Bitten by Rattlesnake

With only one shot at week two of Palm Springs Restaurant Week, we bee-lined for a sure bet in great food and wine: Jimmy Schmidt's Rattlesnake.

Rattlesnake's Palm Desert location at the Classic Club just north of I-10 off Cook Street is central and convenient. It's just enough off the beaten path to have special, perhaps secret destination status. But Rattlesnake is too good, no, make that great to be kept secret.

First up, we were thrilled to discover that the two two-ounce tasting glasses of wine included with our dinner were from Heron, the winery featured at our February Winewomen event held at Rattlesnake. Apparently, restaurant sommelier Francois Cinq-Mars enjoyed Laely Heron's wines so much that evening, he decided to add them to the menu – pretty cool.

Schmidt's ambitious cuisine convinced our foursome to order different dishes and let tasting forks rule. Tines flew back and forth in testimony to the flavors, seasoning and textures of each course. One tablemate saw fit to give a mini-soliloquy to the bread basket and a few courses later, the coffee. Service, to no one's no surprise, was impeccable.

Cinq-Mars deserves kudos for the restaurant's wine list. Selections are grouped by grape types with each variety highlighted by a brief yet pithy description of the fruit, its wine flavors, body and other qualities to help diners choose and pair appropriately. He also calls attention to sub-categories of "interesting" wines – some are blends, others are wines made from less-familiar or exotic grapes.

The handpicked list is obviously chosen with care and quite fairly priced. We counted charmers as well as special bottles for splurge or landmark nights. In fact, we'd love to have just about every one in our cellar, they're that good.

Best of all, or so we heard, Rattlesnake will offer this special menu during the summer. We'll confirm when, how much and other details or call the restaurant at 760.601.3690. Order a few tasty treats at their wine bar or try Rattlesnake for lunch. Either way, even though you might think of it as your special hideaway, you won't be able to resist letting your friends in on this local treasure.

Palm Springs Restaurant Week

Palm Springs Restaurant Week kicks off this Sunday, May 31 through Tuesday, June 9 in Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage. East valley eateries will fete their fare during the second half of the 20-day event on Wednesday, June 10 through Friday, June 19 in Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio. In all, more than 100 participating area restaurants will offer special three-course $24 or $36 menus to entice their loyal fan base as well as diners eager to try new locales or cuisines at bargain prices.

We're going and hope you will too. Even though it's a food event, we cruised a few online wine lists to guide our picks. Our search left us wondering: When will wine service catch up with food service?

As with most restaurants nationwide, local wine lists group wines by traditional categories based on color, type, grape variety, region or country of origin. Only a handful of restaurants offer lists that engage customers to consider wines to match their dishes and preferred wine styles. These progressive wine lists offer diners intuitive, personalized ways to find wines they're apt to like by grouping wines according to flavors, texture and body.

Some restaurants use one-liners or tasting notes to cue diners in to a wine's flavor profile. We like these annotated wine lists too. In fact, we like anything that makes wine more approachable or that encourages diners to venture into new wine territories. Say you're a fan of Pinot Grigio. Chances are you'll also like a crisp Pinot Blanc from Oregon or perhaps Albarino from Spain. Do you prefer big, bold reds instead and default to Cabernet Sauvignon? Maybe it's time to discover the pleasures of a Washington State meritage, Spanish Rioja or a saucy Australian Shiraz.

Take a look at PF Chang's sample progressive wine list to see what we mean. Within each flavor profile category, lighter-bodied wines are listed first, then medium to fuller-bodied wines.

We discovered a cool listing designed by sommelier Kurt Kirschenman of Mistral, the restaurant at Loews Coronado Bay Resort during San Diego Restaurant Week. Last time we looked, Kirschenman listed region, appellation, vintage, producer, grape varietal(s), body, and for Chardonnays, level of oakiness. He may tweak his system some more, perhaps adding more flavor descriptors.

Copley's lists wines by types or varietals but adds a brief description to each one. Will you order your usual white wine or give an Alsatian Gewurztraminer listed as "a great foodie wine with flavors of lychee, rose petals and spice" a swirl instead? Casual Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro adds punchy tasting notes to their value-driven (and typo-laden) list of sparkling, red and white wines.

The list at Ace Hotel & Swim Club's Kings Highway & The Amigo Room shows how less can be more. Their eight whites are grouped as fresh, aromatic or earthy. The restaurant pegs ten reds into four categories: mild mannered and subtle, soft and fruity, fresh and spicy or powerful. Done.

If you'd rather flip through five pages of wines from ten Bordeaux appellations in search of 2000 Pomerol Chateau Petrus, Le Vallauris has your number (it's $10,500, btw). Eclectic tastes will find a bevy of wines listed at Zin American Bistro, where Mindy offers spot-on pairings. The 18-page list at Johannes caught our eye for its out-of-the-ordinary domestic selections as well as featured wines from Austria. Blaufränkisch, anyone?

Tell us about wine lists you like and why. We'll take a look at east valley wine lists next week. In the meantime, log onto Open Table and make your reservations.