Since one of my girlfriends is home visiting for the week, I’m taking the day off tomorrow to spend with all three of my high school lady friends! What are we doing? Winery hopping, of course!
One of my favorite activities when I have the day to spend with friends is doing a winery crawl. There’s a lot of enjoyment and it’s actually a very reasonably priced day. Also, wine.
That being said, I take pride in being able to organize a well-planned winery crawl, providing minimal driving, maximum hopping and optimal wine-ing. I’m not sure that’s a word, but when it comes to wine, anything goes!
Step 1: Choose a wine trail.
I always like to start with choosing the wineries I may like to visit. Sometimes you can do this using an *official* wine trail and sometimes you can just make up your own. It’s good to have about eight wineries on your trail list. You’ll narrow it down later but you’ll want some options.
Example: For tomorrow, I chose to work off of the Bucks County Wine Trail. I’ve been to several of them (Am I the only one who keeps detailed Google Drive maps of where I’ve been?), but I still haven’t visited five of them. These are located within a 2-hour drive of my house and are all relatively close together, so they make a great choice for a day-trip type activity. We’re tentatively going to hit Sand Castle Winery, Buckingham Valley Vineyards, Wycombe Vineyards, Rose Bank Winery and Rushland Ridge Vineyard & Winery.
Step 2: Gather all the relevant data.
Not every winery is open for tastings every day or all day. You’ll want to make sure that for the day you are planning to go, they’ll be open and available for tastings. If you have a large group, you’ll also need to call ahead with plans, so be sure you get all the info now.
I like to list out all of my possible wineries, addresses and hours so that I have all of that information in one place. (This is also a great time to check out tasting prices. Most wineries around here are $5 per tasting, but some are more, some are less and some will waive the cost if you buy a bottle. Guys, that’s like FREE WINE. I love it!)
Pro Tip: Most of the smaller wineries have no or limited weekday hours. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are usually the most flexible, but also the most crowded!
Example:
| Winery | Address | Friday Hours | Tasting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sand Castle Winery | 755 River Rd, Tinicum Township, PA 18920 | 10 am - 6 pm Tastings on the hour | Not listed | |
| Buckingham Valley Vineyards | 1521 Durham Rd, Buckingham, PA 18912 | 11 am - 6 pm | $5 | |
| Wycombe Vineyards | 1391 Forest Grove Rd, Furlong, PA 18925 | 11 am - 6 pm | Free on Fridays! | |
| Rose Bank Winery | 258 Durham Rd, Newtown, PA 18940 | 11 am - 5 pm | Not listed | |
| Rushland Ridge Vineyard & Winery | 2665 Rushland Rd, Jamison, PA 18929 | 3 pm - 6 pm | $5 - cash and check only |
Step 3: Check the map.
After you have all of the information you’ll need, you’ll want to see how far apart the wineries are from each other and which ones are closest/farthest from your starting and end points (in case they’re different!).
Step 4: Reorganize based on the map, driving times and winery hours.
An awesome feature in Google maps is that you can just click and drag your destinations to rearrange them. I like to play around with this in order to minimize the driving time by truly following the wineries in a trail. You’ll want to keep in mind their hours though. In my case, I knew we should probably end at Rushland Ridge because it doesn’t open until 3 p.m. On the other end Sand Castle opens at 10 a.m., so it made sense to start there.
Pro Tip: I always think it’s best to start with the winery farthest from your end point and end with the one closest to your end point. You won’t mind the longer drive early in the day, but when you’re done, you’ll just want to get home ASAP.
Step 5: Create a loose timetable.
From my many wine crawls, I’ve found that I typically spend about 45 minutes in each location. With that I either work backward or forward to make sure I’m able to hit each one as I intended. I also like to schedule a “lunch” break at the third stop. It’s really important to keep your BAC in mind if the driver is going to be tasting and it’s really important to make sure you’re eating! A lot of wineries will have a cute patio, deck or porch where you can sit and eat while looking out over the scenic vineyard.
Be sure to schedule in an appropriate amount of driving time as well. I like to round up to the nearest 15 minutes when I’m scheduling as I think this typically gives enough leeway.
Example: Since we can’t really arrive at Rushland Ridge until 3 p.m. I worked backward from there! In order to hit all five we have planned, we’re planning to depart Wilmington around 9:30. Even though we have five wineries planned, we may only hit four. If you’re tired or just don’t feel up to it, don’t feel like you have to pack it in!
Step 6: Pack your bags and make moves.
Whenever I’m headed out for a wine crawl, I make sure to have a bag with everything I’ll need to get me through the day. This includes snacks (I’m a fan of pretzels, crackers and cheese, apples and grapes), non-alcoholic drinks (water or unsweetened iced tea are my go-tos), car games/activities if it’s a long ride, an awesome playlist for the drive, reusable wine carriers in case I decide to purchase any bottles and my list with addresses and other info I may need. Since there will be four of us on our outing tomorrow, we’re each going to bring a snack to share!
Pro Tip: Be sure to check what forms of payment you might need. One of the wineries on our schedule only accepts cash and check. Since I usually don’t carry cash, I need to make sure I have enough to cover that stop!
Example: I like to stock up on treats from Trader Joe’s so that we’ll have something inexpensive and (relatively) healthy to eat while we’re out. Since we’ll be breaking for lunch I like to bring the Trader Joe’s Broccoli Slaw and Kale Salad with Chicken. Seriously, it’s a great lunch option and I usually have enough to share with a friend. Also, you just can’t beat the price at $3.99! (This isn’t sponsored. I just really love this salad and Trader Joe’s as a whole.)
It may seem like a lot of work on the front end, but I promise it’s worth it when your entire crawl goes smoothly and you have a plan before you start! Good luck on your next wine adventure!