How to Treat Customers at Wine Tastings

Earlier this year, I celebrated another year around the sun, by driving 1.5 hours to a Boutique Winery and Restaurant.

The setting: a rural sub-tropical farm complete with grapevines, dry grass and the odd cow. The country serenity was broken only by a half dozen bothersome blowflies (But hey, this is Australia!) and the delightful conversation of our lunch guests.

Visiting a boutique winery/vineyard was exciting. I was more than ready for a filling country-style lunch and accompanying wine tasting. And, having worked for a large Australian wine operative some years back, and attending wine tastings here and there, I do feel qualified to comment on this experience.

Really, I should have raised a red flag at the sight of the sad-looking vines that appeared to be merely for decoration. Not the dinky-di thing.

It wasn’t too long before we discovered the lunch menu was profoundly limited, more of a snack food menu. I liked the sound of a grazing platter but the Man of the House, who is a hot meal/red meat and mash kind of guy, would have preferred something more hefty than salad, cold meat and cheese. (none of which he eats cold). So he went a little hungry for his birthday meal, eating just a couple of slices of bread.

NB. (the restaurant had been alerted this was a birthday celebration).

Then there were problems with the wine-tasting experience, the main attraction of having lunch at this restaurant. But not all of our party were participating in the wine tastings.

To our surprise, the staff insisted that only the ‘paying’ wine-tasting participants could sit up at the bar, ie. next to their spouses while they tasted the wines.

Non-drinking spouses, (who were the beer and mixer drinkers) were banished to remain at the allocated dining table towards the rear of the dining hut during the entire wine-tasting experience, some distance away.

This felt uncomfortable and a tad separatist. We were ostracizing our spouses and friends. This detracted significantly from our overall birthday experience.

The Wine Tasting

The wine-tasting portions offered were barely adequate. A small mouthful is not really enough to detect the full aromas, scent and taste of the wine – paying for a small mouthful of six wines.

Please note, at many other wineries, tastings are free and fulsome. Two or even three mouthfuls at least and even then, they’re still free or, of nomimal cost.

No matter how persuasive my laconic, ‘ocker’ friend was, the bar attendant flatly refused to pour more than a mouthful of wine, in his tasting glass.

Her reasoning:

“I have to be responsible with alcohol. I cannot serve more than the equivalent of one alcoholic drink, in total, for the ‘tasting experience.’

You have to be able to drive home,” she added in her husky, forthright tone.

What if you were to have an accident?” she postulated.

Explaining that we had two non-drinking guests accompanying us who could, and would be driving home and reinforced there was no way we’d be taking the wheel. But the staff member, a German exchange student, reinforcing the stereotype, stoicly refused to yield to our pleas.

“We could not have you driving on the road if you had tasted more than just one glass full in total.” {This is not their responsibility once we leave the premises}.

So.. okay. We were getting nowhere with the German.

Ten minutes later, over our lunch grazing platter snacks, our waitress asks,

“Would you like any more drinks? “

“Another glass/bottle of wine perhaps?” (Which of course, would be added to the bill).

“Yes, I will have another Shiraz, please.”

“The Shiraz? Of course!”

Huh?

Yes, we had a lovely day, thanks to our kind friends.

Due to the drawbacks cited above, we won’t return.

What Could They Do Better?

• Offer a more consistent and considerate customer service
• Double the tasting serves
• Have friendlier staff willing to share the history and development of the winery or some interesting factoid of conversation
• An expanded menu with hot options for fussy Moths. (Men of the house)

On the plus side, one of their red wines was of a reasonable quality. My friend purchased two bottles to take home.  

FYI – Fascinating correspondence received when I sent in my feedback.

“Hi Amanda,

Many thanks for your email, and taking the time to give us your feedback. We do highly value and appreciate this. We are really pleased to hear you had a lovely day and enjoy the visit and wine overall.

We recognise, and agree our food menu and some resources are very limited being a small boutique cellar door. Unfortunately, we do not have a restaurant kitchen, and so we focus on food to complement the wine being grazing platters and salads.

Expansion, and a restaurant is something we are considering in the future, but presently we only promote and cater to what we can successfully deliver in our busiest times with the facilities we have.

It is disappointing to hear you didn’t feel the wine taste volumes were sufficient. Our standard practise is to pour 6 x 25 ml equating to 1 standard glass of wine to ensure customers can monitor their wine intake. We also have an obligation to ensure we are serving alcohol responsibly by law. Whilst we practise best practice to assist customers and remain compliant,  we would have be more than happy to offer another taste as it suited on request.

We sincerely apologise your partner was unable to come up to the tasting bar, it is not intended to be rude, but have just 10 places at the bar. We do get very busy and so unfortunately have to limit these places to the guests participating in the wine tasting.

