Post Ranch Inn

My wife and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this past weekend in the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area. In my opinion, it's one of the prettiest regions of Northern California, although the highlight of the weekend was certainly the food (along with the companionship of my wife, of course ;) ). Lunch at Roy's at the Inn at Spanish Bay and then dinner at the Post Ranch Inn...a 1-2 combination that is certainly difficult to beat. Dinner at the Post Ranch Inn was particularly special...I think it was probably as perfect a meal as I've had in the States. The food was impeccable, the service was outstanding, and the view/ambiance was killer (a perfect sunset followed by a bright moon lighting up the ocean).


The one small let down of the experience was our interaction with the Sommelier. We decided to bring a bottle of wine to dinner that we had brought back from a vacation to Italy several years back. It was not the most expensive bottle, but we had visited the winery on our trip and had an emotional tie to it that made it personal and important to us. As the Sommelier poured the wine, we offered him to have a taste, which he accepted. We asked him what he thought of the wine and his reply was completely generic. He must have used the same "floral nose and good structure" response a hundred times before.


Unfortunately, I am disappointed more often than not in these situations. The best Sommeliers I've run into know the wines they serve backwards and forwards and make recommendations that truly add to the enjoyment of the meal...and at different price points to ensure the customer is comfortable. Since we didn't order off of his wine list, perhaps it's unfair to criticize this Sommelier...he was certainly gracious about pouring the wine and seemed sincere in his appreciation of our offer to taste it. I truly was curious about his opinion, though, and asked him for it hoping for his analysis of the wine to help us better understand it. Oh well...in the end it had no bearing on our enjoyment of a perfect evening. Maybe I should just start lowering my expectations.