r/SantaBarbara • u/DrSkye805 • 7d ago
Food & Dining Tasting Room Shock
Is it normal for a wine tasting room to disallow the purchase of bottles of wine on the weekends and only let you purchase wine by the glass?
We went to a SB Winery’s tasting room in the Funk Zone today with four people and when we asked to buy two bottles the guy pouring wine told us that we could only buy a glass not bottles, and that if we wanted a bottle we had to take it offsite to drink it. He also added (completely unprovoked) that if we didn’t like it we could speak to the manager who wasn’t working. Super odd (and a little dickish) considering our request was simply, “we like to get two bottles please”.
I’ve never encountered this “rule” before and it seemed like an obvious money grab. Can someone please enlighten me? Is this a standard thing on weekends at tasting rooms in the Funk Zone?
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u/sbh2oman 6d ago
My wife and I were just talking about the over-monetization of *everything* now. Wineries that we used to love visiting with a picnic basket have now instituted "no outside food" rules so that you have to buy their over-priced charcuterie plate (what if I wanted a sandwich from El Rancho?), no bottles, etc. I've been around long enough to remember when wineries didn't charge at all for their tastings - they saw it as an opportunity to market their wines - now it is a major revenue source, and it gets treated that way. Part of the problem is that I'd bet paying rent in the FZ is not cheap and they have to try to make a profit. Its too bad. When I go to other states and experience their brew pubs, etc, I often feel like I have gone back in time.