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Visiting wineries is a great way to learn more about wine and taste new things. Some wineries charge you money and others don't. We think you're better off when they do charge you a little.
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Mike Supple: You're watching Screw It on SuppleWine. I'm your host, Mike Supple.

This past week I went with some friends to a few wineries that I'd never visited before. If you've never gone wine tasting I strongly recommend it. It's a great way to learn a lot more about wine without having to spend as much money - or risk your money. When you go to the winery you often get to try wines that you wouldn't have tasted otherwise. That way you get to taste things, learn what you like and what you don't like, without buying and entire bottle and maybe ending up hating it.

Of course no two wineries ever have the same policy when it comes to tasting fees. Some of them let you taste for free, some charge a small fee and some of the charge and arm and a leg. The only way to find out is to call ahead or just show up and ask. For example, my friends and I went to three wineries recently and each winery charged differently. The first winery had a complimentary line-up - five wines for free - and they also had what they called a reserve tasting, which were some of their more expensive or limited production bottles. They charged $5 per person for that. In the end, a couple we were with purchased several bottles, but that had no effect on the tasting fee. We all had to pay for the tasting, even the couple who bought some bottles.

The next winery we went to charged a nominal fee - $5 for five wines. We tasted through, one of the couples bought several bottles, and that winery comped their tasting fee. They bought bottles and didn't have to pay for the tasting, whereas everybody else had to pay for their tasting.

The final winery we visited also had a $5 per person tasting fee. After we tasted through some of my friends bought some bottles, and this winery waived one tasting fee for each bottle purchased. Since the number of bottles purchased equaled the number of tastings done by our group, we ended up not having to pay anything for the tasting. Three wineries, three completely different styles of approach to tasting fees.

Even though it can be frustrating to have to pay to taste wine and learn about it, I personally would much rather do it that way than get free tastings everywhere I go. Why? When it comes to free tastings I generally feel obligated to buy something at the end. If somebody is spending a lot of time with me and giving me their product for free, they're going to be looking for something out of it in return. They're not just doing it out of the kindness of their hearts - they are a business. So if I've just tasted several different wines and wasted a lot of their time - or spent it talking and learning about their wine - I'll feel obligated to buy a bottle.

Buying some bottles isn't bad if I have the money or I really like the wines, but what if I'm on a budget that week or I didn't like anything? I could end up going home with a $30 bottle that I really have no interest in. When a winery charges for the tasting I feel much less obliged to actually buy. Sure, if I love the wine I'll want to bring it home, but if I didn't really like anything then it's not that big of a deal. I already paid for my tasting so my obligation is done.

Of course the tasting fees at some wineries can be a little saltier than at others. The area that I was in this past week is in the Santa Cruz Mountains in northern California, getting close to the central coast. It's a lesser known wine region and a lot of the wineries are family run, small locations. Some of them were free and some of them were $5. A $5 tasting fee is really nominal - I can't complain when I pay $5 and get to taste 5 to 7 wines. But if you get into the more popular areas - like Napa - you can definitely expect to be paying upwards of $15 to $20 per person for a tasting. So that's something to be aware of.

If you've never gone tasting, there are a lot of great local wineries out there. Wine is made in all 50 states and just about every country, so find a winery near you. Don't necessarily head to the most expensive and well known place. Local wineries can produce some great stuff. They often have great value and they're usually more interested in teaching you about their wines. You can sit down, taste what you want to taste, learn a little about it, and if you like something, buy it. If you don't, then hey, you pay your tasting fee, you move on and you try something else.

Whatever you do, get out there and try some things. Learn about it and really enjoy what you're doing.