Wine Tasting Safety

A safe and enjoyable wine trail wine tasting begins with a designated driver. The sometimes busy, frequently narrow and windy, country roads that make so many of these wine trails interesting have enough hazards without alcohol impaired drivers. The designated driver could be someone in your party or you could take advantage of one of the many limousine services or private tour guides.

Many wine trails, such as the Westside Road out of Healdsburg, have a variety of scenery, farm animals and picturesque picnic areas for the enjoyment of the whole family. If wine tasting is an added benefit of a family day in the country then taking turns with one parent driving this time and the other the next is a great way to share the load. Every winery wants us to make it clear that drinking wine is an adult pursuit in our country. You and your drinking guests must all be 21 years old or older to partake in these glorious wines.

Another option is to just not swallow. Practice the five S's; see, smell, sip, swirl and spit. It's perfectly acceptable and all wineries will have a receptacle available for this purpose.

Many of the wine trails we profile don't have any place for you to buy food along the way so you may want to bring a picnic lunch. Most wineries don't open until 10 or 11 AM so have a good breakfast and call to make sure their tasting room is open. Plan your itinerary so that at lunchtime you end up at a winery that has a picnic area — we include picnic area availability in our articles. Be aware that any wine consumed at a winery picnic area must have come from that winery. Alternately you could plan your trip so you end up in town to eat in a timely fashion.