Out at the Wineries March 2021

<p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 18px; margin: 0px;"> <img src="https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/46773/me.jpg" alt= "" width="250" height="333" /></p> <p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 18px; margin: 0px;"> <!--StartFragment--><span style= "font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12pt;">This past weekend I ventured out to some area wineries and took advantage of the nice weather.</span></p> <p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 18px; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12pt;">Wine tasting is a lot different today. Appointments are needed and you need to think out your route and stops. Gone are the tastings where you belly up to the bar and tasted 5-8 1 ounce pours and dump or spit in the dump bucket. But you know what, I like it this way. It is actually more enjoyable. What I did miss is the interaction with the employees over the wine. You know, where they talk to you about the wine, answer your questions and you can see their face light up with enthusiasm when talking about one of their favorite wines.</span></p> <p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 18px; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12pt;">I know the wineries are doing their best and they have had to adapt and change many times. This is no way meant to criticize but to show you how tastings have changed and every winery is different. Know the rules set forth at each of your stops. One winery we went to had no time limit, while the other winery had a time limit of an hour and a half. An hour and a half is plenty of time to taste. If you want to camp and picnic make sure the winery allows that.</span></p> <p style="-qt-block-indent: 0; text-indent: 18px; margin: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'; font-size: 12pt;">When making reservations, it’s like making reservations to go to dinner. Make sure you show up or cancel with plenty of notice so the winery can sell that reservation time to someone else. Don’t be surprised if there is a cancellation fee the closer to the ti