the winegetter

I am sorry that this post is low in content value, but I do need your collective wisdom:

We are having a tasting with friends of ours next week and this time, we are doing a vertical tasting. For those unfamiliar with the term, a vertical tasting is a tasting of wines from the same vineyard and producer, but different vintages. The idea is to see how these wines that are made with the same skill and craft fare due to different weather conditions and hopefully also find common characteristics that could form an idea of terroir. It further gives you a unique chance to see how a wine ages.

Before our California trip, I picked up five bottles of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon’s from 2002 until 2006 on Wines Till Soldout which have now arrived at our place. While WTSO provided me with helpful vineyard and winemaker information, I have done some research and am a bit confused about one thing: In what order should I do the tasting? Young to old or old to young?

The all-knowledgeable internet gives differing advice, and I cannot for my life recall how the verticals I have done were conducted. My initial intuition was to do it young to old, but then I got concerned about the fruit in the younger wines ruining the (hopefully!) more subtle flavors in the older wines. But will the older wines pale in comparison when the younger wines are tasted after them?

So, I need your informed wisdom: How should I conduct the tasting? I am planning on opening all bottles and having them accessible at all times, but I still would like to have a certain order in which to taste. Your opinion matters to me, so please let me know in the comments section!

Thanks so much!!