Vertical or One At a Time?

Jenise's notes on a Lynch Bages got me wondering. Is it preferable to sample such bottles one at a time, or in a mini-vertical so you can compare vintages, or in a horizontal tasting with other wines from the same vintage to compare how well various houses did against each other?

Not an easy decision - I have four vintages of Lynch Bages (70, 82, 88 and 90) and reading Jenise's notes I immediately started thinking about what the best way to enjoy nice old wines might be. When I was in the Commanderie, we tended to do verticals or horizontal tastings as being more educational, but when you have limited numbers of bottles it becomes a harder decision as to how to best enjoy them.

I do a lot (and like doing) verticals and horizontals with other wine geeks. Doing 1996 Medoc again tonight. It's educational and can expose biases. But I don't usually think about that for regular dinner parties, just find wines that I think will match food (and crowd).

[Jenise]

Not that I have ever turned down an opp to participate in a vertical, but I generally prefer horizontals. The comparson of various houses in the same year has always seemed more exciting and educational, where vintage differences in a vertical seem to confirm what everyone present already thought/knew.

[David M. Bueker]

I love verticals. The chance to see both development and the influence of vintage character isolated to a single producer/wine fascinates me.

If you have a run of different vintages of one wine and a bunch of different wines from one vintage would that be a diagonal tasting.....

I'll agree with everyone that both verticals and horizontals are quite interesting!

Another tasting regime that can be interesting is a varietal tasting from different sources - e.g. a single varietal (or a blend) made in different areas. For many years Australian wines were identifiable as to source due to the widespread use of American oak (not so much today of course).