Mixed cases - what format do you go for?

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#1

Hi all,

Just looking at various mixed cases including EP cases, I have noticed that there are various formats usually offered eg 6 or 12 different wines, or 2 or 3 of the same wine.

Question is:

Should I look to go with a mixed case with all individual wines - then have the issue that if I enjoy the wine I don’t have another bottle.

or

Should I buy a case with a smaller selection of wines but a larger quantity of each - less of a choice but I know there is another bottle in the rack.

I guess it boils down to how easy it is to get a replacement wine, with EP wines the wine might not be readily available and with normal wines there might be limited stock etc.

Just wanted to see what everyone usually does with the mixed cases for both a case of 6 or a case of 12 (poll below):

  • Case of 6 - all different wines
  • Case of 6 - 2 bottles of 3 wines
  • Case of 6 - 3 bottles of 2 wines
  • Case of 12 - all different wines
  • Case of 12 - 2 bottles of 6 wines
  • Case of 12 - 3 bottles of 4 wines
  • Case of 12 - 4 bottles of 3 wines

0 voters

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#2

My mixed case buying has been biassed towards 6 bottle mixed cases of 6 different wines so far… I also really like the 3 bottle mini vertical or horizontal tasting cases, such as these:

https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/HistoricProductDetail.aspx?pd=MX1775&usage=&pageNumber=0&pageSize=50&OrderBy=&ProductType=All&Country=All&Search=montefalco&OrderRef=&InStock=False&DrinkNow=False&Recent=False&MixedCaseWines=False
https://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/HistoricProductDetail.aspx?pd=MX1777

#3

I don’t generally buy EP but I would suggest that if you are purchasing for future enjoyment, getting only 1 or 2 bottles is simply not worth it. You could wait for ages for these to be ready to drink (optimally) only to discover that you love them and they are no longer available, or affordable.

I would suggest that the point of EP is to make that ‘bet’ on the future, and in that case it needs to be worth it, so go for at least 3 bottles of any wine. The system allows you at least to make an informed choice (within reason), so this is not a mixed case gamble, but an informed purchase.

That’s just IMHO of course.

#4

or that they are faulty…

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#5

I think for EP wines you would probably go with a straight case of 6 to open over time or a case of 12 with 3 x 4 different wines.

I am more thinking about non EP wines though, perhaps going for a case of 6 with all different wines to find a wine I like and then getting additional bottles might be the way to go. In the unlikely event of finding a wine I don’t like it would mean that I would still have 1 or 2 additional bottles of that wine if going for a case of 12 with 3 bottles of 4 wines as an example.

Looks like variety over volume might be the way to go!

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#6

I just don’t understand why we are still obliged to buy 12 bottles of a given wine. 6 is more than enough. In fact why not go decimal and offer EP purchases in cases of 5 or 10?

#7

Have you considered the difficulty of constructing a box to hold 5 or 10 wines?
6 and 12 are easy…

Re obliged to buy 12 bottles - increasingly a 6 bottle pack is the norm for en premier

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#8

Interesting so far that the 2 top options being voted for are both showing a single bottle of a various wine rather than having any duplicates.