{"id":626,"date":"2017-06-29T18:04:38","date_gmt":"2017-06-29T18:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=626"},"modified":"2017-06-29T19:11:18","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T19:11:18","slug":"the-other-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=626","title":{"rendered":"The Other California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For most travelers to California who are seeking wine tasting adventures, the most obvious destinations are Napa Valley and Sonoma County, which we have dubbed <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=576\">Napa\/Noma<\/a>.\u00a0 More than 90% of the wineries we have visited in that state have been in those locations.\u00a0 And why not?\u00a0 The wine is world-renowned; the scenery is ravishing; and they are close to San Francisco, a frequent business destination.\u00a0 However, there are other areas of the state that produce wine, some of it of excellent quality.<\/p>\n<p>In this and subsequent issues, we will use the Places to Visit column to introduce some of these grape-growing areas.\u00a0 In a previous edition, we did highlight the <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=301\">Temecula Valley<\/a> near San Diego which, in our opinion, has more to offer as a pleasant day in the vineyards than an occasion to sample great wines.\u00a0 In this and future issues of <em>Power Tasting<\/em>, we\u2019ll discuss <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=629\">Amador County<\/a>, Santa Clara Valley, Paso Robles, Santa Maria County and Santa Barbara County.\u00a0 It will be an irregular series, because we still want to write about other locations in Wine Country.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few things to consider if you want to visit the \u201cOther California\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Be prepared to drive.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Most of us don\u2019t live near to any of these destinations and most visitors don\u2019t often visit far from the major urban areas.\u00a0 And even if you do live near one of them, you\u2019re pretty far from all the others.\u00a0\u00a0 All the normal rules of safe wine tasting apply: Know your limit and don\u2019t even get close to it.\u00a0 Sip, don\u2019t drink and use the pour bucket.\u00a0 Put some food in your stomach.\u00a0 Space out your winery visits.\u00a0 These points cannot be stressed enough.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Do some homework before you go.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s likely that many, if not most of the wineries in any given area are unknown to you.\u00a0 So get on your favorite search engine and look for \u201cbest wineries\u201d in the area you\u2019ll be visiting.\u00a0 This is no guarantee as some sites contain nothing but self-promotion.\u00a0 But if you see an article in one of the local newspapers, there\u2019s a higher likelihood of getting some unbiased information.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Don\u2019t expect too much.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason why Napa Valley and Sonoma County are so well known: many wineries there make a lot of really excellent wine.\u00a0 You can find some excellent wine in other areas as well, just not in the same profusion.\u00a0 In any Napa AVA, you\u2019ll find many superlative wineries, a few that are okay but not great and very few, if any, that are awful.\u00a0 In some of the other areas of the state, there may be a few great ones, a lot of okay ones and quite a few really poor ones.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Keep an open mind.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Even if you\u2019re not crazy about too many wines you taste, you still can have a pleasant day in a region that may be new to you.\u00a0 At any given winery, you may have to sip and pour quite a few samples until you find a particular wine\u00a0 that appeals to you.\u00a0 Think of it this way: you might discover an unknown gem amongst the dross.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth it to keep searching.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Focus on what that region does best.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Every region has a reputation for certain grapes.\u00a0 For example, Amador County is known for Zinfandel and Santa Barbara is famous for its Pinot Noirs.\u00a0 So go ahead and sip a Merlot or a Sauvignon Blanc, but keep your taste buds alert save your alcohol content for what they do best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Perhaps the best way to summarize our advice concerning the Other California is to approach each region with a sense of adventure.\u00a0 The worst that can happen is you\u2019ll be able to avoid certain wine regions on restaurants lists.\u00a0 The best might be the thrill of an unexpected discovery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For most travelers to California who are seeking wine tasting adventures, the most obvious destinations are Napa Valley and Sonoma County, which we have dubbed Napa\/Noma.\u00a0 More than 90% of the wineries we have visited in that state have been in those locations.\u00a0 And why not?\u00a0 The wine is world-renowned; the scenery is ravishing; and &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=626\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Other California<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=626"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":648,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions\/648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}