7 Safety Tips from Amicis Winery Tours
Wine touring involves drinking & country driving, a tricky combination, so these top Napa tour guides & authors explain the secrets to being, safe, comfortable and happy. They are authors of top selling apps, books and host the TV show, Wine Country @ Work from Napa Valley Television.
Napa, CA, June 20, 2013 --(PR.com)-- A wine tour is a day spent drinking and driving, and being safe and comfortable is more than luck, it is preparation. As legal blood levels of alcohol possibly lower in the future, consider these seven tips from Tour Guides, Ralph & Lahni, that will help you plan the most enjoyable day.
1. Start the day with a breakfast rich in protein and fat. Alcohol digests those nutrients, so while the wine releases their energy, the food uses up the alcohol's inebriating effects, stretching your tasting endurance. The best choice is an asparagus omelet with sausage or bacon on the side. Asparagus contains amino acids that compose the main alcohol dissolving enzyme (Women naturally make less), and eggs and meat provide good protein and fat.
2. Plan your driving route using safe right hand turns, even if it is a little roundabout. Wine Country is farm country with narrow, twisting roads, bush obscured signs and drainage ditches big enough to swallow a Prius. Drive defensively and take your time, you are sharing the road many people who are drinking and driving. Hint: Plan your route around your lunch spot.
3. The secret to a good wine tour is how much water you drink; two to four ounces for every ounce of wine keeps your palate fresh and your brain hydrated. By diffusing the alcohol throughout your body even your feet will feel good. Instead of feeling drunk you will feel physically light and mentally illuminated.
4. Be comfortable. Bring your darkest sun glasses, a hat, and a non-sleepy anti-histamine. Wine country has lots of pollen, yeast and mold. Plus, many red wine headaches, rashes and hives are histamine reactions, that you can turn off if you come prepared. A couple of cups of strong coffee will do in a pinch. Wine grapes love our daily thirty degree temperature range, so dress in layers and bring a jacket.
5. High heels are fun, but potentially dangerous at a vineyard when you get loopy. If you are only visiting big wineries for a countrified bar hop heels are fine, but for smaller wineries and cave tours bring along practical foot ware.
6. Eat lunch after two wineries. Often, after two tastings people feel great, sure they can fit one more tasting in before lunch. That is exactly when you need an infusion of protein and fat to maintain those good feelings. If you jam in another tasting your energy will plummet, your palate will go numb and you will be napping in the car.
7. First and last, have a designated driver, either a volunteer or hired, that will not drink on the day of the tour. During random checks of "designated drivers", more than half were borderline drunk. If you want to drive and taste, practice spitting the wine at home, using a small portable cup, until you can taste without swallowing or dribbling. It will make you a very popular driver, and much more knowledgeable about the wines. Why? Because after three sips it all tastes good.
Video address for video http://youtu.be/lSgezMSyCro
Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are Tour Guides, hosts of the TV show Wine Country @ Work, authors of the top selling mobile apps, the Napa Wine Tours, and the Sonoma Winery Tour from Sutro Media, and the numerous books including 'Napa & Sonoma, A Love Affair In Maps'. They are owners of AmicisTours.com.
1. Start the day with a breakfast rich in protein and fat. Alcohol digests those nutrients, so while the wine releases their energy, the food uses up the alcohol's inebriating effects, stretching your tasting endurance. The best choice is an asparagus omelet with sausage or bacon on the side. Asparagus contains amino acids that compose the main alcohol dissolving enzyme (Women naturally make less), and eggs and meat provide good protein and fat.
2. Plan your driving route using safe right hand turns, even if it is a little roundabout. Wine Country is farm country with narrow, twisting roads, bush obscured signs and drainage ditches big enough to swallow a Prius. Drive defensively and take your time, you are sharing the road many people who are drinking and driving. Hint: Plan your route around your lunch spot.
3. The secret to a good wine tour is how much water you drink; two to four ounces for every ounce of wine keeps your palate fresh and your brain hydrated. By diffusing the alcohol throughout your body even your feet will feel good. Instead of feeling drunk you will feel physically light and mentally illuminated.
4. Be comfortable. Bring your darkest sun glasses, a hat, and a non-sleepy anti-histamine. Wine country has lots of pollen, yeast and mold. Plus, many red wine headaches, rashes and hives are histamine reactions, that you can turn off if you come prepared. A couple of cups of strong coffee will do in a pinch. Wine grapes love our daily thirty degree temperature range, so dress in layers and bring a jacket.
5. High heels are fun, but potentially dangerous at a vineyard when you get loopy. If you are only visiting big wineries for a countrified bar hop heels are fine, but for smaller wineries and cave tours bring along practical foot ware.
6. Eat lunch after two wineries. Often, after two tastings people feel great, sure they can fit one more tasting in before lunch. That is exactly when you need an infusion of protein and fat to maintain those good feelings. If you jam in another tasting your energy will plummet, your palate will go numb and you will be napping in the car.
7. First and last, have a designated driver, either a volunteer or hired, that will not drink on the day of the tour. During random checks of "designated drivers", more than half were borderline drunk. If you want to drive and taste, practice spitting the wine at home, using a small portable cup, until you can taste without swallowing or dribbling. It will make you a very popular driver, and much more knowledgeable about the wines. Why? Because after three sips it all tastes good.
Video address for video http://youtu.be/lSgezMSyCro
Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are Tour Guides, hosts of the TV show Wine Country @ Work, authors of the top selling mobile apps, the Napa Wine Tours, and the Sonoma Winery Tour from Sutro Media, and the numerous books including 'Napa & Sonoma, A Love Affair In Maps'. They are owners of AmicisTours.com.
Contact
Amicis Tours
Ralph de Amicis
707-235-2648
www.amicistours.com
Ralph de Amicis
707-235-2648
www.amicistours.com
Contact
Categories