The 2020 vintage: How Peninsula wineries are struggling—and innovating — during the pandemic
By: Elena Kadvany
Tags: Bay Area, California, Wine, Wine Tasting, Small Business

A new normal for wine tasting

For small, independent wineries, tasting rooms and events are the best way to bring in new — and hopefully repeat — customers. Wineries were closed for months until COVID-19 rates improved enough in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties to allow them to reopen outdoors with some modifications. Wineries can’t operate indoors until their counties return to the state’s orange, or “moderate,” COVID tier, and even then capacity is limited to 25% or 100 people. (On Thursday, Dec. 3, after this story’s publication, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new stay-at-home order that will require wineries to temporarily close in regions where ICU capacity drops below 15%.)

Testarossa was lucky to have 8,000 square feet outside to repurpose for outdoor tastings. Dubbed Wine Bar 107, the outdoor patio is set with tables that are separated by at least 10 feet and set with QR code menus (no more communal wine spittoons). Reservations are now required for tastings, which are limited to 45 minutes. Communal bathrooms were converted to only allow one person at a time and equipped with lights outside that turn red when occupied, like on an airplane, to prevent crowding.

“Of course hand washing is one of the most important things other than wearing a mask that you can do to keep healthy and safe,” Jensen says as he turns on a faucet attached to the top of a wine barrel during a 4-minute video tour of the new, socially distanced set-up. “If you haven’t washed your hands in a wine barrel lately, next time you come to Wine Bar 107 that would be a great time to do it.”

Tasting patio and Wine Bar107 at Testarossa in Los Gatos. (Image via Testarossa’s Facebook)

When Santa Clara County moved into the less restrictive yellow tier several weeks ago, allowing wineries to resume indoor operations, Jensen weighed his chances and decided against doing so.

“Out of an abundance of caution we decided to not hire additional staff and reopen indoors due to the risk of having to shut these spaces down again, which is exactly what happened,” he said.

At Kings Mountain Vineyards in Woodside, which is only open by appointment, the winery pivoted to offering private, seated tastings capped at six people. Only two staff members are now working at the winery and only one is usually at the tastings, said Kristi Bowers, Kings Mountain Vineyards’ director of sales and marketing (she’s often that one person). They pour fewer wines and, n accordance with state COVID-19 guidance, if a bottle touches a glass that someone drank from, they dump that bottle. They now put an order form on every table so customers can fill out their name, car make, model and license plate and have any wine they purchase delivered to the trunk of their car by the time they leave. (On the back of the order form? Tasting notes.)

“Tastings are extremely important because for us, besides a few outlets, our club and our online sales — that’s it,” Bowers said. “Coming to the vineyard is a special thing.”

It’s hard to imagine tasting wine while taking a mask on and off, but winery owners are trying to emphasize safety while not policing customers.

“I’m not the law,” said Nicolas Vonderheyden of Chaine d’Or Vineyards, a tiny, three-decade-old winery in Woodside. “I try to emphasize the fact that we all have to do our part. I think everyone knows it will take a lot of individual efforts to try to get rid of this virus and I don’t see the need to argue with anyone about wearing a mask during tastings.”

Wearing masks during tastings can feel awkward — “you don’t know if people are smiling but at least you can hear it in the tone of their voice,” Vonderheyden said — but like most pandemic adjustments, “it’s something that we easily get used to.”

In a time when we’re being told to stay home and stay apart, Vonderheyden still feels attached to the in-person experience of wine tasting. He’d rather convince someone to come to the winery for a safe, in-person tasting than hold one on Zoom.

“I’m not old by any means, but I’m this old-school thinker and believer that you need to see and touch and feel wine to really enjoy it. I’ve seen a huge difference in people tasting the wine without having been on site and people tasting the wine while they’re on site,” he said. “The experience is really, really different. It’s almost like the wine doesn’t taste the same.”

Waxwing’s Counoise rosé. (Image via Waxwing’s Facebook)

For months, Waxwing Cellars in Belmont was only open for curbside pickup of its limited-production pinot noir, Syrah, riesling and Chardonnay. With revenue down 50%, the winery started offering free delivery between Burlingame and Palo Alto. Waxwing usually hosts tastings inside on Fridays; instead, owner Scott Sisemore recently experimented with outdoor tastings in the parking lot.

It’s wine club season now, so money is coming in, he said, but uncertainty hangs heavy over the next few months.

“Once there’s some sort of a vaccine and I feel safe again, I’ll be excited to go back to what I usually do, which is indoor, Friday night tastings,” Sisemore said, “but who knows when that’s going to be.”