If you are reading this blog, you should have at least one wine-related resolution on your list for 2009:  Taste more wine!  This should go without saying for most of you out there, but in my opinion, 2009 (and possibly 2010) much more wine will be approachable to those of us out there trying to tame our wine budget.  But, beyond the fun and challenging game of trying to find the needle-in-the-haystack ultimate value in the fighting varietals, maybe you’ll expand your horizons to try a premium wine or two in the coming year as I expect prices to come down to something more…ahem… palatable.

One way to expedite this process and do it without spending a lot of that sweet moola you made with Uncle Rico blind-tasting bottles at $7-20 each, is to visit your local wine merchants who offer free or small-fee tastings.  This is a great way to try many different types of wines at different prices to determine if you will like them before you buy them.  As we’ve mentioned a few times before, our favorite place is the Sherlock’s literally half a mile from our house which regularly hosts free tastings for 4-5 wines each Saturday.  Each time we tend to walk away with at least one bottle.

Another place we discovered is a little further away in Winter Park, Florida while we were on holiday but I am expecting we all can soon find a similar place in our own cities.  What was cool about this place, called the Wine Room, was the automatic wine dispensing “robots” called Enomatics.  You put money down on a plastic card (like a credit card) up front and simply walk around the nicely designed cellar/retail space and insert your card into the machines, choose which wine and how much of a taste you want and the amount is deducted from your card automatically.  For $20, you could easily taste up to 10 or 12 wines.  Of course, they also had one robot dedicated to some high-end wines if you wanted to give those a shot at $14-20 a pop… but that’s still less than buying a bottle at $100-200 a piece, no?

Another way to try before you buy, is to take advantage of what is called a “flight” at a wine bar like The Grape or D’ Vine.  A flight is where you can purchase a taste of 3 different wines, in most cases.  Often times, these flights are by theme like varietal, region or simply the owner’s favorite reds, for example.  In any case, it is a great way to compare wines as well and train your palate and improve your sensory evaluation skills.

So, what are you waiting for?  It’s January 2nd… let’s get started!