Tasting room

Originally an informal public relations outreach effort of wineries and breweries to encourage visitors and build brand awareness and loyalty by dispensing free wine, beer, whiskey, sake, etc., tasting rooms have increasingly become sophisticated profit centers of winery operations, earning money by charging tasting fees, selling products directly to consumers, signing new members to the winery or brewery's members club, hosting weddings and other public and private events, and selling various wine, beer, whiskey, sake, etc.

[1] A typical tasting room is operated by a winery or brewery located in a rural vineyard, where most of the production, bottling, marketing, and distribution takes place.

Larger operations often treat their tasting room as a sophisticated business unit with its own manager and dedicated staff, who usually work on a commission basis according to how much they sell.

Others, particularly smaller wineries or those that are not easily accessible or permitted for visitors, join together in cooperative arrangements within a single tasting room, often in a nearby town.

[6][7] Some larger wineries have special "reserve" or VIP tasting rooms for handling large parties, industry representatives, and samples of more expensive or "library" wines.

[8] However, they have become increasingly important as outlets for direct-to-consumer sales, particularly for small wineries that do not have extensive distribution arrangements.