To Buy or Not to Buy
You are under no obligation to buy a bottle of wine at the tasting room, but there may be some good reasons to do so. Smaller production wineries have limited distribution, and their wines can be difficult — or impossible — to find on retailers' shelves. The only way to enjoy that coveted bottle at home might be to buy it either at the tasting room or from the website.
It may seem illogical, but you'll often find wines selling for less at a wine store than at the winery. Because large retailers can get significant volume discounts, they can sell the wine at less than the list price suggested by the winery.
Some wineries, even high-production ones, intentionally restrict the availability of their finest bottles to the winery. That's where you can taste them, and that's where you can buy them. You can typically buy by the bottle or by the case (12 bottles). Wineries will often apply a case discount (and sometimes a half-case discount). It can be a case of one varietal or mixed.
Wine ClubsMost wineries have mailing lists (and, increasingly, e-mail lists) to notify you about new releases that you can in turn order directly from the source. During your tasting, don't be surprised if your tasting room host mentions these lists as well as any wine clubs you might be eligible to join. When you join a club, you receive regular shipments of wine during the year. Read the fine print; the number of shipments and bottles per shipment vary from club to club. Here are other benefits you will likely enjoy as a club member:
You get wines before they're released to the public.
You receive a discount on wines.
You get a discount on merchandise purchased from the winery.
You may be invited to attend members-only special events.
