Tasting Room

THE TASTINGROOM.COM

The idea is absurdly simple:

1. Pick a winery and buy samples for as little as $10.
2. Wait for your box of 50ml bottles of wine to arrive.
3. Drink up at home. If you like some of them, buy the full bottles of wine online.

Anyone who’s trudged through the California wine country knows how much of a pain wine tasting can be… so why not bring the experience home instead? For the price of a single tasting fee at your typical Napa winery, you can get samples of Trefethen, Grgich, De Loach, or a few other wineries for you to taste in the comfort of your own home. A 50ml bottle is plenty of wine for two people to taste.

I tried the kit from Patz & Hall ($25 for six wines; regular bottles are each $55 to $80 retail), and really enjoyed the experience. The screwcapped minis are fun to work your way through, and a card included offers tasting notes and other information about each wine you’re drinking. Putting wines side by side is the most fun, an experience you don’t often get at a commercial tasting room. And best of all: No pressure to join the “wine club,” a standby at every Napa winery in existence today.

TastingRoom.com is currently working with just six wineries so it’ll be interesting to see if this idea takes off. But even with a limited selection, consider me a fan.

TastingRoom.com offers wine lovers an innovative new way to discover, taste and acquire wine that expands and enriches the wine-drinking experience. Our service lets you discover and consume wine in a variety of exclusive formats delivered directly to your home.