here's an Idea: Visit Your Own Winery as a Customer

If I could give winery owners one particularly practical piece of advice, it would be this:

Experience your own winery visit from the guest's perspective.

Sit through the entire experience.

Listen to the introduction. Walk through the cellars. Pay attention to how long each explanation takes. Notice whether the tasting feels relaxed or rushed.

Ask yourself whether you'd find the visit interesting if you knew nothing about the property.

Better still, visit other wineries.

Not necessarily your neighbours or direct competitors. Visit wineries in other regions or countries, ideally without announcing that you work in the wine industry.

Be a normal customer.

Notice how you're welcomed, what makes you comfortable, what bores you and what surprises you.

What makes you want to ask questions?

What makes you want to buy a bottle?

And, most importantly, what makes you want to recommend the experience to a friend?

You might be surprised by what you discover.

Sometimes the most valuable lessons in hospitality come from being on the receiving end.

13. Stop Thinking of the Visit as a Tour. Start Thinking of It as a Relationship.

This is really the heart of what I'm trying to say.

For years, the traditional winery visit has followed a fairly predictable formula.

A welcome, a history lesson, a vineyard explanation, a cellar tour, a tasting and, finally, an opportunity to buy wine.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that structure.

But I believe we need to rethink the purpose behind it.

The goal shouldn't be to tell visitors everything about your winery. The goal should be to make them feel connected to it.

There's an enormous difference.

When guests feel connected to a winery, they remember its name.

They remember the person who hosted them, the dog sleeping under the tasting table, the funny story about the grandfather, the spectacular vineyard view and the wine that tasted particularly wonderful with a piece of local cheese.

They tell their friends about it.

They post photographs.

They look for the wines when they return home.

And sometimes, years later, they come back.

That's the real value of wine tourism.

Not simply the bottles sold on the day, but the relationships created.

And those relationships don't come from reciting technical specifications.

They come from genuine human connection.

The Future of Wine Tourism Is Human

After close to three decades of bringing people into wineries, I've become convinced that the most memorable experiences aren't necessarily found at the most prestigious estates, in the grandest cellars or alongside the most expensive wines.

They're found where guests feel genuinely welcomed.

Where the host is interested in the visitors, rather than simply interested in telling them about the winery.

Where there's room for curiosity, conversation, laughter and discovery.

Where people leave feeling they've experienced something personal rather than completed another item on their holiday itinerary.

Of course, every winery is different. A small family estate and a large historic producer will naturally have different resources, stories and audiences.

There isn't one perfect formula.

But I believe the direction is clear.

Less lecturing. More listening.

Less technical information. More storytelling.

Less time staring at tanks. More time enjoying wine together.

And perhaps most importantly, less emphasis on what the winery wants to tell visitors, and more attention to what visitors actually want to experience.

Because here's the thing.

People may forget your fermentation temperatures, your barrel sizes and even the exact grape varieties in your wines.

But they'll remember the person who made them laugh.

They'll remember the moment they finally understood why one wine tasted different from another.

They'll remember how welcome they felt.

And that emotional connection is something no amount of expensive cellar equipment can create.

Great wine brings people through the door. Great hospitality makes them remember you.

Cheers from Tuscany,

Rebecca

Grape Tours — Life is Grape in Tuscany