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How Much to Wine Taste in Napa Valley 2022

March 27, 2022 by Joe Becerra

Napa Valley Wine Tasting Index

Planning trip to the Napa Valley? Be sure to include wine tasting fees in your expenses. Realize that wine tasting fees will take a big chunk out of your budget.

For 2022 we’ve seen a significant increase for travelers to sit down and taste wine at a winery. Many wineries are offering lavish types of wine tasting experiences beyond a basic tasting of four or five wines. Wineries find that a wine and food pairing menu, vineyards walks, and tours attract more tourists and is more profitable. One significant change since COVID is that most wineries require a reservation. Drop-in visits are no longer the norm.

We list the tasting fees for ten wineries along Highway 29 in the Napa Valley. For purposes of the index, we are listing the price of an entry-level tasting.

Napa Valley Tasting Room Index 2022

These wine tasting fees represent the entry-level wine tasting.

Alpha Omega – $75 – Two whites and two reds
Beaulieu Vineyards – $55 – Five vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon
Beringer Wines – $45 for five wines
Grgich Hills – $60 for five wines
Louis Martini – $55 for three wines
Peju Province – $50 for five wines
Pestoni Family Estate Winery – $40 for four wines
Robert Mondavi – $65 – Seated, one-hour tasting
Sequoia Grove – $40 – for four wines
Whitehall Lane – $56 – for four wines

Back in 2020, just before the start of the Pandemic, the average tasting fee for a basic tasting for this set of wineries was $32.50. Today, the average is $54 per person. We are providing links to each winery. Tasting fees and tasting procedures are in a fluid state. Be sure to book your tasting reservations long before your trip to the Napa Valley.

Important Napa Valley Articles

The Fees to Taste Wine in Napa Valley

February 22, 2020 by Joe Becerra

napa valley tasting room fee index — Provenance winery and tasting room in Rutherford, Napa Valley

We established the Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index in 2014. Each year we see an increase in what it costs a person to taste wine in the Napa Valley. Because of the COVID pandemic, we are not keeping an Index for the 2021 season. Tasting fees are in a fluid state. Walk-in tastings are almost a thing of the past. Most wineries require reservations. This means fewer visitors to the tasting room. That translates to higher tasting fees. Instead of standard tastings, wineries have more elaborate wine tasting along with food pairings.

Napa Valley Tasting Room Index 2020

We created the Napa Valley Tasting Fee Index in 2014. Our Wine Country Getaways’ Website contains useful planning information for those who wish to visit the wine country. Why not give these folks an idea of what it will cost to taste wine in the Napa Valley.

There was once a time when wineries in the Napa Valley did not charge visitors for sampling wine. They were happy to show off their wines, hoping visitors would buy a few bottles. Then the mobs came to the Napa Valley, and the wineries could not afford to give their wine away. Tasting fees became the norm.

For the Index, we are using ten wineries along Highway 29. Each of these wineries welcomes visitors without a reservation or appointment. Most wineries have different levels of tasting choices. For the Index, we are using the basic, or least expensive, tasting that the winery offers to visitors. Here they are as of February 22, 2020.

Alpha Omega – $50
Beaulieu Vineyards – $30
Beringer Wines – $25
Grgich Hills – $40
Louis Martini – $30
Peju Province – $40
Provenance – $30
Pestoni Family Estate – $25
Sequoia Grove – $30
Whitehall Lane – $25

Many wineries in the Napa Valley have optional wine tasting experiences beyond the basic tasting. Wine and food pairings seem to be a favorite for many visitors. Then there are the tour-and-tasting packages. Some wineries offer a tasting of their Library or Reserve wines. These tasting choices are expensive. Here a few examples.

Beaulieu Vineyards – George De Latour Legacy Tour and Tasting – $125 per person
Louis Martini – Underground Cellar – wine and food pairing with Chef Jeffery Russell, 3 hours in duration – $250 per person
Alpha Omega – Library tasting of 4 wines – $75 per person
Grgich Hills – Wine and Cheese with 4 wines and a host – $50 per person
Beringer – Taste of Beringer Tour, one hour – $65 per person
Whitehall Lane – Cabernet Flight – $65 per person

The average tasting room fee is $32.50 per person in our unofficial survey of what it costs to taste wine in the Napa Valley. Back in 2014, when we first began the Napa Valley Tasting Fee Index, the average cost of a basic tasting was $18.50. That very much sums up how the Napa Valley wine scene has changed in the last several years. It has become a rich person’s paradise.

Other helpful hints on the Napa Valley

What It Will Cost to Taste Wine in the Napa Valley in 2019

March 5, 2019 by Joe Becerra

Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index for 2019

2019 Napa Valley Wine Tasting Index

We started the Napa Valley Wine Tasting Index Fee in 2014. Back in 2014, the average tasting fee on our Index was $18.50. Today it is $30.50. We are using ten wineries along Highway 29. These wineries allow drop-in visitors to the tasting room. We are using the cost of a basic tasting for this index. In the late 1960s, when Janelle and I first began to visit the Napa Valley, no wineries that we visited charged a tasting fee. Ah, the good old days of the Napa Valley!

