Winery Etiquette
When you go on a tour you may be unsure about how much you should drink. Will I taste too much wine and get drunk. I wanted to know How to Not Embarrass Yourself at a Winery. In this article, I’ll answer your questions by answering the following questions: How much do you consume on guided tours? How many wineries will you visit? Will you get drunk? And, how can you prevent yourself from getting drunk on your Kelowna guided tour?
Know the Facts About Alcohol
Beer, wine and hard liquor all contain varying amounts of alcohol. While consumed responsibly in moderation, consuming too much at once can result in intoxication and alcohol poisoning. One standard drink (1 ounce of 80-proof liquor or 12 ounces of beer) will raise your blood alcohol to 0.02%. This puts you at risk for injury or legal trouble if you get behind the wheel. If you want to lose weight safely but quickly, stick with no more than one standard drink per day.
The Amount of Alcohol in Wine
How Much is Too Much? The amount of alcohol fermented into wine can vary a lot. Winemaker have their own style and method of making wine. The Alcohol by Volume (ABV) is 8% to 20% depending on how much sugar is added to it during fermentation. Generally speaking, red wines tend to have higher alcohol content than white. A rosé wines due to how they are made, but there are some varietals that break that rule.
So how much can we drink on a Kelowna Guided Tour?
First, let’s establish some wine tour terminology: The term glasses refers to single-ounce servings of wine. (A serving is about 5 oz. for men and 3 oz. for women.) A person who is 200+ lbs can drink significantly more than someone half that weight. Your size and muscle mass make a big difference. You don’t have to drink your samples; it’s totally fine if you just sip or dabble in each wine as you go through your Kelowna wine tour. You should know now how to Not Embarrass Yourself at a Winery. Make the decision to spit or limit your samples before the tour. The more you drink the less sound your judgement is.
Show me the math!
There’s nothing like wine tasting for relaxing and appreciating wine. On a guided wine tour with a driver you will have 4 or 5 samples of wine at 4 wineries. Each sample is ½ ounce. If we average out our sampling time to say 15 to 30 minutes per winery. You’ll spend 30 minutes enjoying each 4 or 5 samples. So that’s an average of 2 ½ ounces (75 mL) of wine per tasting period.
How about duration of the tour!
There is much more to the experience than downing samples of wine. Don’t rush or to go to too many wineries in a short amount of time. Less drive time, a 3 hour tour means you consume your samples within a 2 ½ to 2 hour period. A 4 hour tour will mean you get 3 ½ to 3 hours to consume wine. How quickly you consume alcohol will determine how well feel at the end of the tour.
The good news is you have a designated driver
Don’t even consider driving yourself unless you visit only one or two wineries in one wine route. A 4 hour wine tour is the optimal amount of time to spend driving to wineries, sampling and sightseeing. Beyond 4 hours is the point of diminishing returns (less satisfaction from more time on tour). Read the tour company reviews to see how well the guide takes care of the guests. Responsible tour companies will always consider your safety and drop you off at home. Relax, let loose and enjoy the tour.
Also see: Ultimate Map of Wineries in Kelowna
