I had a dream that I walked into a restaurant asking for samples of entrées before deciding if I actually wanted to buy dinner. When they said no, I left mumbling under my breath about their poor customer service.

At the grocery store, I selected five wines for them to open so I could decide if I wanted to buy one for dinner. This time I muttered more loudly, “see if I ever shop here again,” as they escorted me out the door.

Next, I stopped at a winery tasting room where I happily tasted six wines for free. “Like to purchase anything today?’ the clerk asked. “ Oh, I don’t think I really need to get any wine after all,” I whistled, as I headed out the door, “but I’ll see you again real soon.”

Is it good business or a crazy business model to offer free wine tasting in the hope that the customer might buy something? As more and more of our local wineries are setting up ‘in-town’ tasting rooms some are starting to charge for tasting. Is this a rude affront to the customer or a necessary strategy for survival?

We can trace the roots of this issue to the renaissance of Napa Valley starting in the mid 1970s. Napa was overly successful drawing hordes of happy drinkers clogging highway 29 tasting rooms. Eventually the wineries started charging for tasting primarily to slow down the ocean of unpaid for wine leaving in customer’s stomachs.

Nevada County wineries are spread across our county map with no single concentration creating a “wine road”. Wineries are struggling to survive out there. Of the 16 wineries in the winery association, 15 of them now have an in-town presence.

Being in town creates better opportunities, along with other concerns. Every winery has heard “I’m just waiting for my dinner reservation so I thought I would kill some time and try a few wines”. Event nights can be challenging as well. Thursday Night Market or Summer Nights generates hundreds of people stopping in for samples, too often with little interest in buying a bottle.

The model that many tasting rooms are adopting is a $5 tasting charge refundable with a wine purchase, plus complimentary tasting for Wine Club members. That seems very fair. If you find a bottle of wine you like, then your tasting is still free. If on the other hand you taste the wines and sadly, find nothing to your liking, then $5 is a cheap price to pay to find that out as well. Or, on event nights when you want to show your friends the winery but know you’re not likely to buy anything, just pay for the tastes.

It is a mistake to call this the “Napa-ization of Nevada County. We are still a mom and pop, winemaker in the tasting room, region. There is something else important at play here. Our local vintners work incredibly hard tending their vines and making their wines. But there is the too frequent perception that it is effortless and essentially a free product to them, so what’s wrong with giving it away? The wineries understand it is important to let the customer try before buying and they are happy and proud to pour their wines. But it is equally important for the customer to do their part and pay for what they drink.