Wine Tour Study Guide

TOUR GUIDE TRAINING

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To pass, you must correctly answer at least 46 questions (80%).

Logistics & Driving

1. When you lose service, and you rely on Google Maps to find your destination, what’s the best thing to do to avoid getting lost and keep the tour running smoothly?

Keep driving and trust that the GPS will reconnect soon.

Stop immediately and tell guests you’re lost so they know what’s going on.

Use your downloaded offline maps or check your route notes, confirm landmarks, and continue calmly while reassessing your next turns.

Ask your guests to look up the directions on their phones.

2. What’s the correct way to handle potential vehicle issues?

Only note problems during the pre-trip inspection, small issues that come up mid-day can wait until the next service.

Keep an eye and ear out during your tour, and immediately report anything unusual (noises, lights, smells, vibrations) on your EOD-form and to the office after the tour.

If the vehicle seems to run fine overall, you don’t need to report minor concerns like warning lights or rough shifting.

Mention issues casually to another guide, they’ll probably pass it along to the office.

3. When driving downhill, what’s the best way to control your speed?

Keep steady pressure on the brakes to maintain a consistent speed.

Shift into neutral to reduce strain on the engine.

Use engine braking by downshifting or turning on tow/haul, and pump the brakes intermittently instead of riding them continuously.

Apply the parking brake slightly to add resistance on steep grades.

4. Which of the following best describes how to ensure a comfortable experience for passengers?

Brake and accelerate sharply as needed to stay on schedule, even if it feels abrupt to passengers.

Drive with smooth, progressive braking and acceleration, consistent speed, and gentle steering, imagine keeping a glass of water on the dashboard without spilling it.

Focus mainly on following GPS directions and maintaining speed; passenger comfort is secondary.

Only worry about smooth driving in busy traffic; on open roads, speed and efficiency matter more.

5. Which of the following best reflects Toast Tours’ policy and best practices for backing up a vehicle with passengers on board?

Backing up is generally safe as long as you check your mirrors quickly.

Avoid backing up whenever possible, and never back onto a busy street. If you must back up with passengers, take extra caution, go slowly, and be aware that this maneuver carries a higher risk of collision.

It’s okay to back up onto a street if traffic seems light.

Passengers can help guide you, so backing up is not particularly risky if someone is giving directions.

6. When turning a larger vehicle, why is it important to understand the “dragon’s tail,” and how should you account for it?

The tail refers to the rear of the bus behind the rear axle. When turning left, watch the right rear; when turning right, watch the left rear to avoid hitting obstacles like trees, mailboxes, vehicles, or people.

The tail refers to the rear overhang; focus on the side closest to the curb while turning since that’s the side most likely to hit something.

The tail is the portion of the bus that swings outward; watch the rear on the same side as your turn because it swings wider than the front.

The tail refers to the back of the bus, but as long as you turn slowly and keep the front wheels clear, the rear will follow safely.

7. What is the safest way to drive a bus over a sharp grade change?

Approach the slope straight on to maintain speed and momentum.

Approach at an angle to increase clearance between the rear or middle of the bus and the slope, reducing the risk of scraping or getting stuck.

Only focus on the front of the bus, the rear will naturally clear.

Drive very slowly in first gear without considering the angle.

8. Which of the following best reflects safe practices for clearance and road conditions?

Always trust helpful bystanders for guidance, as they can see angles you can’t.

Check clearance before entering covered areas or tricky roads; trust your own judgment, watch the rear tires in the mirror when turning, and get out to inspect if you’re unsure. Also, be aware that seasonal changes can make previously accessible roads unsafe.

Assume summer routes will always be passable year-round, and only check clearance for very tight spaces.

Focus mainly on the front of the vehicle when turning; the rear tires will naturally follow safely.

9. When should you use 4-way flashers?

Use flashers only when backing up, and cross railroads as soon as the tracks are clear in one direction.

Use flashers at pickup/drop-off points, when backing up, or performing unusual maneuvers. For CDL holders at railroad crossings with passengers, stop 15–50 feet before the tracks, listen and look both ways, and only cross when it’s clear in both directions.

Flashers are optional; focus mainly on traffic behind you. Stop at railroad crossings only if a train is visible.

