It seems like every time we head down to Niagara to do some tastings, there are some vineyards that impress, and some that we swear we’ll never spend another of our hard-earned pennies at. This last trip was no different and in fact provided several prime examples of the sorts of chivalry and chicanery that can make or break a tasting.

A-Plus Staff

Although this might seem like a bit of a no-brainer, you would be surprised at how diverse a customer experience can be had. I believe we visited upwards of 16 vineyards in two days and thus had a pretty good feel for what was average, what was exceptional, and what was downright rotten.

First and foremost is that old McDonald’s adage: smiles are free. I feel almost depressed typing this because it’s the hallmark of good retail everywhere, but it needs to be done. Vineyards listen up! It’s in your best interest to do everything in your power to make sure that your customer service folks have a happy face on. Friendly, open, down-to-earth staff with the knowledge and engaging personality to sell your wine will go light years in the way of customer satisfaction. Terseness, dourness, and evident boredom are not good.

Good staff in our opinion gives at least the impression that they give a damn about your visit. You are not cattle, or worse, lemmings, to be shoved off the edge of the cliff (aka out the door) as soon as possible with as much high end wine as they can pawn off. With concessions during very busy periods, they should spend time on you, making sure that you have what you need and that your questions are answered satisfactorily. This does not, however, mean that they need to be glued to your face spouting off their memorized wine-specific knowledge like a Wine Spectator buying guide in the flesh. Although we tried not to noticeably cringe, there were several places where it felt like we were being read the rap sheet as the bottle was being uncorked. All we wanted to do was taste the wine, form our own opinion, and ask for clarification where needed. Customers are not inferior beings and are perfectly capable of piping up in response to something like “Do you have any questions about the wine?”

In general, we were amused to notice that younger women and older men made the best staffers (with exceptions of course). The openness of the women and their friendly, but not ditzy way of dealing with the public put us, and everyone else at those tasting bars in good spirits. With the older men, it was all about the charm. I don’t know what it is, but we met some gents who could give Sean Connery a run for his money in that department. Their knowledge, coupled with refined schmoozing capabilities, was tough to resist.

Overall the staff at the vineyards we visited were spot-on. Most either possessed personality, good retail abilities, or sound wine knowledge. A few combined all of these into a great package. Some, sadly, failed miserably (Lailey, Reif - I’m looking at you).

Even though these folks will be mentioned in our other trip posts, we really do like to highlight people who stood out and provided outstanding service. They deserve recognition for excelling in a job that would drive mere mortals crazy.

Hats off to:

• - First and foremost Janine, the fabulously helpful tasting guide at Thirty Bench Vineyard & Winery. She gave us the full tasting tour, complete with personal recommendations, off list samples, and a knowledge that came from passion, not pay.
• - Crown Bench Estates owner Livia and husband Peter, whose combined exuberance, interesting conversations and homegrown pride were more than welcome.
• - Industry veteran Frank Zeritsch, formerly of Thirty Bench, but now the creative genius behind newly minted Cornerstone, was brimming with good stories and bang on recommendations.
• - The lone woman manning the bar at the Royal de Maria, who talked to us about the various awards the vineyard had won and treated us to a bottle-by-bottle sampling of all the different icewines made on site. Knew her stuff and shared it in a very non-pretentious way.
• - Kudos to the entire Angel’s Gate staff, who although busy, never left us feeling forgotten. Plus they gave us Boursin cheese, which as a cheese nut, I appreciated.
• - A most honourable mention has to go out to Lakeview, Birchwood, Mountain Road, Fielding Estates and De Sousa, all of whom did a fine job of showcasing their wines.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere, naturally, overlaps quite a bit with staffing. Think of a vineyard visit as the ultimate in consumer branding. A well put together, cohesive presentation of your wines and the image you’re trying to achieve will leave a visitor with a much longer laster, positive impression.

Whether you’re a quaint, down-home stop on the map or a mammoth chateau with a fountain out front, stick to your guns and don’t mix and match your styles. Finding, for instance, that a modern architectural wonder of impressive size and an obviously attempted awe-factor has a tasting bar staff lounging below the level of the sleek granite counter in one of those folding canvas chairs ($15 Wal-Mart) reading a book is likely not the sort of impression you want to make. Especially if the wines, priced to finance your new building, are valued at four Wal-Mart chairs. Alternatively, for the rustic tastings, less pretention means a more relaxed, comfortable atmosphere and a looser wallet.

It’s really all about matching. Just as some people can’t put on two socks the same colour in the morning to save their life, some vineyards haven’t gotten their setting-staffing-service scales balanced. If you’re going swank, swank it up. If you’re going mom & pop, keep things simple. Brand, brand, brand. All you marketers out there know what I’m talking about. Clear, distinct, simple messages will net you an increase in recognition, brand loyalty and consumer awareness. And that, my friend, is worth it’s weight in gold.

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Stay tuned for Part II! We’ll be looking at two of the bugbears of the tasting experience: List variety and Sample Price Points.