Napa Valley Tasting Room Fees – Save an Easy $100

You’re getting ready for a getaway to the Napa Valley but the gloom of the economy is making you feel a little guilty about spending so much money. You can save an easy $100 in tasting room fees if you use the right approach. Plot your strategy with some of these ideas.

Number One: If you walk into a tasting room and the fee is $20, get the heck out of there. No winery should charge that much for a tasting no matter how good the wine.

Number Two: Visit wineries that have a tasting fee of $10 or less and combined with a policy where the tasting fee can be applied to a purchase of wine. Encouraging folks to purchase wine by waiving the tasting fee makes good marketing sense. We don’t understand why more Napa Valley wineries do not have this policy.

Here are list of a few wineries where you can save on tasting fees.

Frank Family Vineyards — No fee
August Briggs Wines — No fee
Pope Valley Winery — free tours and tasting
Frog’s Leap Winery – free tours and tasting, by appointment only
Buehler Vineyards — No fee, by appointment only
Cafaro Cellars — No fee, by appointment only
Casa Nuestra Winery – $5 and the fee can be applied to a purchase
Mumm Napa — free tours, and a Two-For-One Coupon on their Website.

Number Three: Use Two-For-One Coupons. If you are staying in any of the hotels or B&B’s you should receive a packet of Two-For-One coupons. We stayed at the Yountville Inn and received a very formal packet of complimentary tasting coupons for 11 wineries. You can also get coupons at the Visitors Centers in Napa, Yountville, and Calistoga.

Number Four: Share a tasting. Ninety Nine percent of all wineries are open to sharing a tasting. Sharing a tasting is easy math, you save 50%.

Please let us know about any tasting rooms that have a reasonable tasting room fee or, for that matter tasting rooms to avoid because the fee is way out of line.