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It's a little dead here and I was wondering how can I attract more visitors. There are about 14 other tasting room in the downtown Paco Robles area, how can I make people come into mine?Our tasting fee is $5, waived with purchase. This is due to people abusing free tasting without buying.
We also have a little chalkboard and sign by the road.
I know are wines are good, but how can I attract more guests?

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Non- refundable tasting fees are becoming more and more common and I see them becoming more of the norm rather than the exception. Let me be forward and honest. I've worked in a winery's tasting room and deterring the "drink for free" crowd is only part of the reason for the charge. Providing the public a chance to taste entails a lot more then just the wine, it's staff pay, licenses, insurance, glassware, POS systems/ software, crackers, and general facility maintenance (like light bulbs, toilet paper and stuff ;-)

Many wineries are small business and operating a tasting room means real dollars and cents; for which, charging a non-refundable tasting fee helps covers part of the cost. People also come out to visit wineries for more then just the wine, it's more about the whole experience which means differ things to different people. Now days wineries are offering an array of options for people including, tours, picnic areas, classes, and food pairing along with their wine.. That being said, I expect a certain quality of product and experience for a $5, $10 and $20 tasting fee.

I agree with many that the real issue here is not being informed of the winery's CHANGE in policy. In my opinion, the old adage "the guest is always right" should have been invoked here and your tasting fee refunded especially, if the policy was not in writing or posted and/or the change had occurred within the past year. A happy guest is a returning guest more often then not.

Cheers!

I'm actually seeing the nonrefundable angle more and more. It's more of administrative thing for wineries. It's a lot more difficult to keep track of who paid, who didn't, who bought wine, etc. So they just charge a flat fee and call it good.

This is straight out of California (Sonoma County excluded). I run into this everywhere from Napa to Temecula.

Tasting fees are a bummer, but they keep out the drunks and the bus tours, so that's a good thing, IMHO.

Oh, and the scooterists. ;-)

One question... was the wine good enough to justify $5 for a taste? I agree that it seems quite short sighted to charge a $5 non-refundable fee for tastings! People like us, who almost always buy at least one bottle everywhere we go (at full retail, I might add), are the backbone of the tasting rooms. If I knew I would pay a $5 non refundable fee, I would certainly feel much less "pressure", or obligation, to buy a bottle while there, especially if there was nothing there that really got me excited. I can understand a non-refundable tasting fee for reserve wines (or fairly expensive wines - over $50 or so) since they will sell few of those wines anyway and it is hard to recoup the cost. But for the everyday stuff, not so much... Or, if you get to keep the tasting glass - and it has the winery logo on it (I collect those!) - then I would have no problem with it. It is a matter of perceived value.

Unless their wines absolutely rocked and were worth paying $5 for a taste, I wouldn't mind knowing who that winery was so I can avoid it the next time I am in the area.

Cheers!
Tim

In this economy you would think that places that rely on discretionary spending would be a little more accommodating to customers who are actually still spending money on luxuries. Especially on something like wine that really must be tasted. It’s not like a Hershey bar, pretty much the same every year and cheap.

It would seem that you were "unaware of their change in policy" because no one there bothered to make you aware. That, I would say is just poor business practice on their part. If you had been aware it would have been something you could have factored in. The surprise is what makes it a problem.

The bottom line would be, are you going to make that a factor in deciding to go back there and now are we who are reading this, if we have to make a choice between two places, going to choose the one who incorporates the tasting fee in with the sale? If so, then it certainly did not help their cause. That $5 fee, or really the lack of communication, could end up being very costly to them.

Wine clubs seem to be the newest way to get people interested and keep them coming back. Our local wine store does things this way. For $35 a month you get 2 bottles of wine, free tastings, events etc (and there are a LOT of great events). It is a lot of fun and inspires people to keep coming back to the same place. Great marketing! If you are not a member most events and tastings are $5. They are totally up front about it. I love the place but travel a lot for work so I just pay the fees when I can show up. When things settle down and I am home more, I plan to become a member.

This question, by the way, brought me from lurker to registered poster. I enjoy reading everyone’s postings and have learned a lot.

Ginger