{"id":1740,"date":"2021-01-28T17:09:10","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T17:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1740"},"modified":"2021-01-28T17:09:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T17:09:10","slug":"towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1740","title":{"rendered":"Towns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many times when you go wine tasting you find yourself way out in the country, with all stores and restaurants a considerable drive away.\u00a0 In other cases you\u2019re either near a town (sometimes a city) or you\u2019re visiting in-town tasting rooms.\u00a0 Sure, you came to taste the local wines but the towns themselves are so much fun.\u00a0 Many of them are historic and all have their own charm and beauty.<\/p>\n<p>In no particular order, our favorites are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Beaune in Burgundy\u2019s C\u00f4te d\u2019Or<\/li>\n<li>Emilion in Bordeaux<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1425\">Narbonne<\/a> and B\u00e9ziers in the Languedoc<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=247\">Montalcino<\/a> and Montepulciano in Tuscany<\/li>\n<li>Radda in Chianti (which is also in Tuscany)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=849\">Porto<\/a> in Portugal (actually in Gaia Nova, just across the Douro river)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1239\">Sonoma<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=526\">Healdsburg<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=592\">Santa Rosa<\/a> in Sonoma County<\/li>\n<li>St. Helena, Calistoga and Yountville in Napa Valley<\/li>\n<li>Paso Robles and Santa Barbara in the Central Coast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20180929_121520.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1741 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20180929_121520-300x146.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"645\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20180929_121520-300x146.jpg 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20180929_121520-768x373.jpg 768w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20180929_121520-1024x498.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Narbonne.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So what should you do when faced with the temptation to see a town\u2019s attractions rather than going to more tasting rooms?\u00a0 Our recommendation is to give in.\u00a0 Here are a few tips to enjoy Wine Country towns without giving up too much of your wine tasting experience.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>If you have the time, take a day to focus on visiting one or more towns<\/strong>. In California, this is definitely a good idea for weekends, when the wineries in the vineyards are awfully crowded.\u00a0 Most European towns have a number of plazas, often built around a cathedral or a castle, that are themselves well worth a visit.\u00a0 Some California towns are built around central squares that are pleasant to walk through.\u00a0 Healdsburg and Sonoma are among those with town squares.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_3256.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1742 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_3256-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"638\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_3256-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_3256-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_3256-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Radda in Chianti.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Take advantage of the tasting opportunities in the towns<\/strong>. In many California towns, wineries have opened tasting rooms for passers-by.\u00a0 In the past these were all rather second-rate, but in recent years top producers have opened up rooms, in addition to the ones at their wineries.\u00a0 In some European towns, such as Beaune, major wineries have established their headquarters and tasting facilities.\u00a0 And in many others, wine shops offer <em>degustaziones<\/em> (tastings) for a small fee.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Enjoy being a tourist<\/strong>. None of these towns were crawling with visitors in the past, as little as a few decades ago in some cases.\u00a0 As more outsiders came to see the vines and sip the wines, sleepy agricultural villages transformed themselves into \u201cattractions\u201d.\u00a0 There\u2019s no need to sneer.\u00a0 The caf\u00e9s do serve authentic regional fare; the handicrafts are usually made by local artisans; the houses and churches are picturesque.\u00a0 What\u2019s <em>not<\/em> to enjoy?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay the night\u2026or a few days.<\/strong> That\u2019s when you get a true feel for Wine Country.\u00a0 The day trippers are gone and when you step into a wine bar, you\u2019ll be rubbing shoulders with the people who tend the grapes and make the wines you came to enjoy. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you keep your ears open, you\u2019ll hear conversations about yields and trellising that let you know that the people around you get their hands dirtier than you ever will, just so you can enjoy a bottle of wine.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You never know who you\u2019ll meet.<\/strong> We were having an after-dinner drink at Willi\u2019s in Healdsburg when we got into a conversation with the fellow sitting next to us at the bar.\u00a0 It turns out he was the executive chef at\u00a0some of our\u00a0 favorite American restaurants, including Charlie Palmer\u2019s Dry Creek Kitchen nearby.\u00a0 We told him how much we admired Mr. Palmer\u2019s restaurants and then he went back to talking with his pals. A few minutes later he turned back to us and introduced one of his friends: \u201cHi, I\u2019m Charlie Palmer\u201d said the friend, his hand outstretched.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many times when you go wine tasting you find yourself way out in the country, with all stores and restaurants a considerable drive away.\u00a0 In other cases you\u2019re either near a town (sometimes a city) or you\u2019re visiting in-town tasting rooms.\u00a0 Sure, you came to taste the local wines but the towns themselves are so &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1740\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Towns<\/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":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740"}],"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=1740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1743,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1740\/revisions\/1743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}