We can only apologise we did not meet your expectations on this occasion within our current business modal, but hopefully we can in the future with an expanded operation.

If there if anything we can do on the short term Amanda, please don’t hesitate to ask. We do highly value repeat business.

Kindest regards,“

My response in return:

Hi ***

Thank you for your reply and explanations.

I understand the compliance with responsible service of alcohol but wish to point out that we did explain to the bar waitress on the day that we had a designated non-drinking driver and we were not driving that day. I also wish to point out that we ordered and paid for more drinks, which was no problem. This seems to be somewhat of a contradiction in your policy. I am all for safe driving and do not drink if I am driving but it does seem terribly unfair to lump all guests in the ‘driving’ basket!

Please note my friend did in fact request another/larger serving but was told it was not possible.

FYI – I attended two wineries in other locations, recently, which was far more generous in their portions. So this was the reason we both felt the portions offered were skimpy.

Having said all of that, I simply wanted to advise you of my feelings in response to your email. I appreciate your detailed response but do not agree with your rationale. I do hope that you are able to expand the food menu in the future and wish you well in your business endeavours.

Cheers,

Amanda”

No further response was received.

This company repeatedly sends promotional advertisements to a facebook group I administer. It’s a group that has an attractively large following and ads on the group are posted for free.

Since visiting this winery, I have so far denied their posts. I don’t want to promote a place I was dissatisfied with, myself.

My Questions:

• Should I allow this winery to post free ads in my book group?
• Were my expectations of the establishment too high?

• Do wineries charge for wine tastings in your area?
• Can a restaurant call itself a restaurant, without a restaurant kitchen?

• In your opinion, what could they have done better? (besides proof-reading)

Bloggers’ Brains Trust: I would love to hear your response in the comments.

Autumn Leaves and Revisiting Germany

As Autumn approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, I am reminded that I live in the tropics where there is no Autumn as such. Very few trees lose leaves, unless they are ornamentals. To see them we need to travel much further south.

It is a special beauty that comes with the ‘fall’ season – I can’t get used to calling it that. The very word Autumn sounds earthy, evocative of russet, brown and golden yellows, colours that feature in the distant North.

Thirteen Years of Blogging

As this blog is now Thirteen years old, I thought I’d revisit one of the posts relating to that time and add some reflections.

Thirteen years ago, I was sipping a cup of silky-smooth, decadent hot chocolate for a minimal price at the Rathaus Cafe in Offenbach, Germany.

I remember glancing at the temperature gauge, noting it was zero degrees Celsius. Outside, I studied a squirrel as he scurried around the branches of a large weeping tree. Having only seen a squirrel in TV cartoons, I was fascinated. The creatures I was familiar with at home had pouches that held their young and bounced around on two legs using their thick tails as levers.

The squirrel’s stage was fast losing the remainder of its pugnacious, golden-brown, autumnal leaves, a slowly wilting sentinel, witnessing the imminent passing of its foliage’s use-by-date.

To some, it was just a tree in a not-so-unique village in Germany. To me, this tree was like a wrinkled, weathered face: elegant, wise and experienced in its maturity and so very different from anything back home.

It wasn’t just magnificent; this tree had history. It provided shade and shelter; it emanated clean air, as all large trees do and contrasted ever so softly with the harsh lines of the historically significant structures around it.

This majestic beast framed the entrance of a park adjacent to the white neo-baroque manor house that, to me, resembled what I imagined to be a ‘Von Trap,’ style mansion. Having just arrived from the subtropical heat of a humid Australian city, I thought I had stepped into heaven!

Busing Palais in Offenbach

The Busing Palais in Offenbach was home to 18th-century entrepreneurs Peter Bernard and Johann Georg d’Orville, and the likes of Goethe would spend summers there. All but destroyed in 1943, this manor house was rebuilt to become a Museum, Library and of late, a conference centre.

Busing Palais Offenbach

Not only that but a Scloss, or Castle and Chapel completed a heritage square nearby.

Offenbach

As much as I enjoyed the architecture, the Festival of Leaves around me was the real jewel in the crown.

The First time I Ate a Lolly

When was that?

I can’t recall the first time at all. Is that a sign of early dementia?

Early Memories of Lollies and School in Australia

I do recall buying a lolly, at four years. I was given a meagre amount of pocket money to buy lollies and firecrackers at the small old-style convenience shop next to my school.

I’d be considered a child at risk if I replicated that scenario, today. The frame of history makes that particular reflection socially acceptable. It is worth noting that the pocket money was also for the purposes of buying a slate pencil and eraser as that was of the utmost importance to my attending school. Such were the days.

