A wine tour is an immersive and an educative experience! It gives you a 360-degree view that extends beyond sight-seeing. There’s rich landscape, lots of knowledge, and of course, delicious wine to taste!
Here’s what you can expect on your first wine tour:
Production process
A wine tour isn’t just about tasting your Trivento Amado Sur 2016. You’ll be walked through the entire wine-making process. You get to see the secret to your favorite sour-red. The wine tour guides will explain the harvesting process and will talk about wine selection, aging, fermentation, grape selection, and bottling—before you get to the tasting part.
As you walk through the vineyards, the host will talk about the different types of grapes produced in Solvang. You would get to see huge oak and stainless-steel barrels full of wine in their different stages of the aging process. More than the process itself, it’s a joy surround yourself with endless rows of bottles and heaps of barrels in the cellar.
The time of the tour also has a vital role to play. September and October are usually the harvesting months. If you schedule your tour during this time, you can experience the intoxicating smell of the harvesting process straight out of the vinification cellar. Throughout the rest of the months, the tour focuses more on the production and the bottling process.
Tasting
Tasting is the most fun part and the key moment of the entire series. After the vineyard tour is over, the tour host will take you to a tasting room and where they’ll be samples of six to seven different varieties.
Tasting size is limited and usually equal to half the amount of regular glass. Tasting wine directly from a winery has its own charm. While you’re sipping away, you’d be surrounded by the genuine wine territory, the history of the wine, and the heavy fragrances.
Before you head to the tour, you might even want to brush up your tasting etiquette and skills. Do some research on how to hold and swirl the wine glass like a true connoisseur. Make sure you’re confident and look like you know what you’re doing.
Purchases
Most wineries also have gift shops that you can visit after the tour ends to buy some souvenirs. There might even be some live music. Depending on your package, there might even be some scrumptious, gourmet meals prepared by the chefs on board.
If the package doesn’t include meals, you can purchase them on the spot. If you’re new to Solvang, ask the tour guide for recommendations. Since the weather in California is warm around this time, you would need to put some food in the belly after a long day at the vineyards.
Artisan Excursion Wine Tours is set to make your trip to Santa Ynez Valley as memorable as possible! Our wine tasting deals in Solvang covers some of the most notable wineries in Solvang! Contact us for more details.