Horizontal/vertical tasting: what's the difference?

Horizontal Tasting vs. Vertical Tasting

Here are some key concepts to understand the difference between these two types of wine tastings.

Horizontal Tasting: Discovering an Appellation

If you attend a tasting where you sample several wines from the same appellation and vintage, you are participating in a horizontal tasting. Horizontal tasting involves comparing different wines from the same appellation. This type of tasting is organized to explore the characteristics of a specific terroir, its grape varieties, and vineyards.

Vertical Tasting: A Journey Through Vintages

In contrast to horizontal tasting, vertical tasting refers to sampling the same wine from the same appellation, estate, and grape varieties but from different vintages. The concept is to travel through time by comparing the evolution of the wine across various vintages, much like flipping through old photo albums with family or friends. This type of tasting is highly educational, helping you to distinguish between a young wine (with fruity aromas and pronounced tannins) and a more mature wine (with tertiary aromas and softened tannins). It also allows you to learn how to differentiate between a mediocre vintage, a good vintage, and an exceptional one.

FAQ - Horizontal and vertical tasting

What is a horizontal tasting?

It is the comparison of several wines from the same appellation and the same vintage. It reveals the characteristics of a terroir, its grape varieties and its vineyards by putting several producers of the same year side by side.

What is a vertical tasting?

It focuses on a single wine, from the same appellation, estate and grape varieties, but across different vintages. The aim is to follow how the cuvée evolves over time, from one year to the next.

What is the difference between horizontal and vertical tasting?

A horizontal tasting compares different wines of one appellation within a single vintage, while a vertical tasting follows one wine across several vintages. The first explores a terroir, the second explores time.

What is the purpose of a horizontal tasting?

It helps you discover an appellation in depth by comparing wines of the same vintage side by side. You get a clear sense of a terroir's style, how its grape varieties express themselves and how producers differ.

Why do a vertical tasting?

It teaches you to tell a young wine, with fruity aromas and pronounced tannins, from a more mature wine, with tertiary aromas and softened tannins. It also helps you distinguish a mediocre vintage, a good one and an exceptional one.