Wine Country Was Meant to Be Discovered

Rethinking What a Tasting Room Should Be

COVID changed more than how we operated our tasting room. It changed the way we thought about the experience of visiting wine country.

Before reservations became the norm, there was a spontaneity to a day of wine tasting. Guests wandered. They discovered. They walked into a tasting room because another winemaker or tasting-room host told them, “You have to go meet these people. You're going to love their wines.”

We loved that.

There was a trust that developed across the tasting bar. You learned what someone liked, what they didn't, what kind of experience they were looking for—and then you could point them toward another small winery you genuinely thought they would connect with.

COVID changed that rhythm. Suddenly, a day in wine country became a series of reservations and commitments. Guests often had their entire itinerary planned before they ever tasted their first wine.

Years later, we're starting to see some of that spontaneity return. More people are popping in without an appointment, exploring the area, and deciding where to go next as the day unfolds.

We want more of that.

We want people to discover wineries because the wines speak to them, the story means something to them, or they connected with the person standing on the other side of the bar.

And we want to earn enough trust that when you're ready for your next stop, you can ask us where to go—and know we're going to send you somewhere because we genuinely think you'll love it.

Beyond the Bottle

Maybe that's what all of these years have taught us.

A winery isn't just a place where wine is made and a tasting room isn't just a place where wine is poured.

It's a conversation. A recommendation scribbled on a map. A winemaker telling you about another winemaker you should meet. A bottle you didn't expect to love. A place you found because somebody said, “Trust me. Go there next.”

That's the kind of wine country we fell in love with.

And it's the kind of wine country we still want MCV to be part of.

Come without knowing exactly what you're going to drink. Stay longer than you planned. Ask us where you should go next.

There's a lot of wine to discover around here—and some pretty great people behind it.