{"id":1621,"date":"2020-08-31T17:08:07","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2020-08-31T17:08:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T17:08:07","slug":"get-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1621","title":{"rendered":"Get Lost"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Where we grew up, \u201cGet lost!\u201d (with an exclamation point) meant something between \u201cfuhgeddaboudit\u201d and a term unprintable in a genteel journal like <em>Power Tasting<\/em>.\u00a0 However, we mean it as respectful suggestion: when you\u2019re in Wine Country, allow yourself to get a little lost.\u00a0 Sometimes that means you\u2019ll miss the best known wineries along the best known roads, but there are also the cases in which the owners of premier vineyards deliberately placed them where caravans of tourists would not be passing their front gates.<\/p>\n<p>By all means, travel on the main drags, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=654\">Route 29<\/a> in Napa Valley, the Route des Grands Crus in Burgundy and the Strada della Badia di Sant\u2019Antima in <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=247\">Montalcino<\/a>. But also prepare yourself for the little excursions off the central roads and you\u2019ll get to experience Wine Country the way the locals do.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1622 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard-300x131.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"628\" height=\"274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard-300x131.jpg 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard-768x336.jpg 768w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard-1024x448.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard.jpg 1120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 628px) 100vw, 628px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo courtesy of France.fr.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do a little preparatory homework.<\/strong> Get a map of the region, which is a lot easier these days with everything on the Internet.\u00a0 But having a good paper map is a good idea because it will show many more minor roads.\u00a0 It\u2019s all right to get lost but it\u2019s smarter to know in general <em>where<\/em> you\u2019re getting lost.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t trust your GPS.<\/strong> Even in the primary winemaking areas in the United States, the satellites don\u2019t know every back road.\u00a0 And it\u2019s those back roads you want to drive on.\u00a0 In fact you might find, as we have, that the GPS will take you around in circles when you\u2019re looking for a specific remote winery. This goes double in some European sectors of Wine Country, where road signage is an arcane art form.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Have several destinations in mind.<\/strong> That way, if you pass a gate with a placard announcing one of them, you\u2019ll know to stop.\u00a0 Then, when you\u2019ve tasted their wines ask the server about the others on your list.\u00a0 He or she might say, \u201cOh, it\u2019s the next vineyard on this road\u201d or contrariwise, \u201cOh, that\u2019s quite a way from here\u2019.\u00a0 If the latter occurs, ask for a recommendation for another good winery nearby.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1623\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard2-300x86.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"656\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard2-300x86.jpg 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard2-768x220.jpg 768w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard2-1024x294.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/vineyard2.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Enjoy what you see while you get lost.<\/strong> There won\u2019t be any palatial architecture, but there should be some beautiful farmhouses and vineyards.\u00a0 This can be even more fun at harvest time, when the fields are full of active workers (who might just give you a little help getting un-lost). When you stop by a working vineyard, you get the feel for the reality of the farming that goes into winemaking.\u00a0 If you get \u201cgood\u201d lost, you can go for miles without seeing a winery, but you will see vines as far as the eye can wander.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t get <em>too<\/em> <\/strong>If you really don\u2019t know where you are nor where you\u2019re going, look for pointers back to someplace you do know.\u00a0 Despite the previous comment about road signs, you\u2019re bound to come across a sign somewhere that points to San Francisco or Paulliac or Florence or the Long Island Expressway.\u00a0 Follow one of indicated roads and things will begin to look a little more familiar.\u00a0 When all else fails, ask somebody how to get back home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Where we grew up, \u201cGet lost!\u201d (with an exclamation point) meant something between \u201cfuhgeddaboudit\u201d and a term unprintable in a genteel journal like Power Tasting.\u00a0 However, we mean it as respectful suggestion: when you\u2019re in Wine Country, allow yourself to get a little lost.\u00a0 Sometimes that means you\u2019ll miss the best known wineries along the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1621\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Get Lost<\/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":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1624,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions\/1624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}