Why You Need More Wine Tastings This Summer (And What a Vertical Tasting Can Teach You About Your Palate)
There are usually two kinds of people at a wine tasting.
The first? Serious wine people — swirling, sniffing, scribbling notes. The second? A group of friends celebrating a bachelorette, a Saturday, or honestly just the fact that it's not Monday. Both are valid. Both are welcome. But this summer, we need more people getting out there and doing wine tastings — and here's exactly why.
You're at a party. Someone hands you a Chardonnay. It's buttery, it's oaky, it tastes vaguely like popcorn — and you decide right then: I don't like Chardonnay. Case closed. You've been ordering Sauvignon Blanc ever since.
Here's the thing: that's not how wine works.
Writing off an entire grape variety, wine region, or style based on one glass is like swearing off pasta because an airport Bolognese let you down once. Don't do that to yourself. There are thousands of Chardonnays in the world that taste nothing like that one. Wine tastings — done right — are how you find the ones that are actually yours.
What Is a Vertical Wine Tasting?
A regular side-by-side wine tasting lets you compare different wines at the same time, which is already a game-changer for learning your palate. But a vertical tasting takes it one step further.
In a vertical tasting, you taste the same wine from the same producer across multiple vintages — meaning different years, side by side. It sounds nerdy (it is, in the best way), but it's also one of the most accessible and eye-opening wine experiences you can have.
Why does vintage matter? Because wine is alive. It changes year to year based on weather, harvest timing, and growing conditions:
A hot, dry summer can produce riper, rounder, fruitier wine
A cool, rainy season can give you higher acidity, more tension, more zip
Mass-produced grocery store wines are engineered to taste the same every year — consistency is the point. Small-batch, small-production wines like ours? We let nature have opinions. And nature, it turns out, has excellent opinions.
How a Vertical Tasting Tells You Exactly What Kind of Wine Style You Have
This is where it gets useful. When you taste the same wine across three vintages and find yourself reaching for one over the others, that preference is actually a map — a direct line to other wines you'd love.
Here's how we think about it with our Trousseau Gris vertical (three vintages, one grape, same winemaking, very different vibes):
2025 Trousseau Gris — Bright and Electric
Freshly bottled and still lively, the 2025 is high-acid, tightly wound, and citrus-forward. If you reach for this one, you're a zip-and-brightness person.
You'd also love: 2025 Pinot Gris, 2025 Sauvignon Blanc (French-style, skip New Zealand for now), 2025 Albariño, Muscadet
2024 Trousseau Gris — The Sweet Spot
Right now, this vintage is sitting perfectly — medium acidity, beautiful minerality, refreshing citrus with a little more settled elegance. If this is your pick, you appreciate balance over intensity.
You'd also love: 2024 Sancerre, 2024 Chablis, Gewürztraminer
2023 Trousseau Gris — Rich and Complex
This one has had time to grow into itself. More body, more complexity, ripe stone fruit notes like apricot and nectarine. If you gravitate here, you want roundness and richness.
You'd also love: South African Chenin Blanc, California Viognier, Rhône-style Viognier
Three wines. One grape. And suddenly you know more about your palate than any wine quiz could ever tell you. That's the magic of tasting with intention — and the reason why small-production wine paired with real guidance actually matters.
How to Do a Vertical Tasting This Summer
You don't need a wine cellar or a sommelier certification. Here's how to make it happen:
At a winery: Ask if you can taste multiple vintages of the same wine. Most winemakers and tasting room staff love this question — it shows genuine curiosity and makes for a much more interesting visit.
At home: Pick up two or three vintages of the same bottle (wine shops often carry back vintages) and taste them side by side with friends.
With ECR Vintners: Our Summer Tastemaker Trio is built around exactly this — a curated three-bottle vertical of Trousseau Gris across 2023, 2024, and 2025, designed to make the tasting easy, fun, and genuinely illuminating.
The Real Point: Have Fun With It
Try the wine you think you won't like. Order the weird grape. Pair something unexpected and see what happens. A crisp glass of something cold and delicious on a warm summer evening is one of life's simpler joys — lean into it.
The next great wine you love? You probably haven't met it yet. More tastings, please.