Now that it is beginning to warm up, more wine enthusiasts will travel to wineries to experience the wines. Visiting a winery tasting room is about the experience. You have the opportunity to taste wines not readily available in wine stores. Our first wine tasted at Camus in Napa was a Sauvignon Blanc. This wine was excellent and can be bought at the winery. It is hard to find it elsewhere in the country.

Some wineries offer tours of the production area and aging areas. Guides will mention the winemaking process and these tours often add to the winery experience. However, you may not observe the process other than wine aging in tanks and barrels. Much of the action takes place after harvest and will last for a few months. Visitors during the fall will have a better opportunity to observe sorting, fermentation, crush and racking to barrels or tanks. This is not to say that winemakers do not have winemaking tasks during the rest of the year. They are testing the wines, racking, fining, filtering and bottling to name just a few of their responsibilities.

Unless you are at the right place at the right time, you may not see winemaking products that have been added to the fermentation bin or barrels and tanks. Yeast is added to the fermentation bin but some winemakers will also add sulfites, nutrients and an assortment of winemaking products. To read an article about just some of the winemaking products added during the winemaking process read “More than Grapes Went into that Wine.”

Spring is a wonderful time to visit wineries. They are a little less busy than during the summer and fall and you will have more time to talk to the staff. Enjoy tasting wines at wineries. Often you will taste wines not easily available outside the winery tasting room.