Wine Picnickers Behaving Badly

A winery asked us to remove their name from our list of best picnic spots in the Napa Valley and Carneros because they no longer are allowing visitors to picnic at their beautiful winery. We asked why and they intimated they had run out of patience with guests abusing the privilege of using their facilities.

We probably picnic 15 times or more a year at wineries and often we are taken aback by some of the thoughtless things people do, even though they are the guests of a winery. A wine country picnic experience should be peaceful, serene and tranquil. It is a time to sit back and relax and enjoy a nice lunch with a glass of wine.

We decided to come up a list of things to avoid while picnicking. All these we have seen many times over.

Drinking wine from another winery. What bigger insult could you pay to the winery?

Drinking beer. Remember, this is wine country.

Not supervising kids and letting them run around the picnic area

Even worse, abandoning the kids in the picnic area while parents are in the tasting room

Leaving the table without cleaning up after themselves

Borrowing wine glasses and not returning them or, even worse, taking them home.

Staying too long

Monopolizing tables

Limousine groups that have had way too much wine and are noisy, loud, and too silly.