Turn on flashers after crossing the railroad to alert other drivers you’ve cleared the tracks.

10. What is the best practice when you have down time at a winery?

Idle freely to keep the vehicle cool whenever necessary, and park wherever space is available as long as you can make a clean exit.

Limit idling when possible; if you must idle, stay away from winery guests and minimize its impact. Park so guests can safely exit and return.

Don’t idle at all, even if it’s very hot, and you have to stay inside the vehicle. Park in the first available spot regardless of clearance, and don’t turn the steering wheel while stationary.

Open windows instead of idling whenever possible, be mindful of guests nearby, park safely for a clean exit, and move the steering wheel only while the vehicle is slightly rolling.

Tour Guide Skills

1. Why are the first 5–7 minutes of a tour so important?

Guests are usually distracted, so it doesn’t matter what you say.

Guests form a lasting impression in the first 7 seconds; being enthusiastic and engaging sets the tone, makes them feel excited, and makes your tour memorable.

This is the best time to go over logistical details like timing and route.

It’s an opportunity to test the vehicle’s systems before the tour.

2. Which of the following best describes how a guide should approach their guests?

Assume guests just want to be transported from one place to another and focus on efficiency.

Look at everything through the eyes of the customer, assume everyone is a VIP, mystery shopper, or big buyer, and start establishing rapport through open-ended questions.

Focus primarily on your own comfort and make decisions based on your preferences.

Avoid asking questions so the guests don’t feel pressured.

3. What is the best way for a guide to connect personally with guests?

Share only factual information about the wineries and vineyards.

Talk mostly about your own life experiences without relating them to the guests.

Listen to guests, find out what they respond to (ambiance, wine style, brand names), and create a personal connection to Toast Tours by sharing relevant stories and experiences.

Avoid personal conversation and maintain a professional distance at all times.

4. Why is storytelling considered a guide’s “secret weapon”?

Because it allows you to share facts faster than guests can read them on their phones.

Because pure factual information isn’t memorable, and storytelling helps guests form emotional connections, remember the tour, and write enthusiastic reviews.

Because storytelling lets you avoid answering guest questions.

Because facts are unnecessary if the guests just want to drink wine.

5. Why is it important for a guide to have a clear message during a tour?

So guests can memorize as many facts as possible about each winery and vineyard.

So the tour has a unifying theme that ties together all the information and experiences, helping guests understand why the region, wineries, or wines are special, and making the story memorable.

So you can avoid answering questions by focusing only on your message.

So the tour can be completed faster without having to elaborate on any details.

6. When presenting a tour, why is it important to “read your group”?

So you can tailor your storytelling and recommendations to each guest’s interests, knowledge, and engagement level.

So you can assume everyone has the same level of wine knowledge and interests.

So you can avoid giving detailed information to any guests.

So you can finish the tour faster and reduce questions from guests.

7. Which of the following demonstrates effective use of positive body language as a guide?

Standing stiffly and speaking in a monotone to appear professional.

Crossing your arms, keeping a neutral expression, and avoiding eye contact.

Leaning slightly toward the group, uncrossing your arms, smiling, and maintaining eye contact while speaking

Frequently checking your phone while guests talk.

8. Which of the following is the most effective approach when asking guests questions?

Ask easy to answer questions about their work for example to get to know them better.

Ask open-ended questions, actively listen, and follow up based on their responses to show interest and build connection.

Ask only yes/no questions to keep the tour on schedule.

Avoid questions to prevent guests from revealing personal preferences.

9. You’ve arrived at a winery with your group. As the guide, which of the following best describes how to manage the stop professionally?

Drop guests off at the entrance, park nearby, start finishing your EOD notes right away, and only check on them occasionally if they ask for assistance. Socialize freely with the group throughout the visit, offer your own commentary on the wines, and help them pick bottles, even if the winery is presenting. Load wine purchases into the bus without color-coding, and adjust vehicle temperature later when you return to the bus.

Let the winery staff handle all guest interactions. Stay with the vehicle, occasionally glance at the group from a distance, and check on them only if someone looks unhappy. Complete EOD notes at your own pace, and remind guests about departure just before leaving. Wine purchases can be stored loosely in the vehicle; there’s no need to use coolers or organize them by guest.

