Mini Tasters: A New Way To Sample Wine

The best way to learn about wine is to taste it. But not all stores that sell wines have complimentary tastings. So, in those places, how can you find out whether you would like a bottle of wine or not?

The UK supermarket Asda, which is owned by Walmart, may have a new solution. Their wine buyer is Philippa Carr, a Master of Wine, and she has launched a new program intended to give customers a very inexpensive way to taste a number of wines that they sell.

Asda now stocks a growing range of Mini Taster wine bottles, each about one-third the size of a normal wine bottle. That is about 8 ounces of wine. They are priced between £1.50 and £2 and come in red, white, rosé and sparkling wines. The Mini Tasters include well known brands such as Campo Viejo, Jacobs Creek and Casillero del Diabolo. They also include wines from Asda's own labels. They expect to add new wines every few months.

Now just having these small Tasters available is a good thing. They are cheap and give you enough wine for two small glasses. But it gets even better. After you finish the Mini Taster, you can actually bring in your receipt and get a full credit towards the purchase of a regular-sized bottle of wine. So you basically get the Mini Taster for free. In addition, if you do not like the Mini Taster, you can instead get a full refund for it.

This is certainly a deal where you cannot lose, a no risk proposition. I think it is a great way to get people to try more wines. Unfortunately this is currently only available in the UK, and the number of wines is limited. But if it catches on, you might eventually see other places trying this as well.