If you enjoy alcoholic beverages and spending time with friends, visiting a winery may be the perfect activity. These tours can provide hours of entertainment and fun. If you're attending your first one, you can maximize this day by remembering these tips. 

1. Select a Designated Driver 

Drinking wine for a couple of hours can really take its toll on your ability to drive. Instead of risking a ticket or worse, you should strongly consider selecting a designated driver for this special event. This way, no matter how many drinks are consumed, everyone can stay safe when getting home. 

The designated driver can be anyone really, whether it's one of your friends, co-workers, or family members. If you don't know anyone who can drive, there's always the option of paying for a cab. Sure, you'll pay more for these transportation services, but at least you can enhance everyone's safety while still having a good time.

2. Practice the Tasting Process

If you've never been to a winery or have never even had wine before, it behooves you to practice the actual process of tasting wine. You can then go into this event confident and actually get the most out of each wine that's tasted. 

The first part of this process involves looking at the wine, examining its color. Then, you want to swirl the wine in a subtle motion while smelling it periodically. Finally, slurp the wine in small doses. Doing so helps provide aeration -- which is needed to truly get your senses involved during each taste. 

3. Don't Be Afraid to Ask Questions 

As a wine novice, you may not know much about what to try and what you'll like. That's perfectly okay because you can take this opportunity to ask a lot of questions. Starting off, ask the wine server what they would recommend based on your particular taste pallet.

Going further, you should ask what type of wine you tried and where it came from. So, in addition to enhancing your wine pallet, you can walk away from these events more informed. Also, don't forget to ask your server if there are any good wines that are not listed on the menu. They may have some in stock that are reserved for special events, and you may get to try them just by being inquisitive. 

At your first wine tour/tasting, there may be so much going on. You'll enjoy this entire experience, though, if you know what these events involve and make the right preparations. For more information, check out a website like https://www.jjbuckley.com/.