It was the mid-1960s. We’d just moved interstate where I had already commenced school, as a pupil in level Prep. Perhaps my Mother didn’t want me to have me sitting around at home as we were, after all, living at my Grandmother’s house, temporarily.

https://assets.ehp.qld.gov.au

Whatever the reasons, I was sent to school and placed in primary Year 1, as Queensland had no prep year at that time. I was still only four years old, and turning five soon. I had skipped a full year of school, which gave me the dubious honour of being the youngest child to ever attend that particular Primary School. Surprisingly, I coped.

But, I have digressed. Back to the lolly.

Lollies were often 2 for 1 cent when purchased individually from the corner stores.

My all-time favourite was an OSO lolly.  It was oval and orange, about 3 cm in length. A flavoured gelatin lolly, tasting of orange favouring and an abundance of sugar, of course. It had OSO in raised letters on one side. The memory of savouring this is strong, even after 55 years.

Osos would slowly dissolve in the mouth into a sticky gooey mass. In the process drip feeding sugar to the body. Sucking it slowly was ideal for soothing an inflamed throat. Better still was that sudden burst of energy, the short-lived sugar high that was OH So Good. Is that where the lolly’s name originated? Oh….SO….  And the word, ‘good,’ was dropped as it was too long to be stamped into that size lolly?

For years, I have searched for replica versions of that sweet, even internationally, thinking that perhaps vintage-style lolly shops might stock my childhood favourite. Alas, I never have found any at all. Osos have been relegated to history. Obsolete.

In a nod to the Oso, I snavel every orange-coloured snake out of Allen’s Snakes packet and eat them before they disappear- oh so good.  

https://theaustralianfoodshop.com

Differing Names for Sweets

Lollies have different names depending on where you live – sweets in England, candy in America and a range of crazy names in Denmark. The generic Danish equivalent of the word lolly or candy is slik, but individually the Danes have lollies or slik with some quirky names. Names designed to appeal to kids’ quirky humour, translated into Danish of course. Imagine entering a shop and asking, as Danish children do, for a few ‘Dog Farts‘. Or hearing children in a playground discuss their favourites – “I absolutely love eating Pigeon droppings,” – this is the translation to English, of course.  

Danish Lollies

This reminds me of a story about children and Danish lollies.

Danish and possibly some Dutch lollies have a strong aniseed or sour flavour. I am not a fan, although the sour Danish lollies are fun, for a prank. Each year, my kind Danish friends and family would send bags of them to Australia, usually at Xmas, or Easter. It was a very kind gesture particularly as shipping became so expensive, in later years.

 My son was the only family member who could, or would eat, the sour lollies, but there were way too many, even for his sweet tooth. He’d take them to school in his lunchbox. At lunch break, he’d announce to his ten-year-old classmates that he had lollies to share.

He’d be mobbed in seconds.

Kids would form a pack around him like bees anxious to reach the hive. “Only take one,” my son would warn, holding out the lolly bag out for them to help themselves.

The greedy kids suffered the most, determined to scoff a good handful into their mouths at once. They seemed frightened of losing one or two, to a fellow schoolmate if they held back.

Seconds later, they’d realise their mistake and immediately stop chewing.

Turning a murky tangerine colour, their face would twist into a grimace. Gagging noises resembling a meat mincer that’s jammed while processing a piece of gristle, could be heard across the playground. With eyes watering, the boys would rush towards the water bubblers to wash away the foul-tasting lolly.

Strangely, only one or two kids, came back for seconds.

What was your first memory of eating a lolly, sweet or candy?

Friendly Friday Blog Challenge – Back to the Future II

In the Friendly Friday Blog Challenge I recalled Australia in the 60’s and asked:

• 

  Looking back to the Future

• 

  Road trips

• What was your memory of your childhood?
• Was there a significant milestone growing up and if you lived through the sixties and seventies, what stood out for you?
• Was there something that was instrumental in your path in life?
• An historic event that changed your perspective?

While you peruse the links below, you may like to listen to the periodic music of Australia.

The Sounds of Then – Gangajang

• Bushboy Brian found an amusing visual segway on the raincoat theme
• Sandy looked back to the 70’s
• Eklastic asked us to guess the connection to the future with photos looking back at a visit to the animal park
• Drake took a cheeky look back to the future
• Manja recalled a collourful childhood to age 22 in wonderful Monochrome
• Sandy then posted an iconically styled video montage, a Vlog from Bloggers with a View recalling the 60’s and 70’s in Australia, Yugoslavia and Canada/Jamaica.

This blog challenge continues through until Friday, when Sarah will post the new Friendly Friday theme. Check it out at Travel With Me.

If you wish to join in, take a look at the original FFC Back to the Future post.