At Sculpterra Winery in Paso Robles, wine tasting is mostly an outdoor experience.
“If it’s 108 [degrees] and you’re going out tasting reds, God bless you — you’re a trooper,” said Sculpterra Winery tasting room manager David Olcott.
Olcott explains workers go to great lengths to keep the wines at an appropriate temperature by putting ice packs near the reds and keeping wine out of direct sunlight.
“You know you don’t want wine getting hot. It’s not good," said Olcott. "It won’t be good tasting or anything. The wine just goes bad."
The heat is, well, bad for business.
“It hurts ya," said Olcott. "You lose business, but we just kind of get through it."
Due to the heat this past weekend the winery canceled its live music.
“The music was canceled," said Olcott. "We always look at the weather and if it gets over, and it’s way up there, we cancel the music and the catering. There’s no way we can have people melting up there."
To offset the chance of heat-related illnesses, Sculpterra is taking extra precautions during the heat wave — such as running fans and misters on the property as well as providing ice buckets, water and other beverages.
“We do a lot we always try to load up on the drinks, and the juices, the Gatorades, the waters, the Perriers,” said Olcott.
They also rotate pourers and if they become too hot, they cut the service.
“If we know a couple of days ahead of time it’s going to be a certain temp, we block reservations blocks," said Olcott. "Certain times of the day we just close those bars."
Wineries closer to the coast are staying a little cooler — but still feeling the impacts of the most recent heat wave.
“We had umbrellas at every table," said Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards general manager and winemaker Joey Roedl. "We had a bunch of E-Z UPs at every open area that you see, extra tables and chairs, we had half-barrels of wine filled with ice water."
While wines aren’t quite as popular during a heat wave, Roedl says ciders are a hot item.
“Cider is super popular especially during the heat because it’s lower in alcohol and we make it carbonated so it’s super refreshing," said Roedl.
Emergency room doctors tell us it is best to limit how much alcohol you’re consuming during a heat wave because it can worsen dehydration.
