Wine tasting tours on the Central Coast are a big part of the social culture; at any given moment you can find groups of friends chatting about their recent Edna Valley or Paso Robles tours. While residents and tourists alike are aware of these fun tours, they aren’t always as easy to plan as it might seem. Here’s a list of how you can plan and host a flawless wine tour:
- Contact your vendors well in advance! This is especially true for transportation services (not like we’re biased or anything), but also for wineries and food. Most of these businesses have limited supply in terms of vehicles, staff, and time slots, so the premium ones will be gone if you wait too long. Did we mention you can contact our staff at Info@SLOSafeRIde.com and we’ll set up EVERYTHING for you? If not, we did now 🙂
- Figure out what types of wine you want to taste! This could fall under part of tip number one, but each of these tasting regions has so much to offer that it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. Even if the distinction you make is liking reds more than whites, or bold wines instead of dry wines, there will be resources available to help you figure out where to find varietals you and your friends will enjoy. Also, not knowing is a great answer—wine tasting is intended to be educational!
- Throw a themed tour! While you can easily have a blast with a generic wine tasting tour, adding a theme always makes it more fun. Whether it’s a birthday, a holiday weekend, or you just want to have a Marvel costume party with a winery as a host, this needs to be an even that everyone is committed to. Let your group know well in advance; you’ve got moves to make and wines to taste.
- Make a Sunday of it! Wine tasting is most typically planned for Saturday afternoon, but it’s not exactly a secret. The wineries are going to be working hard to keep up with the influx of patrons, and you are often left competing for space and attention. If you go on Sunday, there will be much less foot traffic, and the pace is more relaxed for the attendants at the tasting rooms. Often, you can get great deals on flights and bottles, and maybe even a discount on your transportation. Ask us about it!
- Playlists and snacks for the road! Given the spread out nature of both Edna Valley and Paso Robles, your wine tasting tour will have some drive time involved. While we go well out of our way to make sure the vehicles are stocked with waters and have great sound systems, only you and your crew know what you want to jam out to and what kind of snacks are going to keep people from getting hangry while on the road. Plan this in advance and you’ll be like a wine tasting superhero.
- Don’t stress the small stuff! This is wine tasting—it’s going to be a blast, and there’s a good chance that some things go wrong (after all, there’s adult beverages involved for long periods of times). Most of the time, they’re going to be innocuous things like spilled drinks, hilarious arguments, and overly competitive game of bocce ball. Take it from us—the best way to get through any of this occurrences is with laughter and grace, and more wine.
If you would like SLO Safe Ride to help you plan a wine tour, contact us today! Our wonderful staff can be reached by the form below, or by phone at (805) 620-7233!
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