![\"\"](\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/mustards3.jpg\")
<\/a>As it says at Yountville\u2019s Mustards restaurant, there\u2019s way too many wines to choose from.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of napavalley.com\n<\/em><\/p>\n
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- Order the names you\u2019re familiar with, but\u2026<\/strong> Sure, you\u2019ve heard of their Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, but did you know that they make a Pinot Noir?\u00a0 Very often, restauranteurs feature lesser-known wines from top producers, specifically because they know that people aren\u2019t familiar with them.\u00a0 It builds a nice relationship with the wineries and gives the wine lists a bit of distinction.\u00a0 If you try one and like it, you can drive over the next day and buy some.\u00a0 Often these wines aren\u2019t widely shipped, so this may be your only chance.<\/li>\n
- Order the names you\u2019re unfamiliar with. <\/strong>Sometimes this means placing your trust in the restauranteur or sommelier, if there is one.\u00a0 In big, well-known restaurants this may make the choice easy.\u00a0 In a region you\u2019re familiar with, you may know a lot of the names on the list.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re traveling to an area where you haven\u2019t tasted very much, everything on the list may be unknown to you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/wine-list-300x231.png\")
<\/a>Photo courtesy of Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.<\/em><\/p>\n- \n
- So ask.<\/strong> Invariably, the server or sommelier will in return ask you two questions: What are you ordering to eat?\u00a0 What kind of wine do you like? \u00a0The wines on the list should be compatible with the menu, so just finding out which wines on the list match up with your tastes will help you plan for where you might want to visit the next day.<\/li>\n
- Order by price.<\/strong> There are occasions in which you don\u2019t want to ask your server to help you choose.\u00a0 Or if you\u2019re overseas, you may not want to try your luck with the local language.\u00a0 We\u2019ve found it useful to determine how much we want to pay for a bottle that evening and then choose from the list accordingly.\u00a0 Sure, there\u2019s an element of luck involved, but if the restaurant has a well-chosen list, your chances are pretty good.<\/li>\n
- Order by the glass.<\/strong> If nothing else, this will minimize your financial risk.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t like a wine you\u2019ve chosen, you won\u2019t have spent a lot on it.\u00a0 The choice of these wines is generally limited and the quality less than wines by the bottle.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also a way to take a quick wine-tasting trip around the region, without getting out of your chair.<\/li>\n
- Be prepared for success\u2026and disappointment<\/strong>. Over the years, we have had some great finds in Wine Country restaurants.\u00a0 There are instances in which we subsequently visited the wineries, bought the wines and continue to do so.\u00a0 But there have been some occasional duds. But at least we learned what to avoid in our wine tasting adventures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a rule, wherever you find great wine being made, you\u2019ll find great restaurants.\u00a0 This just makes sense \u2013 the people who spend all year making a beverage to serve with food want to eat it in restaurants.\u00a0 And we wine tasting visitors get the benefit.\u00a0 Naturally, you\u2019ll find great wine lists in these Wine … Continue reading Dining and Finding<\/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\/1968"}],"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=1968"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1971,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions\/1971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Order by price.<\/strong> There are occasions in which you don\u2019t want to ask your server to help you choose.\u00a0 Or if you\u2019re overseas, you may not want to try your luck with the local language.\u00a0 We\u2019ve found it useful to determine how much we want to pay for a bottle that evening and then choose from the list accordingly.\u00a0 Sure, there\u2019s an element of luck involved, but if the restaurant has a well-chosen list, your chances are pretty good.<\/li>\n
- Order the names you\u2019re unfamiliar with. <\/strong>Sometimes this means placing your trust in the restauranteur or sommelier, if there is one.\u00a0 In big, well-known restaurants this may make the choice easy.\u00a0 In a region you\u2019re familiar with, you may know a lot of the names on the list.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re traveling to an area where you haven\u2019t tasted very much, everything on the list may be unknown to you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n