Comments on: New Wine Tasting Technology

By: Ed Thralls

Ed Thralls — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:23:14 +0000

Thanks, Jill, for the comment. The response from the recipients of these mini- me’s will be interesting to say the least. I will seek out some of the winemaker’s I talk to and see if they have an opinion on the “effect” of the format size regarding volume to surface area, etc.

By: Jill Dever

Jill Dever — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:05:50 +0000

I think this is great for wineries (if they can afford to have a seperate bottling for samples.) But i wonder how this affects the perception of the reviewer? I would also have to imagine this does have some effect on the wine – with the wine to air ratio of small bottles.

By: Ed Thralls

Ed Thralls — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:46:28 +0000

Randy – just means a few more twists of the cap that’s all… and it may help you curb those hangovers

Benito has some good points from the perspective of evaluating what you are going to experience at the wine store in a full bottle (cork, label, visual) and there’s no way there is enough room on the pipettes for the label info…

By: Randy Waston

Randy Waston — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:53:25 +0000

This is the worst f-in’ idea ever!

Not for the wineries, but for wine loving whores like myself! How am I gonna get crunk if wineries start sending me these small “wine shots” instead of full 750ml bottles!

I mean, come on here folks! Where are your priorities!

By: Benito

Benito — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:58:35 +0000

I like the idea if you’re tasting dozens of wines a week–I always despair when I see perfectly good wine dumped down the drain.

For lower-volume wine bloggers, I’m not so sure. Many bloggers prefer to take their own photos rather than just using the PR-supplied shots, and readers will need to know what the full-size bottle looks like if they want to buy it. Also, there’s a lot of varying quality and styles involved in closures as well as labeling that can be an important part of a review, which would be lost with tiny samples. For example, is the winery using quality cork stock? Does the label contain enough basic information to assist a customer who is browsing through bottles?

When I review wines, I try them on their own, then with food, when first opened, and after a few hours of breathing–trying the wine in a real world environment. This broader approach would be impossible with just 50mL, and the resulting notes would be more like the quick impression I’d get from a big tasting lineup.