Do you always taste before you buy?

This guy does.

An Argentine white came in first.

That’s a lot of bottles for only $65 worth of wine.

No.

Being tasteless, I do not.

Not like he does; but, seriously, most of the time, yes, unless the wine is from a producer/vintage with which I am familiar.

Haha. I would have to go to NYC or Chicago nearly weekly. Most of what I buy isn’t even for sale in the state I live in.

Um no ! Where in Ct can you buy Becklyn or MacDonald even at secondary market or VHR or Greer ? Or even Bedrock to taste ? I dont trust critics too much but I do trust this board and cellartracker to often take the plunge without tasting first. Over 90 % of the time I am happy.

Never.

back in the day, one could and would. Wines were on the shelf a long time. Fewer reviewers existed to hype the wine pre-release. There weren’t back room one bottle now or never decisions to be made. I remember 96 Raveneau. I bought a couple b, took them home and, a couple weeks later, bought more after tasting them. And more after that. Those chances don’t occur now. It’s a different world.

Absolutely if the is expensive or I’m not familiar with the producer / region / style or there is no recourse if I don’t like the wine. Otherwise, it depends … on the source and any recommendation from trusted friend or writer.

I have a lot of Bedrock in the cellar that I have not tasted.

Impossible these days. But I rarely buy in any quantity if I haven’t had the producer before.

I try to taste before 1st bt purchase, sometimes not possible. For a purchase of many bts (sometimes 2nd phase) I am usually after a taste.

Perhaps there were no reps sampling that day??

I was always warned to not buy wines I have yet to taste as I might not like the style. To date there have been exactly zero wines I’ve purchased where I can make that statement. Call me lucky or I guess I am just buying good wines. I’ve had wines I’ve tasted at wineries I don’t like and I certainly don’t buy those. Once you familiarize yourself with an AVA or region’s wine style you have a good idea of what you will get without tasting. Some of the wines I was buying early in my collecting days I have circled back to with tasting visits to the winery and bought more bottles.

It’s a tricky question. I’ve tasted before buying and bought before tasting, it always varies. Highly sought after wines that have little allocation (Carter OG for example) are always purchased without tasting. Secondary market and wine shops I try and taste before buying unless I am familiar with the wine.

I will say that I’ve had a number of wines I randomly purchased without tasting (based on word of mouth or reputation) taste much better then wines that I tasted in store and drank later on. Perhaps it is the psychological impact of having an expectation based on my prior tasting versus no expectation at all.

If my budget allows, I try and purchase random wines/varietals from good producers that I haven’t tasted. Figure in case my palate shifts as I get older or seasons change, I have some options.

No, I just see what Suckles likes and back up the truck.

It’s too much fun to buy a wine and then hate myself after I realize I don’t even like it and get to play a game where I convince myself over time that I like it.

I remember some of those threads where the rich jet setters who whisk over to Bordeaux for en primeur events and to be hosted by a line of elite chateaux would sneer at us regular guys for not tasting everything before we buy.

It would be a nice luxury to have, but it’s not how the real world works for most of us.

I do think that it’s good to try to attend group tastings, wine store tastings, and so forth when possible, to get to taste bigger lineups of things and discover some wines you do (and don’t) like.

No, not all the wines I buy come with screw caps.