Power of Words

Terry post:

This past weekend my wife I and visited another Maryland winery and purchased several more bottles. It was an interesting visit for a number of reasons: beautiful hillside location, sunny day, mild temperature, good wine and the words carefully selected by the woman hosting the tasting.

The woman presented each bottle in a practiced manner first pointing out the label, providing the source of the grapes and then a description of the varietal characteristics. It was the description of the varietal characteristics which I found most telling.

I didn't take notes at the time, and as I drove away I wished that I had. Working from memory, her description of their Chardonnay was something like this: "...it is a beautiful straw color...you'll taste pronounced fruit in this year's vintage with substantial hints of apple and lemon...it is a medium bodied wine and you'll notice the aggressive acidity at the finish..."

It was like this with each wine: as though she'd prepared a detailed listing of the grapes varietal characteristics and recited them for each potential wine buyer.

Of course, as the tasters sipped the wines she'd nod knowingly and re-affirm the characteristics, "Taste the fruit?", as we worked our collective way thorough the pour. Her actions reflected her earlier description and made the tasters co-conspirators in her vineyard propaganda.

When I disagreed with her description of their Shiraz offering as, "...huge and powerful..." she dismissed my comment with the wave of her hand.

The power of recently heard words is significant and their carefully crafted use in the tasting room was impressive to behold. I have never been so smitten during a wine tasting.

Bottom line: I am not certain that I made the purchases because I liked the wine or because I liked the words that she used to describe the wine. Time will tell.

~ Terry

Don't ask questions - just buy the wine!

Brad Posts: Revised 1/30/09

Wineries have personalities! Even before you enter the tasting room you have an idea of what to expect from your winery visit. The first impression, either from a web-visit or the drive up the lane to the tasting room, informs your opinion and frequently the experience you ultimately have. And like the wine they produce, many of the personalities in the tasting room we encounter are complex -- that is to say, some tasting room attendants are inviting, friendly and warm, while others are aloof, snobby, and uneducated.

When I visit a winery, my expectations are geared toward meeting the winemaker, having a personal tour, getting the low-down on varietals (do they grow their own grapes?) and getting excellent personal service. So, when I encounter tasting room attendants who know far less than I do, I become quickly frustrated and frequently leave vowing never to return. Actually, that happened within the past year.

We had visited an up-and-coming winery (with all the appropriate bells and whistles), beautiful by all accounts; however, upon entering we were met with smugness and an air of superiority and although the wines were good - we did not purchase. I vowed never to return. Of course I did return and am glad I did. This time, about a year later, they had the most marvelous tasting room attendant: knowledgeable of the wine and winemaking process and was able (without a cheat-sheet) to recommend appropriate pairings! Wow - what great service we had!

Recently, I teamed up with a colleague at another regional college to initiate a wine industry mystery shoppers program. Basically, he recruited about 50 knowledgeable wine aficionados and trained them to visit wineries and using a post-trip evaluation form - evaluate each winery.

The findings will be reported in a two upcoming meetings/conferences to the industry. One interesting finding that I'll share has to do with the Tasting Room Experience visitors report: Women visitors tend NOT to get the same quality of information as men. According to our study women want more information about grape varietals, paring options, and explanations of each wine they tasted. One big finding/opportunity: these knowledgeable women of wine reported that they didn't feel encouraged to ask questions!

Everyone has their own individual expectations when they visit a winery - some don't mind a snob behind the tasting counter, some want their attendant to be cute, while others want a personal tour of the winery. Mostly we all want good service and at the heart of good service is listening (actively listening) to our customers and helping them achieve the experience they desire -- and both win, the winery with increased sales (and great reputation) and the consumer!

I guess the challenge for all winery visitors is to keep an open mind, recognizing each place has it's own unique personality (just like each of us), and to gain some new knowledge or appreciation from each winery we visit - even if those personalities clash -- hopefully, at least, the tastings will be free!

Happy Tastings!
~Brad