This Saturday is the first of two Barrel tours scheduled for 2012. This annual event put on by the Umpqua Valley Wine Growers Association is a long time event that has been going on for over 40 years. And while this tour event will be like others in the past, a few changes have been adopted this year that will make it a different type of tour.

When the barrel tour started years ago there were of course, fewer wineries than there are today. Negotiating getting people on the buses and visiting the handful of wineries was a pretty simple task when there were less than 10 winery stops to make. Now with more than 20 wineries to visit and participation at an all time high, event coordinators had to make a few changes this year to make it all happen. So this will be the first year that wineries will participate in just one of the two tour dates and just two different tours will be offered on each day. Rather than having a north tour, a central tour and a south tour available on both tour dates, the schedule has incorporated wineries from all parts of the county on each day into just two different tours. This makes for more travel miles on each tour and significantly more travel time to visit just five wineries.

It remains to been seen how this significant change to the structure of the tour will affect the success of the barrel tour this year. While it makes it easier on the wineries only having to plan the food and wine pairing for just one day rather than two, it also means less people visiting each winery. For those individuals who make the yearly barrel tour a not to be missed event, having to travel farther and with limited choices of tours and less winery visits scheduled on each trip could affect participation levels too.

For people truly interested in wine, none of these changes should matter. Frankly I can not imagine going to more than five wineries in any one day. With each winery showcasing four or more wines this is a lot of wine to taste in a day. Those of us looking for a great tasting experience and the ability to get a better understanding of what each winery is all about and what they do best, is easily obtainable with a tour scheduled like this. But for those who are looking for a party and are more interested in quantity, it may not be enough of a party for them.

I view the changes going on this year as a step in the right direction for the Umpqua Valley to be taken more seriously as a true world class wine region. I have never thought it a good idea to put people on buses at 9am and drive them around to 7 or more wineries to drink their fill. Not something that appeals to most wine lovers I know. And while this might appeal to those interested in a party, world class wine regions are not built on, nor supported by party animals but rather those who incorporate wine into their daily lives as part of a healthy, fulfilled, beautiful lifestyle we make a choice to live. The “party” is never the goal and wine is an experience to be shared with those we care about in a responsible, magical way. This is very different than what an 8 hour bus ride to too many wineries supports.

I look forward to the day we forget the buses all together and plan a sophisticated passport weekend designed to truly attract serious wine folks and travelers who will stay for a few days and leave their money behind as they take away our world class wines and the memories of a beautiful experience they can't wait to come back and experience again. The sooner we behave like a world class wine region the sooner we will be taken seriously as one. And that is good for all of us living here.