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IMO 2 oz pours are certainly enough to taste a wine well enough for a TN and it’s our rough rule of thumb for tasting meetings [max 10 wines] of our small wine Club. If more than 15 [2oz is 13 per bottle roughly] are definitely turning up we would have 2 bottles of each wine available but that has rarely happened.
At 6$/pour the effective charge is $78/bottle equivalent so yes that might be expensive but that would depend entirely on the quality of the wines being served and your take on what constitutes a reasonable mark-up.
Originally posted by
If I understand you correctly, are you saying that it affords the consumer the opportunity to taste a rare/expensive wine at an affordable price?

Your post contained two points or questions.

1) That three 2 oz. pours for $18 was "pretty steep." Impossible to address not knowing the wines. If they were three 2 oz. pours of Hillside Select, I'd pay up in a heartbeat and ask for seconds.

2) That 2 oz. pours were possibly insufficient to write a tasting note. To that, I disagreed.

We pour all of our wines BTG in 1.5, 3.0 & 5.0 portions.

With a 750ML bottle = 25.4oz, to us 5.0 is a standard "glass" of wine. The 3.0oz size is essentially a half glass and the 1.5oz portion is a great way to taste many over the course of a night and to build your own flight.

We sell almost equal amounts of the 1.5, 3.0 & 5.0 portions. All the wines BTG are priced proportionately, ie there is no premium for small pours (ex - 1.5oz = $3.00; 3.0oz = $6.00; 5.0oz = $10). We do charge a small premium over the full bottle price to make up for overpours and other waste (ex, a wine that is $10/glass would be priced at about $42/bottle). The exact bottle price is based on the "retail" price of the wine + $20 ($15 if the "retail" price is < $20). We calculate the bottle price first and then go back and determine the BTG prices from that.
The price of the pour should be determined by the price of the bottle, so that a premium wine should command a higher price per pour. The size of the pour should be a minimum of 1.5- 3.0 ounces. When I buy wine by the glass for DRINKING I prefer 5-6 oz, for TASTING 2-3 oz to enable me multiple taste experiences. I expect to pay more for premium quaffs and really expect no bargains, just good wines in perfect drinking condition selected by the owner.

Pros live on 2oz., no problem. Refine your tasting technique, and you'll find it ample, too. Anyway, tasting is, of necessity, different than drinking.

Well said chaad.
Though I'm not good enough to accurately pin-point a score from a 2oz sample of wine...I can decide whether I like it, and/or will buy it.
Enjoying a bottle at home with a meal and a wine tasting event are two different things.
I agree with Chaad on this one. Even an 1.5 ounces should be good enough. If you are swallowing, then one ounce will do, but if you are spitting, it helps to get a solid mouthful.

One technique that prolongs a wine's attributes is retronasal breathing. After swirling, sniffing, swishing, and swallowing, keep your mouth closed and take a deep breath through your nose (until your lungs are bursting). With your mouth still closed, exhale through your nose. Your throat and esophogas will be coated with wine, and the column of air, travelling from your lungs back out of your nose, will score a direct hit on the 2cm squared patch of yellow material deep inside your nose known as the receptor for your olfactory organ. If you do it correctly, you'll feel like you are tasting the wine in the back of your head.

This can usually be repeated 2 or 3 times per taste. It maximizes your ability to really smell the wine, and does wonders for picking up on subtle changes/complexities.
There is a well established Sacramento restaurant and wine bar that features ten (10) wine flights (Three 2oz tastes per flight).

Each flight is priced according to the wines that are featured in the flight... At this moment in time, the cost for a flight ranges between $9 and $16. If this same restaurant and wine bar were located in San Francisco, I would expect the prices to be considerably higher (50% higher or more).

They also offer wine-by-the-glass (not positive, but I think that they are 5oz pours), which include any of the thirty (30) different wines that are featured in the flights. As with the flights, the prices vary for an individual glass of wine.

What's really great is the fact that they have almost 1,000 selections on their restaurant wine list and they make routine changes in the wines that are offered in the flights / wines-by-the-glass.

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