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Visiting wineries should be about finding new, delicious wines and learning more about the wine making process. If a winery acts too cool to give you the time of day, then don't waste your time or money.
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Mike Supple: You're watching "Screw It" on SuppleWine. I'm your host Mike Supple.

One of the most common questions that I get every week, from both friends and readers of the site, revolves around wine tasting. People always want to know what wineries they should visit and where they should taste, particularly when it comes to Napa Valley. It's a good question because there are tons of wineries out there, and you want to make sure you're going to places that are good and that you'll enjoy.

This past weekend I went wine tasting in a region I'd never been to before, and it really brought up an interesting point for me that I wanted to express to you. I like the wines from Napa. I think there are some great wineries out there, but it's really tough to find value in Napa, and one of the biggest issues I have with wine tasting in - particular in Napa - is that it is still really stuffy. Napa does not cater to young adults or people just getting interested in wine. What I mean by that is, a lot of the time when I go up to Napa by myself, with friends, or when my friends go on their own, we go in to wineries and are not treated well. The people in the tasting rooms don't respect us. They pass us over and cater to the older individuals in the room. They don't seem to care.

I find this very surprising because when I'm there, I'm looking to buy wine, taste and enjoy. And I'm also younger, which means I'm going to be buying wine for more years. I don't understand why these wineries don't want to get our business and get it now. If I'm trying to taste wine and learn about it and the winery reps won't answer my questions or just treat me like I'm not important, I start to feel uncomfortable. And when I'm uncomfortable, I will not like the wine I'm tasting, and if I don't like it I'm definitely not going to buy it. So in a way it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for the winery: "Another young group of kids came in and they didn't buy anything, so we should continue to ignore people like them." If this is you and your tasting room, it's your fault that I'm not buying something. It's because you're not treating me like a person who enjoys wine. And trust me, I love a good bottle of wine, and I'm willing to spend money on something that I like.

I want to make it clear that there are tons of places in Napa that are fantastic. I like going up there. There are some great, really friendly places, so it's not everybody. But the overall feeling still is like that.

So I want to stress this: check out some other regions that you maybe have not heard of. This past weekend I went to Livermore Valley, which is about an hour east of San Francisco. And yes, Livermore Valley doesn't sound very appealing, but it's a great wine region. They have really nice rolling hills, vineyards and wineries with a lot of small production wines. You're not likely to find these wines nationally on the shelves in your local shops - maybe a few, as it is a region that's starting to get recognition. The key is that they are there because they like making wine. They are there to connect with you. I got very friendly responses everywhere that I went. People wanted to talk about their wine. They wanted to see if we liked it and find out why we did or did not. This happened everywhere that we went. It was crowded at every little winery we went to. There were groups of all ages and everybody was being attended to, and everybody was having fun.

This isn't just true about Livermore. I've been to other small wine making regions in California - Santa Cruz, San Jose, there are some wineries that are based in Oakland (the vineyards are other places but the wineries and tasting rooms are in Oakland) - and they're catering to people who want to enjoy their wines. And this isn't just true of California. Wine is being made in all 50 states now. Yes, even Alaska and Hawaii. In fact, I went to the winery in Maui. I hear they have a great dessert wine, but of course they were out of stock the one time that I went there, so I guess I'm just going to have to use that as an excuse to get back to Maui.

The key is this: if you're going to be out there wine tasting, before you spend money and go out to Napa, look around and see what places are near you in your state, because there are bound to be some closer ones, and it will likely be a lot cheaper than going out to Napa. And if you're already planning a trip to the Bay Area, that's great. But check out some of the other local areas besides Napa. Check out Livermore, Santa Cruz or San Jose wine regions and spread your trip around. You'll probably enjoy yourself a lot more than if you're stuck in one stuffy area.

Whether you taste on the West Coast or you taste at Sakonnet Vineyards in Rhode Island, make sure you're going to a place where they appreciate you and they want your business. Find some local wineries, taste some wines and really enjoy what you're doing.