We reckon there are three things holding people back from doing more side-by-side tastings.
- You don't have enough glasses
- 2+ bottles is a lot of wine
- You've never given it much consideration
The first problem is the easiest to solve. If you're reading this, you've probably got one decent set of wine glasses. All you need is a second set. You can align your budget with your level of interest in wine. Just starting out? Grab an extra half dozen from IKEA of KMart for $10. Just built yourself a wine room? You might want a set per varietal from Riedel.
The second problem requires either the world's greatest invention, the Coravin, or a couple of wine-loving friends. The latter is free, the former is not.
The third problem is what we're here to help with today.
Tasting a single wine is a great way to decide if you like that style of wine, and to explore some of its more obvious characteristics that you can remember for longer than the flavours linger. But if you're interested in understanding more nuance about the impact of soil, vintage, varietal, or winemaking techniques on a wine, or even just zeroing in on your preferred styles, it's very difficult for mere mortals to remember enough details from one bottle to the next across different occasions. That's where side-by-side tastings come in. The subtlest of differences jump out when you can move back and forth between two glasses. Here are a few of our favourite kinds of side-by-side pairings and some bottles from our range you could experiment with.
Vintages
A vintage side-by-side, where you are tasting the same wine across different vintages (aka a vertical) can provide a better understanding of the difference caused by weather (if the years are close together) and ageing (if the years are far apart).
For weather impact try: the 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva (hot summer but late harvest due to cool & wet spring) v 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva (warm summer and early harvest due to a mild winter and spring).
For ageing impact try: the 2015 Serracapelli Barbaresco v 2019 Serracapelli Barbaresco. Both have some age, but the 2015 has had 4 extra years in bottle to develop its tertiary characteristics (look for more prominent truffles and leather).
We also have no fewer than 5 different vintages of the Ravera Cru Barolo from Cagliero if a mega Barolo vertical lineup is your idea of heaven.
Terroir
Taste the same grape and vintage across regions, vineyards, or rows.
Across regions try: 2019 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione v 2019 Brunello di Montalcino. Both pinnacle versions of Tuscan Sangiovese from an exceptional vintage.
Across vineyards try: 2019 Barolo Ravera v 2019 Barolo Terlo. Neighbouring Nebbiolo vineyards, identical winemaking, utterly different flavours. We discuss the difference in an old post on our instagram page if you want our take...
For those who want to get really granular and taste across different rows in the same vineyard, we're waiting for the 2019 Dedicato a Paulo from Cecilia Monte to arrive mid 2025 so we can taste it against her regular Serracapelli. The Dedicato is from her Dad's favourite patch of the same vineyard.
Winemakeing
Did you know the pinkish Toscana IGT (remind me to update this link to the 2024 vintage in May 2025!) is made from the same vineyard as the entry level Chianti Classico (ditto the 2023 vintage) from Tregole? Neither see time in oak. One spends an hour on skins and cold ferments, the other days on skins at cellar temp. It's not often you would compare a white and red, but this side-by-side is a fascinating experience.
Hot tip: Cecilia's Langhe Nebbiolo is made from the same grapes as her Serracapelli Barbaresco. Only differences are time on skins (10 v 14 days), oak (minimal v 12 months) and time (extra 2 years to release). Both great wines for their price, but utterly transformed.
Varietal
We're excited to line up a few whites that share some features, but are very much their own wines, driven by fruit rather than oak. A side-by-side-by-side might be in order for these beauties from the same year: Cecilia Monte 2022 Timorasso v Premier Cru 2022 Chablis v racy Alsace 2022 Riesling.
That's more than enough to get you thinking - now go get tasting!