\uFEFFMARK WAITE / PVT Mark Mutz, owner of The Patio Cafe, serves a red wine to Emily Meyers, during a wine tasting at the restaurant last Thursday night. Advertisement

A group of about 20 wine tasters at The Patio Cafe Thursday night could rightly think of themselves as connoisseurs, even though the foreign names of the wines might not trickle off their lips easily.

While the guest host explained the specifics on the six wines, the connoisseurs in attendance sniffed the varieties, examined them up to the light and sipped on them slowly, maximizing the use of their taste buds, just like a vintner in a wine cellar would.

Gone are the days when ordering a glass of wine at the run-of-the-mill Pahrump nightclub might turn up something that deteriorated into almost vinegar due to lack of demand and oxidation, as most people would simply prefer Budweiser. The only exception would've been the Pahrump Valley Winery, a local business since 1990 with a tasting room.

Wine tastings have now spread to local restaurants.

Patio Cafe owner Mark Mutz uncorked wines like a 2004 vintage Domaine Jomain White Burgundy, characterized as a toasty, vanilla flavor, aged in oak.

The Spanish state of Galicia furnished an earthy 2004 Don Olegario Albarnio, in which the wine tasters learned the grapes were picked before maturity in an area populated by fishermen.

The usual progression is from lighter whites to heavier reds. By the time the audience tasted the Michele Chiarlo Barbera, they may have been a bit light-headed as they were informed the Barbera grapes get more expensive the higher in elevation they're grown.

Instead of perhaps just some cheese, crackers and condiments to accompany the drinking, the palette was satisfied by a main course of either salmon with a dill caper sauce or chicken parmesan over penne pasta.

The bill was $30 for the wine tasting with dinner. Some of the wines could easily cost that much for a full bottle at a trendy restaurant. Samples were generous enough over time to accompany a meal.

Mutz said when he obtained his liquor license for the Patio Cafe, a dealer in wines from Las Vegas found out and approached him about the idea. It was an American wine dealer with a French partner, but while the wine was good, the attitude of the Frenchman left something to be desired, he said.

Mutz confessed he had never been to a wine tasting before he was invited to attend one at the Planet Hollywood Resort as a primer for having his own.

"We had our first wine tasting. We had our biggest revenue day ever. So we decided, 'well hey this is a good thing.' So we decided to hold another one and another one," Mutz said.

The first wine tasting featured wines from the Pacific Rim, namely Chilean, Peruvian and Australian wines. That was followed by a tasting of wines from California, with a different host from Pahrump who had experience in wines.

This last wine tasting featured all European varieties.

Mutz thinks Pahrump is ready for the level of sophistication.

"I was raised in Las Vegas since I was a little boy. I don't put them down here. People say Pahrump people, you can't do this, you can't do that. We sell more quiche here than we did in Las Vegas. We sell them to men too," Mutz said.

The Patio Cafe is constantly offering something new for the residents of Pahrump.

They are catering to-go meals and snack boxes for anyone hosting or attending a party for the big game on Sunday, and beginning with Valentines Day, the 1970s fondue rage is making a weekly comeback.