Arranging the wines for a tasting is the only task that involves a little strategy. Dessert wines and other wines that are noticeably sweet, such as most domestic Chenin Blanc and Muscat, should be saved for the end of the tasting. This is because sweet wines can affect your palate and make dry wines taste sour. A vertical tasting focuses on a specific wine over different vintage years. Vertical tastings help demonstrate which vintage years are best in particular areas, and whether a producer is consistent.
Horizontal tastings involve the same type of wine and vintage year, but different producers.
Horizontal tastings are useful for discovering your favorite wine producers, because you can compare what different producers accomplished under equivalent vintage conditions. We personally enjoy sampling wines made from a specific grape varietal, but produced in different parts of the world. These wines are all made from the same grape varietal, but have significant stylistic differences. As a general rule, the New Zealand version will be intensely fruity and herbal, the California version more oaky and round, and the Sancerre balanced, elegant and refreshing. If you are planning a wine tasting, consider focusing the tasting on a specific varietal, geographic area, vintage year or wine producer.