Tips For Beer Drinkers At Wine Events
Don’t be turned off going a wine festival just because you are a beer drinker.
There are several reasons to go to wine festivals – other than being dragged to one by a spouse or significant other – and the #1 reason is that wine festivals get a lot of girls!
But you just can’t show up to these things. You have to look the part and act the part (at least for a while). To help you not just survive wine festivals but thrive at them, here are:
10 Tips Beer Drinking Guys Need To Know About Attending Wine Festivals
1.) Go With The Proper Attitude. If you go kicking and screaming anywhere against your will, you’re not going to have a good time. Same with wine festivals. Go in with the attitude that you are happy to be there and you’ll have a great time. These are fun events. There are people who want to pour you alcohol, and there’s a lot of it. So enjoy – no savor – every moment of it.
2.) Dress Properly, But Not With Pomposity. You can’t wear your college or NFL team’s jersey, faded Rolling Stones concert T-shirt or or sloppy jeans. You’ve got to step it up to fit the crowd. Pull out one of your Charlie Harper shirts – come on, there’s at least a couple of those in your closest – comb the air and groom yourself. But don’t over-do it by trying to look like you are showing off because that’s a turn-off for girls at wine festivals.
3.) Know What To Expect Before You Arrive. When you walk in, you will be handed a wine glass. Before each new tasting, use the water at the table to wash out the glass. There may be a small band softly playing music. This is a wine festival, not a keg party. There is a certain measure of sophistication to the events. Wine is, by nature, more of a sipping than a slamming drink. You’ll see people smelling and swirling their glasses; you don’t need to do that yourself. The worst thing you can do is pretend you are a wine expert. Depending on the size of the event, there could be a dozen or 50 wineries pouring wines. Adjust your pace around the tasting tables accordingly.
4.) Scout Out The Place In The Beginning. If you are there just to consume alcohol – which, let’s face it, everybody else is, so why hide the fact – don’t hesitate start drinking. Grab a sample from the first table you encounter and make the rounds. Get the layout of the place. Find out where the food is located (there’s always some food, and some festivals feature chef making samples from local restaurants) and even if there’s any beer or even hard alcohol being sampled. Sometimes, a sake, bourbon, vodka or tequila company will be at wine festivals, almost hidden among all the wineries.
5.) If There Is Food, Eat First And Drink Later. You want to get in that good “base” plus, most girls are not anxious to talk to strangers until they have scoped out all the wines. Go for the food first. There won’t be a wait (or as long a wait as later) and then when the girls are ready to try the food, you can easily start conversations by making recommendations on the best samples.
6.) Identify The Tasting Tables That Are Pouring The Most Wine. This is what you do in the beginning. Talk to the people pouring the wines and look at what pours they are giving other attendees. Generally speaking, there are two rules to know to get the best pours: Men pour more liberally than women and younger people pour more than older (say 35+) people. So if you see a lady in her 50s pouring at a table, keep walking.
7.) Don’t Be A Wine Snob. In Fact, Play Dumb. Perhaps you know more about wine than the winemakers, but don’t flaunt your expertise. It’s actually better for conversations to play dumb by asking the girls what kinds of wine they might recommend. Girls like to think they know more about wine and let them have the satisfaction of being the expert.
9.) Understand The Pace of Wine Festivals. The pace of wine festivals is funny. At first, the wine lovers are very discriminating at what they sample, walk around a lot and eyeball the wineries as if they are shopping for a car. After about an hour, they loosen up and by the third hour, well they are there to consume anything that’s poured for them. Don’t do what they do; charge into the place. By scouting out the good wine pouring stations early, you are more efficient at the end and even recommend to others which are the best places.
9.) Confess If You Are A Beer Drinker. Come clean. When you go up to a table, say you are a beer drinker and don’t know much about what to drink. They will likely ask you if you prefer lagers or darker beers and then give you a white or red accordingly. You might be surprised and actually like what they pour, but if not, just say “thank you, I’ll keep sampling” and move on to the next table.
10.) MOST IMPORTANT TIP: Let The Alcohol Do Its Job! Wine festivals, as mentioned earlier, attract a lot of girls. And quite often, a lot of attractive girls. But wine festivals are not pick-up bars so don’t move in immediately. They are there – at least initially – to sample the wines. Give them a couple of hours to do it. THEN, when they’ve had enough to feel a bit buzzed, you can make your move. And since you’ve done your advance work from tips #7 and #8, you can lead them around to any beer, food or spirits, or take them to those liberal-pouring stations.
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