What To Do At A Wine Tasting in Tri-Cities

• It helps if you know if you prefer red or white wines, but you don't need to know anything to have a good time.
• All wineries are fun to visit, but it does help to know about the unique features each offers. Some have restaurants; some serve no food. Some have gift shops. Some have scenic tours, etc.

"We don't want you to be intimidated; we hear that a lot," said Chenyn Preston-Johnson, who helps run Preston Premium Wines.

1. Staff greets visitors at the door, finds out if they've been before, and explains what their winery has to offer.
2. Preston Wines offers three options for wine tasting: a complimentary introduction, an $8 estate tasting and a $10 port tasting. After the latter two the guests may keep the glass as a souvenir.
3. It takes about 45 minutes to do the introduction and one of the latter two.
4. It's not a sales pitch. The goal is to educate people about wine and introduce what that winery has to offer.

There is always something going on at a vineyard, Chenyn said. If the weather's nice, it's fun to take the self-directed tour of the park. If it's cold, you can enjoy the view from the tasting room and ask lots of questions. Right now Chenyn's staff is pruning. During summer, different tools are used to protect the ripening fruit from birds. You can watch the work from the patio. There's a lot to learn year-round, she said.

Maybe you've seen, or read about, expert wine tasters sniffing and swirling -- even spitting. If you'd like to learn about those techniques the staff would be happy to teach you. It is not, however, a prerequisite. Don't do it if you don't want to. "We're not going to say, 'You're not doing it right,'" she added.