On 2015-04-14 9:24 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:

> dsi1, you're altering the terminology - your terminology is incorrect,
> they are not wine samplings, they are wine tastings... check the
> Subject line... I've never seen wine "samplings" advertised. I
> believe samples should be free with no strings otherwise they're not
> samples.

Curiously, most of thy local wineries refer to their retail areas as
sample rooms. However, their organized tours are tasting tours, and they
usually charge for them. They also provide fruit and cheese and crackers.




> When the bakery places a tray of broken cookies on the
> counter labeled "Samples" they hope people buy but if not business
> goes on as broken cookies otherwise go into the trash, or made into
> crumbs for decorating a cake. Wine "Tastings" do not imply free, wine
> tastings are held with the explicit intent of introducing and selling
> wines, they are not samples. If you attend wine tastings, pay a fee
> or not, and don't buy then you are indeed a scumbag. Winerys learned
> that charging a fee keeps the riff raff/scumbags away making for a
> more enjoyable less crowded experience for those who buy...

My father works in the sample room of a local winery and they have to
deal with that all the time. There is no charge but there are limits to
the number of samples people can have. Everyone has to have passed the
Smart Serve program to work there.

One of their issues is that the winery also has a wedding venue and many
of the wedding guests come early and hang out in the sample room getting
free wine. The owner is not particularly worried about the wedding
guests sucking back samples because wedding catering deal always
includes an open bar, so he figures that they are already paying for it,
and it is cheaper to feed them his own wine that the liquor and beer he
has to buy. The problem is that they take up space and waste the time
of my brother and his co-workers who are there to sell wine to the
paying customers.



and those
> who buy typically recoup the modest entry fee with the first case they
> buy at discount... the fee is meant to encourage purchasing. I can't
> imagine normal people who actually have a life wasting a day sipping
> dribs of wine just because it's free when they don't intend to buy...
> the scumbags would do themselves and everyone else a favor staying
> home guzzling their favorite $3/liter box wine.
>