Check your guests in, communicate the departure time with the host, give the winery space to present their wines, and complete any EOD notes. After 20–30 minutes, ensure guests are happy and taken care of (only sit with them if invited by your guests and ok with the winery). Give a 30-minute warning before departure, have the vehicle ready at the door at a comfortable temperature, and color-code and carry wine purchases, always store wine in coolers.

Focus mainly on vehicle preparation and EOD notes. Leave the guests to the winery entirely, returning only if there’s a problem or if you have extra time. Give departure warnings only if you remember, and allow wine purchases to remain in the sun or in the back of the bus without ice packs or organization. You can socialize with the group freely, even if the winery prefers you not to.

10. You’re visiting a winery partner with your group. What’s the best way to maintain a positive relationship and represent Toast Tours professionally?

Act respectfully and professionally at all times, check your guests in, confirm the host’s preferences before sitting with guests or bringing out food, ensure no outside alcohol is opened on-site, support the host during the tasting, and make sure your group cleans up and settles all tabs before departure.

Join your guests for the tasting to make it more fun, bring out snacks to share, and help pour wines if the host looks busy, it shows you’re engaged and helpful.

Focus on keeping your group entertained and happy; if that means letting them open a bottle of beer they brought, it’s fine as long as they’re respectful.

Be fully involved with your guests, leading conversations and interacting freely, even if it interrupts the winery staff’s presentation, it’s your job to make their experience enjoyable.

Wine Basics

1. What does AVA stand for?

2. Usually by what year of growth, a vine is ready to produce fruit of proper quality & quantity for winemaking?

3. If a California wine label identifies the product as a varietal wine, what percentage of the wine must be made from the named grape variety?

4. In order to bear a vintage date (“2008”), what percentage or more of the grapes used in making the wine must be harvested in the year stated?

5. When aging wine, it is common to age in Oak Barrels. What are the three most common types of oak barrels used?

6. When using a barrel for the first time, the wine will pick up the most flavor from the wood itself (often vanilla or toasty flavors) and the barrel is referred to as what kind of barrel?

7. After being used for three+ years, the barrel no longer imparts flavor into the wine but is still a great vessel for aging. We refer to this as what kind of barrel?

8. Sulfites occur naturally in grapes.

True

False

9. Put the following in order of the most to least amounts of sulfites: (Red Wine | Soda | Packaged meats | Dried Fruit)

Start with the product with the most amount of sulfites and end with the product with the least amount (Red Wine | Soda | Packaged meats | Dried Fruit)

10. What is the most likely thing to cause headaches or negative reactions to drinking wine?

Histamines

Dehydration

Additives/Preservatives & Junk (not found in small production wines)

All of the Above

11. It is illegal to add sugar at any point during the winemaking process in California.

True

False

Wine Tasting

What are the 5 S-es of wine tasting?

Mention the 5 s-es in the correct order

The Life Cycle of a Grapevine

Fill in the season that coincides which each stage of the life cycle

Choose from winter, spring, summer & fall

Match Wine Term with Definition

a. The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol, carbon dioxide & heat; turns grape juice into wine

b. Sediment remaining in a barrel or tank during and after fermentation

c. Describes a wine having the off-putting, musty, moldy-newspaper flavor & aroma and dry aftertaste caused by a tainted cork

d. Denotes a wine whose alcohol content has been increased by the addition of brandy or neutral spirits(for example, a Port wine)

e. A measurement of the sugar content of grapes, must and wine, indicating the degree of the grapes’ ripeness at harvest.

f. Refers to the soil, weather, & growing characteristics unique to a site or region

g. The process of removing particles from wine after fermentation

h. Wine that contains substances from the skin of the grape, the stems or the barrels that create a drying, rubbing sensation on your tongue.

i. The difference between average daytime high temperature and average nighttime low temperature

j. The unfermented juice of grapes extracted by crushing or pressing grape juice in the cask or vat before it is converted into wine

k. A technique for clarifying wine using agents such as bentonite, gelatin or egg whites which combine with sediment particles and cause them to settle to the bottom, where they can be easily removed

l. Wine made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual, usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine

m. Term which has no legal meaning in the U.S., but is meant to indicate that a wine is of higher quality than other wines in the portfolio. In other countries, they enforce legal requirements around the term.

n. Means the winery and vineyards have to be in the same AVA, the vineyards have to be controlled or owned by the winery, and the wine has to be made from start to finish at the winery using their own grapes

o. Means the winemaker let the fermentation process finish completely, allowing the yeast to consume all the sugar present, leaving a wine with no residual sugar (RS).

