When do you taste before buying?

We all have our favorite wines that we buy pretty much year in and year out without necessarily tasting first. We all probably also have those we normally buy but like to taste first for the current release. And then there are those we taste before ever buying.
Now I have been known to buy lone bottles of a wine and/or producer I have never tried before based upon curiosity/recommendation, but not in bulk.
I have noticed on some forums, mainly WS, that people will post that “The new rating came out and so I bought XX cases of XXXX Wine (rated xx/100) for $XX!” Now maybe these are wines that are amongst that persons favorites every year and the rating reminded/spurred them to go get their yearly amount, but often I see NO mention of tasting one bottle before making multi-bottle or multi-case purchases. Now for reselling the wine later this is fine but for personal consumption???
Perhaps my meager purchasing schedule does not take into account that a three bottle purchase for me is akin to a three case purchase for others from a monetary standpoint, but this still leaves me curious as to whether I am misreading these posts or whether people actually do this level of buying based solely on a number.

Jay.

I rarely buy more than 2 bottles of any one release. If I bought a case every time I liked a wine I would have a million bottles. No need. Too many good wines, too little time.

I'm in the same boat as regards the amount I buy, ones and twos with a half case being the max I've ever bought.

Still, if I can manage it in any way, I prefer to taste the wine before buying. The easiest way is to visit the winery but that doesn't work for everyone.

Only occasionally is it reasonable for me to buy something untasted, a great vintage from a great producer at a good price are the usual criteria. I also realize that, with my budget, its okay to miss out on a particular wine. Another winner is sure to come along soon enough.

I just purchased 56 cases of wine that I have not tasted.
I have a high level of trust in my importer.

56 cases? Is that all? Heck, as long as it is above 90 points there is no reason to taste it or even like it!

I always taste before buying.
Good point: I can trust my palate not some "expert's."
Bad: 99% of my cellar is local (N Calif) juice.

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It's not over-supply. It's under-consumption. Do your part!

I'm with you. We bought a case once and we were drinking it for what seemed like an eternity! Rarely do I buy more than 2 at a time and always have one before buying more.

A related question that I've been meaning to ask: if you're planning on buying something to cellar, several people here have mentioned that they taste first before buying 3, 6, 12, whatever # of bottles to cellar. But if it's something meant to be consumed 10-20 years from now, how do you know from tasting now if it's something that you like so much that you should buy much more of it? Or is this another situation where I just need more experience??

There are wines I'd like to buy, but am hestitant to outlay the $ based on a number. But then I wouldn't know much if I spent the $ to taste it first. I feel trapped in a wine catch-22.

quote:

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Originally posted by Trelphtor:
56 cases? Is that all? Heck, as long as it is above 90 points there is no reason to taste it or even like it!

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The wine is not yet rated- and unlike you I believe there is a great reason to enjoy the wine that one purchases.

I try to taste before buying as much as possible, but still can't resist from trying some based on reviews.

But Cripes, two days ago I had some 2001 Killibinbin Shiraz (Langhorne Creek Australia) - 92 points Robert Parker and around $35, darn good stuff, yeah, at least I liked it.

Last night had some 2002 Windmill Syrah (Lodi, CA), which I haven't seen any reviews of, was about $10, found it at a tasting and man, I think it was easily as good as the Killibinbin.

Will this kind of thing make me change my habits??? I dunno. Just afraid that some stuff will never be offered up for tasting.

Still, I try hard not to buy much more than 2 bottles if I haven't tasted it before. And yeah, I still try to taste wines I hope to age and haven't totally figured this out yet. So far I'm going with "it tastes awesome but the tannins are just too much right now" to decide to get more to age, hope that works out OK.

Nancy

Hey Trelphtor! I am relatively new to the appreciation of good wine (was cured off of the Pink Catawba by my fiancee "pert' near" a year and half ago) I almost always base my larger purchases after having tasted. I have used the following strategies for my purchases:
Everyday wines: I'm lucky to have a beverage store nearby which on Saturdays has ~12-20 bottles of wine open for tasting which are on sale. These generally are all under $20 per bottle and we have bought cases of one particular wine based upon that tasting.

Weekend wines: These tend to run ~$20-$40 and are almost always onesy-twosy purchases. The exception to this has been some special purchases where the price seemed to be too good to pass up (ex '99 Luce for 27.45...however, I first ordered six bottles a little higher @$29 tasted and then ended up ordering another eighteen bottles).

Special occasion wines: > $40. On the regular trip to the beverage store these again are generally ones and twos and based upon the reccomendation of the bev store owner who is quite familiar with my tastes. An exception to this was my purcases of 2000 Bordeaux futures. I was completely unfamiliar with Bordeaux, did quite a bit of research on the subject using tasting notes from Wine Spec, Robert Parker and elsewhere. I found wines which from their descriptions seemed to appeal to me. I then checked with a few people more knowledgeable than myself to direct me to wines which might be very similar to my selections. I was hoping this would give me a sense of what I was about to buy. I then proceded to order a case each of five different Bordeaux (Calon Segur, Leoville Poyfere, Gruaud Larose, Carruades de Lafite Rothschild, and Tronquoy-Lalande). I have my fingers crossed on the Bordeaux. One very lucky catch, based upon the reccomendation of a bev store owner, was Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta. I did try one bottle and ended up with eighteen.