The Wine Does Not Sell Itself
The Wine Does Not Sell Itself Plenty of wineries still run on the assumption that great wine sells itself. Tasting
Stories
Ten acres on Steiner Road
Vineyard 1869 on the counter at Scott Harvey Wines, Shenandoah Valley, September 5, 2026. Photo: Patrick R. Dunn. There was
Who Tells the Story While the Owner Is in the Cellar
Who Tells the Story While the Owner Is in the Cellar Harvest pulls the winemaker out of the tasting room
The number nobody prints
The Number Nobody Prints By Patrick R. Dunn The tasting room at Casque Wines sits on a flower farm outside
Pour the Port Over the Ice Cream
I was ten years old in rural Maine and dessert came out of a saucepan. Dark chocolate melted down with
Slow the Tasting Room Down on the Days It Fills Up
Insights Slow the Tasting Room Down on the Days It Fills Up Harvest is running early across California, the tasting
Nothing Went Wrong
Stories Nothing Went Wrong Two nights in Portland at a hotel that did everything correctly, and gave me no reason
The Ask Nobody Assigned
The club conversation in most tasting rooms happens only when the guest starts it. What it takes to change that: stories worth telling, a host who can read when the room will take the ask, five occasions to hold it, and a different order entirely on event days.
Everything but the Cabernet
A blindfolded tasting on a foggy deck above Windsor, led by a blind chemist, and the one wine I got right.
Teach Hosts to Ask What the Wine Reminds Them Of
Most tasting room training is built on description, and description asks a guest to verify something. One question asks them to retrieve something instead. What that changes shows up at the last pour, where club decisions get made.