Ten Wines Worth Comparing

A horizontal tasting simply means buying or assembling different wines of the same variety and vintage. They can be from the same wine region or you can find wines from different regions around the world.

For instance, a few different Napa cabernets from the 2005 vintage, or a few 2006 sauvignon blancs from different countries around the world, make great horizontal tastings. (When you taste bottles of different vintages from the same winery, this is called a "vertical" tasting.) Or, if you have several wines from an older vintage, all the better, since the ability of different producers' wines from the same variety and year to age over time says a lot about the people and place from which each wine came.

Wines that show they could age well hint at a top-quality vineyard, great growing season, forward-thinking winemaking--or all three.

Why Getting Horizontal is Fun
The idea behind a horizontal tasting is to explore the similarities and differences between wines of the same year. For instance, if you were tasting Napa cabernets or cabernet-based blends (meaning small quantities of other varieties such as merlot or cabernet franc might be blended in), try the 2005 vintage since the wine quality varies from producer to producer, more so than in years with lower crop volumes.