When you visit a winery there are a few things to keep in mind.
Wine Tasting is an opportunity to get to taste several wines from a winery. The tasting is comprised of +/- 4 wines. Depending on the specialty of the winery it could be all white wines, red wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines, or some combination of them. Often there will be several curated tasting options, or flights. These are a little more tailored. Sometimes the tasting flights are divided by price point. So there is a lower priced tasting menu for the lower priced wines and the more expensive wines are on a costlier menu. Depending on the winery policy sometimes these tasting menus are set in stone. If that is the case then just understand that the person behind the counter is just doing their job. Other facilities give the tasting room staff more leeway in offering additional tastings, or making substitutions. It can’t hurt to ask for something, but do not be bothered if the person cannot accommodate you.
When tasting wines at a winery keep an open mind. You will be poured several wines and I recommend that you taste all of them. You did pay for them after all. Another reason to taste them is that you might be surprised by a wine. Not all Chardonnay’s are made the same so give this one a try because it might be the one that shows you a different side of the varietal. The worst thing that can happen is that you take a sip, don’t love it, and pour the rest out. There should be dump buckets available to discard unwanted wine.
There are usually tasting fees when you go to a winery. The wines do have a cost to produce and giving the wine away has proven not to be a great business model. Plan for there to be tasting fees and be pleasantly surprised if the tasting happens to be complimentary. Tasting fees can be anywhere from $5 up to $100, or more, depending on where you are tasting. To avoid surprises you might want to see if the website indicates the tasting fees. Sometimes tasting fees are waived with the purchase of a bottle, or two, or join the wine club. That is not always the case so do not count on it. Somewhere on the tasting menu this policy is usually spelled out.
The people in the tasting rooms are usually sales people. They know a good amount about wine, but they do not know everything. Their job is to show you a good time, sell you wine, and try to get you to join the wine club. They will make a judgement call about your ability to buy large amounts of wine based on your behavior, what you are wearing, and your reaction to the tasting fee. If they believe that you will buy more wine then they will probably give you better service. Their mindset is that if you are taken aback by a $50 tasting fee then you probably are not interested in spending $175 on a bottle of the wine, or 12.
The tasting room is generally the most expensive place to buy wine. They are the suggested retail value of the wine. Legally a winery cannot tell a retailer how much to sell their wine for, but they can indicate what their tasting room sells the wine for to give a price guideline. With this in mind, you might not want to purchase a lot of wine from a tasting room if it is something that you know you can find in a wine shop at home. The caveat here is that some wineries do produce wines that they do not distribute. These are the wines, that if you love them, that you should buy a bottle or two to take home because they are not sold outside of the winery. Other wines that you might want to buy while you are at the winery are older vintages. Wineries often keep older vintages on hand so they can offer vertical tastings. (A vertical is a side-by-side comparison of different vintages of the same wine).
Go in to it with an open mind. Be prepared to pay a tasting fee. Know that people are probably judging you based on your appearance. Leave the wines that are widely distributed at the winery, but take home a special bottle, or two. Wine tasting is an opportunity to try a lot of different wines so take advantage of it.