Paso (& California) Wine History

1. Who were the first to plant wine grapes in the area & when?

2. What was the first commercial winery in the area & when was it established?

3. In 1976, this event happened which proved that Napa/California (and the world in general) could produce world class wines?

4. What year did Paso become an AVA?

5. Who is considered the ‘Godfather of Paso Robles’ and was instrumental in getting the region established as an AVA?

6. This winery was the first to introduce quantity & quality Rhone vine cuttings and started a nursery in 1989, making those varietals accessible to winemakers on a commercial scale in the U.S.?

7. What Paso Robles winery was the first to win international acclaim in 1997?

8. In 2010, this winery had a wine designated as #1 in the world by Wine Spectator:

9. Which wine varietal is considered Paso’s heritage grape?

9a. Where does the grape variety originate?

9b. What other variety is genetically identical, and also very popular?

10. What is the name of the pest that devastated the vineyards in California in the 1880’s and eventually in Europe as well:

10a. What was the solution to overcome this pest?

11. What was passed in 1919 that further devastated the wine industry in California?

Paso Robles Today

1. How many sub-AVA’s exist in Paso today?

2. Is York Mountain one of the AVA’s in Paso Robles?

3. About how many acres are planted with vineyards in the Paso AVA?

4. How many more times as many grape varieties are grown in Paso Robles than Napa?

5. This varietal is the most widely planted in Paso:

6. Paso is home of the largest formation of what kind of soil important to wine making in North America?

7. Paso is how many times the size of Napa?

8. 2/3rds of all the wineries in Paso Robles fall into which two categories?

Garagiste Wineries (less than 1,500 cases a year)

Boutique Wineries (1,500 to 5,000 cases a year)

Small Wineries (5,000 to 50,000 cases a year)

Medium Wineries (50,000 to 500,000 cases a year)

Large Wineries (more than 500,000 cases a year)

9. About what percentage of wineries is family owned and operated?

10. California accounts for what percentage of wine produced in the U.S.?

11. Which region in California produces the most wine, approximately 75%?

Paso Wine Varieties

Variety can refer to either the grape itself (Malbec, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris), or to the style or kind of wine, as in red, white, or sparkling, etc. Varietal is used to describe a wine made from a single variety of grape. So, a glass of Chardonnay would be a varietal wine, made from Chardonnay variety grapes.

1. Select all Red Grapes:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Grenache

Malbec

Merlot

Mourvèdre

Pinot Gris

Pinot Noir

Roussanne

Sauvignon Blanc

Syrah

Tempranillo

Viognier

Zinfandel

2. Select all White Grapes:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Grenache

Malbec

Merlot

Mourvèdre

Pinot Gris

Pinot Noir

Riesling

Roussanne

Sauvignon Blanc

Sangiovese

Syrah

Tempranillo

Viognier

Zinfandel

3. Select all traditional Rhone Varieties:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Grenache

Malbec

Merlot

Mourvèdre

Pinot Gris

Pinot Noir

Riesling

Roussanne

Sauvignon Blanc

Sangiovese

Syrah

Tempranillo

Viognier

Zinfandel

4. Select all traditional Bordeaux Varieties:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Grenache

Malbec

Merlot

Mourvèdre

Pinot Gris

Pinot Noir

Riesling

Roussanne

Sauvignon Blanc

Sangiovese

Syrah

Tempranillo

Viognier

Zinfandel

5. Select all traditional Burgundian Varieties:

Cabernet Sauvignon

Chardonnay

Grenache

Malbec

Merlot

Mourvèdre

Pinot Gris

Pinot Noir

Riesling

Roussanne

Sauvignon Blanc

Sangiovese

Syrah

Tempranillo

Viognier

Zinfandel