You’re forgiven. This time. 😉

Interesting concept with the Tasting Room. Great opportunity to try some wines without investing in full sized bottles. Clearly would allow someone to explore a certain varietal or wines from a particular region with the added benefit of leveraging Tasting Room’s knowledge of the wines. Hopefully they will expand their ship to’s.

QOTD – Yes I agree splits will gain momentum in the general market for the reason you cited.

QOTD: I like the idea of a taste along. I honestly don’t see myself ordering these tasting packs though. Maybe as a gift. I’m happy to see that there are some nice wines in the mix though. I kind of expected a bunch of housewife grocery store wine.

half bottles: Rarely. I have bought them at restaurants though because I like being able to have different wines during a meal and not being restricted to the per glass list.

I like the idea of a live streaming tasting of a pack of tiny little bottles along with you, Gary! I have some tiny little bottles on their way to me right now, but I went with a single winery because none of the variety packs quite struck my fancy. I would definitely be curious to taste a pack you picked out, though.

As for half-bottles, I have bought a few lately and in theory they would be great for me for weeknights since I live alone or also can be a nice way to get to sample something more expensive. The only challenge they seem to present now that I’ve accumulated a few is how to store them. I know they age more quickly than 750’s, but I still don’t want to have to consume them immediately.

Magnums cost more because wineries make a limited supply and they are more collectible. Because of the smaller air to wine ratio (between the cork and the wine) in larger bottles, they will age significantly longer, which makes them more desirable to collectors. As is logical, the air to wine ratio of smaller bottles (splits, piccolos, etc.) is greater, which makes them less ageable and therefore less desirable to collectors. I’ve heard that splits can actually have less than half the life of a 750. That’s also why when wineries taste a bottle from the 1700-1800’s it’s usually in a very large format.

Fun way to mix it up! Love the concept…this would be a great gift for the wine lovr on your list!

QOTD1: YES-Would love to see you streamin’ live regarding the rest!

QOTD2: The split bottles would be interesting if they were value driven…unfortunately they aren’t that way and I would rather get more bang for my buck, so I’d stick to the 750ml They would be great in restaurants while pairing with different courses but again the price would dictate greatly.

Great Show. Looking forward to the reds. I think this is a really cool idea. I haven’t checked out the web site yet, but are all the wines from California? I would personally be far more interested if they included wines from everywhere. It would be a great way to get people to try wines they have never had. It would also be a great tool for students of wine(like myself). I need to be able to blind taste wines from all over the world. To get 5 for the price of one would be a no brainer….QOTD – I love half bottles. I used to crush half bottles of Ken Wright PN when I lived by myself. I love that I can try high end wines without the price tags. Had a half bottle of Hourglass Blueline Cab Franc the other day that I think you would really enjoy GV.

1/2s are fine if you price them the same as full, but they are always more.. and Frankly I can drink a full betewwn me and my gal pal over 2 days.

I love the splits! I had a cute half bottle of Duckhorn Merloww the other day and was showing it off to my ex. She thought I’d given it to her. I guess I did. 🙁

I like ex housewives!

yeah half bottles are good. often the wife and I can’t finish a whole bottle, so it becomes cooking wine.

i also think that the sampling bottles would be cool at 80ml or 100ml. then two people could have a glass of the same wine and drink together. not so solo orientated then.

I just realized you may have seeded my Goldeneye reference. Good call, I know they do the Paraduxx in the Half bottles aswell

Half bottles are good for wines that are meant do be enjoyed young, and of course for sparkling wine. If there is already some years of bottle age for a half bottle i’m really hesitant to buy it. For example 2006 Montecillo Crianza 375ml tasted very different than the same stuff in full bottle.

QOTD: I like the concept of half bottles, but the selection is often very limited. If I’m looking to try something new, chances are it wont be in a split, so I have to buy a full bottle instead.

Cool concept on the TastingRoom wines, esp for people who can’t get to these wineries without hopping on a plane. Some of the wines in these flight packs can get a little pricey, so I would recommend you check to see what the actual bottle prices are before you make your selections. It’s no fun to fall in love with a wine only to find out you can’t afford it.

First off, great work zooming in on those little bottles Mott!

I love the TastingRoom concept. As I am trying to expand and educate my palate, this as a great way for me to taste multiple wines side-by-side without committing to full bottles.

QOTD: I love splits and now that I think about it, I’m a little miffed that the wine shops I frequent don’t offer more half bottles. You think the 50ml samplers will ever hit storefronts?

Invest in a can of Cellar Saver (or any brand of inert gas); it will protect your leftover bottles of wine from spoilage better than those vacuum devices. A can costs about $10 and will give you 20-25 uses, and I have kept some bottles for 4-5 days without “re-gassing” them with no problems.

I see that most respondents seem to like the idea of half-bottles. Thats probably because they haven’t actually had to drink their wines from them that often. With the exception of dessert wines, I have no use for .375ml. They age MUCH faster, get warm (or cold) much faster, etc.
Gary, a question for you (if you still read all these)…you go to great pains to rinse your glass between wines when you taste, but what about your taste buds/palate? Surely all these concentrated, full-bodied wines don’t just ‘evaporate’ off your tongue in 30-60 seconds, do they? Just wondering…

Great camera work, Mott!! The zoomy-zoom was in full effect today.

As for the tasting bottles pack, I do like the concept, and although I wouldn’t drop the cash on that small selection, I think it is a great idea for those just getting into wine that like to taste and experiment without having to commit to full bottles.

QOTD: Splits are great, especially for higher-end producers or regions (top-tier Burgundy for example) that allow me to taste legendary wines without dropping the cash for a 750. I’ll opt for this at a boutique wine shop once in a great while if the price is right and the educational gain is worth while.

Seems like a lot of fun to have to taste so many samples. nice.

QOTD1: I believe it’s a good idea to have a live tasting on ustream, it would be very entertaining.

QOTD2: I like half bottles a lot, regularly buy them when available.

I totally flipped as well when I saw the video image appear. I’m like…”he’s not going to taste ALL of that in one show.” That being said, awesome show. Loved the pace of the tasting.

Side QOTD: Live Ustream tasting sounds like a blast. Hope I’m not in class.
QOTD: I love splits on restaurant menus. Last night at my birthday dinner with my wife, I ordered a rare full bottle for the meal. I usually get too boozed up if I have a cocktails, additional glasses with other courses, or even dessert wines. I can try and pair more with the meal with splits. I would also buy more splits for home, provided the selections fit either my palette or my wife’s.

I like the idea of half bottles very much as we often don’t finish a bottle (especially on week days), but they aren’t that much available.

And they are a must when buying desert wines, mostly because of the price and you don’t drink a hole bottle of that with two persons (at least, I don’t).

i agree, I always take that into affect and have done it long enough to factor it in, or I hope!

this is an incredible idea. For years i have wondered why more wineries do not offer a “sample” bottle, or flight of their wines that people can try before paying $40-100 for a bottle they’ve never tasted from a winery that could potentially be across the globe. I have a feeling this idea will take off quite nicely.

As a fan of surrealism I really love the initial image. It plays havoc with ones sense of perspective. One thinks of wine bottles as being fairly standard size, so maybe it?s a really big table. And maybe Gary got a dose of radiation and became the amazing colossal Gary. Or perhaps Mott is doing some sort of interesting photography effect.