+1
(always wanted to do one of these +1 things)
Prepoured by a sommelier or a shot glass is the way to go. No eyeballing by participants unless they are willing to short themselves.
It is VERY annoying when that bottle of Meo Camuzet Richebourg gets around to you and is empty with someone sitting there with 4 ozs in their glass. Been there too.
My tasting group has done fine with a 100ml lab-style graduated cylinder, even though it’s very narrow (not to mention unaesthetic). There’s a ring you set to the right amount. We measure the first wine and then pour the other glasses alongside that. The pours tend to get slightly bigger as we move down the line to the later wines, but not enough to pose problems – just enough that there is typically a little less left in the wine H bottle than in wine A.
I can’t remember any spills with this. The ideal one would be shorter, wider and 60-70 ml, but I haven’t been able to find that.
That might work with an INAO glass, but it doesn’t work at all with glasses that have broad bowls.
Yep.
People are free to pour a bit less if they want to, or a bit more if we have less than 10 people.
And, if there is some wine left over, we are also free to have a look at it after, if you so desire.
Makes it fair all around.
We have used this OXO 2oz measuring cup once or twice when a single bottle had to cover a large # of folks. I’ve also be accused of being the “pour police” at numerous 10+ tasting always by the same heavy-handed pourer (that I never sit down bottle from)
FWIW, I also recommend however you pour your wines that you reverse the order so the same two guys do not end up with the dregs every time.
I use what Mel posted, measure 2 OZ, then pour that amount of water into a glass. I then use a dry erase marker to mark the line on one glass at each tasting spot. All of the pours are then poured to mark, and matched for the rest of the glasses at each spot. It’s a very easy and pretty fast way to get exactly 2 ozs per glass. That leaves 1.5 oz in the bottle for dregs and sediment, and provides each person a very healthy pour. 2 oz looks like more than you’d think in a vinum syrah or bordeaux stem.
Reading this makes me grateful for the folks that I taste alongside. With a group of 20 we are able to make sure everyone gets a taste and there is usually something in the bottle after it makes it around. I think that has more to do with being polite than anything else. You only really need about an ounce to evaluate and savor.
Man, you’re stingy, David! Sorry, make that parsimonious. An ounce ain’t enough for me, particularly if I want to see how the wine evolves.
Another alternative is to put shock collars around everyone’s neck and then utilize the device for those rounds where some people overpour and there’s not enough left for the last few. Oh sure, there will be some complaining at first, but negative reinforcement can be a powerful tool. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
I like the method of measuring out the amount to go into each glass, pour that amount of water in, and then mark the glass so everyone can see exactly how much to pour. Although most winegeeks know how to eyeball a tasting pour, a lot of non-geeks don’t. Plus, if people are getting a bit tipsy as the tasting goes on, their pouring form may deteriorate.
If worse comes to worse, don’t pass the bottle around and let people pour for themselves. Put all the glasses on a table, and have one person pour the same amount in each glass, pouring a large pour into a short pour when necessary.
Bruce
Maybe I’m drinking with much nicer people, but I have never seen this happen at an offline. The only time I have ever asked that pours be measured is when a group of 10 of us split the cost of a 750 of 01 Yquem, and that was just so that people got the quantity that they paid for (and because being off by an ounce meant that you were off by $25…)
It is not a terrible idea. I went to one wine dinner that had I think 12 of us. One person kept walking the table doing the pours. I was in the last seat and I don’t think I got served 5 of the wines. Luckily some of the others noticed this and kept passing their glasses so I could try things.
It was a bit irritating - if it wasn’t for the grace of others.
When you are powering through 30-40 wines at a sitting, 1 oz pours are enough. Usually not enough table space for the 6-8 glasses I would need. I do agree that 1 oz is a small pour, but our group seems to make it work.
Oh, that’s more than a bit irritating. If one person is going to do the pouring around the table for everyone and isn’t good at it, make sure they pour themselves LAST. Their pouring form is likely to improve when they’re the tasting caboose.
Bruce
He poured himself and then his wife…first.
I don’t know if “nicer” is the right word — I might say “more aware” or “more considerate.” Interestingly, this has been an issue only at the offlines I’ve attended in England; never in the States.
There are also pour spouts that don’t measure, but pour in a smaller, more controllable stream and also help prevent dripping.
If I felt that a bottle might not make a round at a dinner I’d surely buy a few of those. I’m sure everyone has seen them at retailer tastings or winery tasting rooms.
Our Boston-based poker & wine group uses glass shot glasses with measurements on the side for our gatherings. We usually only break them out with 8+ people, but they do seem to work very well to distribute the wine evenly across the tasters.
PS - I’ve been to a few (big) offlines (including one with fellow posters) where bottles don’t make it around the table because of individual pourers. It was extremely frustrating and certainly made a few folks look inconsiderate. This could be easily resolved with a measurement, no matter how geeky we may look.
Man I must be a complete outlier. I’d never belong to any group that used measured pours. I’ve sued them at events where we are more or less required too but I’d never put one on a bottle I was sharing with friends. Frankly the shock collar at the door would be only slightly less rude.
It only takes one guy and more often than not it is not the guy who brought the wine. Is it really worth the embarrassment? I once attend a tasting where the host generously opened two bottles of the 85 La Tache amongst all other great wines and he ended up getting none.
We’ve occasionally seen this happen but only later at night when people might get careless after drinking. But everyone keeps an eye out and will help out anyone at the end who got shorted.
I’m a little shocked that this isn’t standard practice for everyone.