How to Drink Well at La Cave: Flights, Pours and the Sommelier's Tower

A wine list this deep can feel like an exam. It isn't. It is an invitation, and there are three easy ways to accept it.

Start with a glass

Fifty wines by the glass means you never have to commit to a bottle to drink well. Try something you know next to something you don't. Ask what just arrived. Change direction with the next plate.

Let a flight do the choosing

There are thirteen flights, each a few pours side by side. A flight is the fastest way to learn what you like: a region, a grape, an old-world-versus-new argument settled in one sitting.

Or open a bottle

The list draws on more than 350 producers from around the world. The bottles live in towers that climb the walls of the Main Dining Room, lit from within, and when something rare is called for, a sommelier climbs up to bring it down. It is worth ordering something just to watch.

How to talk to a sommelier

Our sommeliers would rather hear what you like than recite what they know. Give them three things and they will do the rest.

1. A price you're comfortable with. Say it plainly. There are good bottles at every level of the list.
2. A wine you've loved. Even a vague memory helps: "something like that Rioja from our honeymoon."
3. The mood of the night. A celebration pours differently than a quiet Tuesday.

What to eat with it

The kitchen builds plates to move with the wine, not compete with it. A few pairings worth trying:

• Diver sea scallop with polenta cake and shrimp sauce, beside a crisp white.
• Chilean sea bass with piquillo pepper and roasted garlic, beside a rosé or a lighter red.
• The charcuterie board, three cheeses and three meats, beside whatever the flight brings.

Before you go

Look through the Wine Program, book a table, and arrive curious.

Bis vivit qui bene vivit. He lives twice who lives well.