THE WINE LIST

The first thing you see when you enter Pinot is a dramatic wine cabinet, a symbol of the commitment to wine here. Then you see the list itself, which proves that the cabinet is not all show.

Wine lovers will surely experiment with 1990 Chinon Les Truffes from Morin, $17.50, with rich seafood; 1990 Guigal Cotes du Rhone, $23, with some of the exotically seasoned dishes, and 1990 Rully from Chartron Trebuchet, $29, as an appetizer wine.

But the mainstream wines offer excitement, too, including such Chardonnays as Qupe, Au Bon Climat, Woltner, Kistler, Chalk Hill and Navarro; Cabernets like Chappellet, Viader, Spottswoode and Forman, and Pinot Noir from Williams & Selyem and Lane Tanner.

The Bordeaux list is filled with older wines, and if you can’t find anything you like, corkage is $12.

Best value white is a toss-up, but I’d choose 1990 Z Moore Gewurztraminer, $16. Best value red: 1989 Seven Oaks Cabernet, $22.50. But there are lots of values: try 1990 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel, $26.50, or 1984 Vosne Romanee Les Orveaux from Meo-Camuzet, $32.50.