There are so many wine tasting rooms in Carmel-by-the-Sea that the Chamber of Commerce now has a Wine Walk By The Sea for which one can purchase a Passport. To find out more, please go to their website www.carmelcalifornia.org
What is a wine tasting room, you might ask?
Yesterday, I went to City Hall here in Carmel-by-the-Sea to find out. Here is what it boils down to:
"A wine tasting room is a stand-alone establishment with a Duplicate Type 02 ABC license, in which the primary purpose is to encourage patrons to purchase wine for off-site consumption."
Makes sense, right?
However, not just any winery can open a wine tasting room in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Only wines originating from Monterey County Vineyards and Wineries are encouraged to apply. That means, all wines displayed and offered for sale and tasting should have been produced in a Type 02 Bonded Winery located in Monterey County with a vast majority (i.e. 75% or more) from grapes grown in Monterey county.
So that takes care of the wines to be tasted, but how about the establishment itself, the tasting room?
Lots of rules and regulations there as well just so the patrons don't think they are in a wine bar!
Therefore, the wine tasting service and seating area "should generally be limited to no more than 30% of the floor area of the retail space."
What about the rest of the space? That is for wine-related retail display.
The city even gives suggested square footage: 1,000 sq. ft. not including office and storage.
As to the decor of the wine tasting rooms here in Carmel-by-the-Sea?
The city actually leaves that to the individual vineyard and their creativity.
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Come to Carmel-by-the-Sea and see for yourself.
They are spread over a relatively small area of the downtown business district to the south of Ocean Avenue. In fact, the City now encourages any new applicants for a tasting room to be NORTH of Ocean Avenue.
Below, the Windy Oaks Wine Tasting Room in Su Vecino Court, Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Yes, that's me, below, visiting with the folks here from Texas. And, yes, we are North of Ocean Ave.
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