This year we were quite surprised to find the smallest increase on a year-to- year basis since we started tracking tasting fees. $30.50 vs $29 from a year ago. Perhaps the wineries are in the mindset that the fees for the entry level tasting fee has reached a saturation point.

Most of the Napa Valley wineries have discovered it is much more profitable to have elaborate wine tastings, accompanied by foods to the match the wines. Indeed, one restaurateur who recently closed his restaurant citied wineries offering food for the decline in his restaurant’s patronage.

Elaborate tastings combining foods, tours, and barrel tasting can easily be over the $100 range. These require reservations.

Wineries and the Basic Tasting Fee

Tasting fees will change periodically throughout the year. Always check the winery’s website for the latest information on tastings and fees.

Alpha Omega – $50
Beaulieu Vineyards – $30
Beringer Wines – $25
Grgich Hills – $25
Louis Martini – $25
Peju Province – $40
Provenance – $30
Pestoni Family Estate – $25
Sequoia Grove – $30
Whitehall Lane – $25

Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index 2014

February 26, 2014 by Joe Becerra

How much $$ for tasting?

Get the latest Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index for 2019

You’re heading to the Napa Valley and wondering how much to figure on tasting room fees for your travel budget. You are not alone. Our readers will often email us asking questions related to tasting room fees. What should I expect in tasting room fees on our vacation? Are the fees the same from winery to winery? Are there any tasting rooms in Napa that do not charge a fee? Where can we get a discount or two-for-one tasting coupons? This got me to thinking how much tasting room fees have increased over the years. There was once a time when no winery in the Napa Valley charged customers to taste their wine. I have no idea how much tasting room fees increase each year. I’m sure someone out there has done a reliable study, and that is more likely a survey for industry wine folks. I want something as a gauge for the wine country traveler who visits our Website looking for that information. I decided to devise a quick and easy, but unscientific, Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index, one that I can update a couple of times per year. It will be interesting to do a chart year to year on the increases in these wine-tasting fees. At the very least, the Index will give a ballpark figure when someone asks how much the tasting fees are in the Napa Valley.

Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index

For the index, I decided on a nice, easy, round number of ten wineries. I decided that, since most folks travel Highway 29 when visiting the Napa Valley, to focus on wineries between Napa and Calistoga on this road. I selected wineries on this route that are highly visible and popular. They are all open daily and visitors can pop in any time that the tasting room is open.

Sequoia Grove – $15 for wine tasting

Just about every winery in the Napa Valley has a range of tasting options. Reserve tasting, library tasting, food and wine pairing, barrel samples, and a tour and tasting. For each of the selected wineries, I am tracking only the tasting fee for a basic, or lowest priced, level of tasting. Currently, these are the established tasting room fees as of February 2014 at these ten wineries for a basic tasting.

Alpha Omega – $25
Beaulieu Vineyards – $15
Beringer Wines – $20
Grgich Hills -$20
Louis Martini -$15
Peju Province -$20
Provenance – $25
Rutherford Estate – $15
Sequoia Grove – $15
Whitehall Lane – $15

Doing a calculation, the average Napa Valley tasting fee for a basic tasting is $18.50. Five of the wineries charge $15, three at $20, and two at $25.

I always remind readers that there are ways to save on tasting room fees, especially in the Napa Valley. Check with your hotel concierge, who will more than likely have two-for-one tasting coupons. You can always share a tasting with your partner. I find that the host will pour a tad more than if it was just one person tasting. A few wineries will waive the tasting fee if you purchase a certain dollar amount of wine. For budgeting purposes, use the Index to estimate how much to set aside for tasting fees depending on the number in your party and how many wineries you plan to visit.

Provenance – $25 for wine tasting

See the 2019 Napa Valley Wine Tasting Fee Index

Are tasting room fees out of hand in the Napa Valley?

April 12, 2011 by Joe Becerra

The two of you want to take a weekend wine country getaway to the Napa Valley. Most people budget for lodging and meals but often forget about figuring in the costs of their tasting room visits. Since we started tracking wineries for WineCountryGetaways.com in 2003, the tasting room fees, especially in the Napa Valley, have skyrocketed.

Let’s say you plan on visiting eight wineries during your two-day stay in the Napa Valley. That’s a pretty decent number of wineries to visit but many travelers get in much more than that. For you and your spouse or partner, the fees for those eight wineries can add a significant cost to your trip. My guess is the low-to-middle ground tasting fee for most Napa Valley wineries is about $15 per person. Throw in a tour or “Reserve” or “Special Selection” tasting and, Whoa! You are now looking at a big price tag of tasting fees for your weekend getaway.

The last couple of days I have been playing with a new iPad App called the Wine Tasting Tab. I am amazed that this little App has a database listing the tasting room fees of 800 wineries. I used this the App to research the tasting room fees in different California counties. According to my small study using this piece of technology, I found that the Napa Valley has by far the highest tasting room fees around. I don’t think that is one bit surprising to anyone that regularly visits the wine country.

Napa Valley Tasting Room Fees – Save an Easy $100

October 31, 2008 by Joe Becerra

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.