If you’re planning a trip to Napa Valley soon, you may need a loan.

In a remarkable “2023 Direct to Consumer” report by Silicon Valley Bank, the average tasting of basic-level wines is now $81 - an increase of $21 over 2022. And if you like what you taste, be prepared to spend for it - the average cost of a Napa Valley wine passed $100 for the first time. Up $17 from the previous year, a bottle averages at $108.

But wineries aren’t too concern, although their tasting rooms aren’t as packed as they were before the covid pandemic. The average sales taps in at a whopping $488.

Even more noteworthy is that it is becoming very difficult to just walk into a tasting room without a reservation. Although walk-ins were welcomed decades ago, the pandemic closed all of them. Eventually, they reopened on a reservation system that allowed producers to minimize the crowd. Once that crisis was over, 60 percent of the tasting rooms elected to keep the reservation requirement.

Better deals can be found in other regions. The average tasting fee for basic-level wines in Sonoma County is $38 and in Paso Robles it is $28, according to the report. In Virginia, it’s only $18.

Tasting room fees are spreading through Europe too. I’ll be traveling to southern France in a couple of weeks and expect to pay for tastings that were once free.

I understand that producers are not pleased with freeloaders who are there for a buzz and don’t buy any wines, but their fees should offset only part of what they pay. If a visitor spends $400 on their wines, the fee should be waived.