I stopped doing large format (as in the venue not the bottle) wine tastings quite awhile ago. I just came to the realization that a very short pour in what is usually a very small glass was in large part meaningless when trying to evaluate wines. These are almost always standing events where the main objective is to pack as many people as possible into the space being used. The only reason I would do one of these at this stage would be for social reasons. Do you think they have any value in the critiquing of wine?
You can tell an aweful lot from a 2 ounce pour. I was once at a trade tasting where I asked for a pour and the smallest amount imaginable landed in my glass. I mean it was about .25 of an ounce! I dumped it and moved on.
I have done the same thing right in front of the winemaker, who gave me the I’m-astonished-what-an-asshole look. I knew the look and told him “I thought this was intended to swish and prime the glass, sorry”.
When no more wine was forthcoming I moved on.
I couldn’t agree more with this post. It’s like trying to discern a persons personality from their handshake and hello. The fact that some things can be gleaned from that type of interaction doesn’t make it a functional way to assess wine, merely efficient.
At big walkround tastings, I generally only take 2-4 sips before pouring the rest into the spittoon, so I’m actually in favour of small pours as I don’t like waste.
These days though, I don’t kid myself that my judgement at such events is much better than picking from a fairly limited scale, something along the lines of :
- Foul
- Not very interesting / appealing
- Decent
- Interesting / appealing
- Exciting
and even then if a wine was slipped in again blind, I reckon I’d only be as accurate as + or - 1 level on such a scale.
Taking time over a glass or two will be that much more informative, but I still enjoy the big tastings as a way to widen my experience and highlight other areas of interest.
regards
Ian
I feel like I can get a good sense of a wine in a 1 oz or 1.5 oz pour. Would I rather have 3 oz? Sure, but if the option is 1 oz or none at all of a 90’ Richebourg, I take the pour please 
There is a professor at a local University here that teaches wine appreciation. He has a 6000 bottle strong cellar going back to the 60’s, which he uses exclusively for the in-class tastings. With 70 students (it is a very popular class), he feels he can pour a taste for everyone as long as he has 4 bottles of something, But I’ve seen him pour nearly 30 folks out of one bottle. For these budding wine geeks, getting to taste a Riesling from their birthyear is quite the treat.
I also hate when the wain-waiter pours two rain drops for me to check the wine is ok (dribbling a further 10 ml down the side of the bottle in the process). Now what are these ounces you guys are talking about? I guess the spirit is “tiny pours” so will comment on that: I certainly treat events quite differently depending on the size of the pour. Sometimes, there is as little as 30-40 ml and that won’t let me evaluate much at all - at best, whether I “like” the wine on first impression. It’s generally insufficient to watch for any development in the glass. 60-70 ml is enough for a decent taste, and from about 90-100 ml I’m actually drinking the wine rather than just tasting it. I tend to provide upfront in any of my TNs how much / how the wine was enjoyed because I feel that context is important. I stand in awe of people who can write a three paragraph tasting note after sharing a bottle among 20+ people.
I agree with Michael. I wouldn’t say you can’t get any evaluation or enjoyment out of a 1 ounce pour, but I’d say 1.5 ounces is probably where I’d start in terms of it being enough wine for me to get the full aroma and more than one proper-sized taste of the glass.
When Doug Shafer pours you 2-3 ounces of Shafer Sunspot Napa valley Premiere, you smile and move to the right…($975 a magnum)
You know what you can tell from a <1 ounce pour?
How cheap and pretentious the person pouring or the winery is.
I hate that stuff. When someone pours what looks like a “rinse and dump” in my glass, it’s a major turn off.
It’s not the size of the pour. It’s the time you spend with the wine (or the lack of it) that is the main problem with these kind of events.
Never been to a wine tasting, but I’m sure I could not tell much about the wine with a 1 oz. pour. 4 oz. would be nice, at least. Now with beer at least 8 oz.
Cheers!
You guys rock.
Agree.
With the really skimpy pours it’s difficult to get the nose. Especially with aromatic competition in the room. Can’t pick up the nose and just one sip and you’re wanting me to buy your wine? Or even remember it? Half ounce wise, 24 ounce foolish.
I don’t really have a problem with that size of pour. It is enough to evaluate the wine. It also depends if I am drinking or spitting. If I am spitting then a 2 oz pour is simply a waste.
This.
My other pet peeve: you get a decent 1.5-2 oz. pour, swirl, sniff, sample, maybe twice and then spit out and dump the remains of the sample. The next sample is a .25 oz. pour and you ask for a little more. “Why? you’ll just pour it out” ![[head-bang.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/b1cd199e4b2b2988b5107c3c9598fd28dc92a776.gif "[head-bang.gif]"){kind=small}
Don’t get me started on poor glassware.
1 oz is plenty to evaluate a wine. It’s 3 good swigs at least, which is more than I’m going to take if I’m tasting through any decent number of wines. A local wine shop/bar pours 2oz for most wines, but once in a while it will be a 1oz taste, for something rare/expensive (last one I remember was 83 d’Yquem). I rarely finish the 2oz pours, particularly if I have more than 2 or 3 different wines.
If you’re willing to bring your own excellent glassware…the Zalto Universal is my favorite for excellent evaluation of small pours…and if you’re willing to rinse between pours (or at least between producers) then 1oz is enough to get a good (or better) gauge on a wine.
When I’m pouring my wines at an event and I see someone rinsing their glass then I’ll pour my wines from most elegant to biggest, to make it easier to understand the wines (without rinsing between every pour). Since most people don’t rinse, I might or might not to the opposite.
I’m in agreement with Alan and Eric. For me it’s enough, I think you get a good sense of the aromatics both from a good stem (not too voluminous), and once the wine is manipulated on the palate. I’m no advanced taster by any stretch of the imagination, but 2 oz is too much for a taste.
same
1oz is plenty to get the job done, so long as there wasn’t anything particularly offensive in your glass before (e.g. RP100).