Yesterday, I had the chance to spend an entire afternoon in the Willamette Valley visiting wineries in Yamhill County. It was a great day, meeting friendly staff, visiting some picturesque places, and discovering some really good wine. I will be writing detailed accounts of my experiences in the coming week, but wanted to provide a quick rundown of the places visited.

After a delicious lunch at Tina's in Dundee, I began my tour at Anne Amie Vineyards, then visited Soléna Cellars and Scott Paul Wines in downtown Carlton, moving on to Cana's Feast Winery, and finally ending my day at Penner-Ash Wine Cellars.

While wine tasting yesterday, I was reminded of Amy Rootvik's three part series of posts entitled How to Survive Wine Tasting. Amy provides some very useful advice on how to manage what can be a very busy and filling day wherever you might be tasting. I totally agree with her points on drinking water and eating enough, as these are critical to enjoying your wine tasting experience.

I witnessed firsthand what happens when you don't follow this important advice. I had the unfortunate experience of being at a winery when a nine member group of boisterous tasters entered, only to have these folks follow me to another winery miles away. I felt sorry for the servers at both places, for there were a few people who had clearly had too much, with one woman who was flat out drunk.

In fact, when she saw that I was spitting each taste, she exclaimed, "you're spitting, why aren't you drinking?!?!". When I told her this is the best way to get through a full afternoon of tasting, she looked at me with an unbalanced gaze and said, "we're just trying to get drunk!". Scanning the group, I could tell there were a few responsible drinkers amongst them, who had purposely distanced themselves from the drunk woman.

Fortunately, I was on my last taste at both places when this group arrived, otherwise I would have left immediately. You know, if you're purpose in drinking wine is to get drunk, then go to a bar. Don't go to wineries. You just end up spoiling it for everyone, not only in your group, but the others who are there for something more than a buzz.

Getting back to Amy's advice, I too follow much of her guidance, with the following three approaches taken each and every time I visit wine country:

• Plan your route - before heading out for a day or afternoon, take some time to look over a map of the area you'll be visiting. Check the hours the wineries will be open and map out a route you can take to lessen the amount of time spent in the car. Visit the winery's web site to see if this is a place you really want to visit, as you might find it not worth your time.

• Eat a solid meal - be sure to have a good breakfast and a solid lunch during your tasting day. With all of the walking, standing and driving you'll be doing, it's important to have a solid meal in your stomach. It's also wise to snack along the way. Even if you're spitting wine, you can still absorb a considerable amount of alcohol in your mouth.

• Drink water, spit wine - when I first started visiting wineries ten years ago, I drank whatever was put in front of me. In fact, I felt embarrassed spitting, as I didn't really know how it was done or for that matter, should be done. Realizing I could enjoy myself more by spitting, I took upon myself to just do it and practice at each winery. Also, whether at the winery or in the car, I drink a lot of water.

In general, I try to visit no more than half a dozen wineries on any given day. When you consider spending 30 minutes at each stop combined with the driving in between, this can easily become a 4 to 5 hour excursion. Also, my taste buds start to get taxed after about the fourth or fifth visit, therefore I am ready to call it quits.

I hope this helps in your preparation for and enjoyment of wine country touring this fall. Also, please check back in the coming days for detailed write ups on the five Oregon wineries mentioned above.