I received my TastingRoom.com tasting kit a couple weeks ago, and finally had time to review the wines they sent me to customize my next wine club shipment.
- 6, 50 mL bottles of wine to taste (2 white, 4 red)
- 2010 Ten Sisters Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
- 2010 Loophole Santa Barbara Chardonnay
- 2011 Hangtime California Pinot Noir
- 2010 Château Tour Saint-Georges Bordeaux
- 2011 Elelin Vineyard Selection Patagonia Malbec
- 2010 Fortuna Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon
- White & red wine tasting mat
- Instructions
What you need is:
- 6 clean wine glasses
- the white wines chilled
- about 15 minutes
TastingRoom gives you this snazzy video showing you what's in the kit, and how to properly taste the wines
I swirled, I sniffed, I sipped, and I thought. What I like about the instructions is the last line of the “Think” process: “There's no wrong answer!” This is what YOU think of the wine, not what others think! And you don't have to explain yourself… just go to tastingroom.com/rate and tell them if you like white #1 or white #2 better, then specify if you like it “a little” better, or “a lot.”
After the whites, set up 4 fresh glasses on the red side of the tasting mat, pour out the bottles, and start comparing: bottle 3 vs. bottle 4, then onto bottle 5, then finally bottle 6. This round works a bit different, as you compare 3 vs 4, then that winner goes against 5, then that one is compared to 6. In my case, 3 beat 4, then 3 beat 5, and finally 3 beat 6.
Now in a couple of weeks, TastingRoom.com will send me a case of wine (that's 12 bottles) based on the wines I reviewed. The cost of this case is $85, and that includes shipping!