Trying great wines as Stave Wine Cellar celebrates a year in Pebble Beach.

It’s been a year since the opening of Stave Wine Cellar (644-7997), Pebble Beach Company’s unique wine venue that is part tasting room, part lounge and part retail store.

On Aug. 3, Stave celebrated its first anniversary with a two-hour private tasting party.

There were 10 tables overflowing with wines to sample, including brand new releases like Rombauer Chardonnay 2015, Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon 2013.

I was on time for the party, held in a Spanish Bay ballroom not far from the shop itself, until I took a detour into Stave’s actual tasting room across the resort-hotel's cul de sac.

I was just peeking my head in when the man behind the bar offered this: That Stave differs from other tasting rooms because of the vast selection of different brands.

The walls verify as much. Studded with labels and cork tops showing off more than 200 wines, a total of 30 wines are available for tasting.

Eventually I made my way through the ballroom doors into a closed-off area dotted with wine reps.

I felt overwhelmed by the blur of bottles, but I was comforted by the party’s centerpiece—a giant table of gourmet cheese, berries and baguettes.

Feeling ambitious, I started with whites at table 1; I imagined I would elegantly make my way around again for reds, but more on that later.

My first sip was the first wine on the list: Kinero Grenache Blanc 2015 ($22/bottle), not a bad deal and one of Stave’s more affordable bottles. Bright, fresh and citrusy, it would have been more revitalizing on a less cloudy night.

I moved onto Liquid Farm’s Golden Slope Chardonnay 2013 ($40), which was fruity, minerally and still had a whiff of something oaky despite neutral aging.

As I walked along my white wine journey, the restrained atmosphere quickly came alive. As for the whites, most tables offered one crisp and one creamy, primarily Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

The Sauv Blancs (which are my jam right now) were exhilarating on my hopeful palate.

Typical notes of grapefruit beamed through them all, but some stood out more than others—like the balanced Rombauer 2015 ($27), which was not as dry as one expects from this varietal. Along with citrus notes it was perfumed with white peach, and was so spritely and tart that my tastebuds pretended they had traveled somewhere tropical.

Another hit of tartness came from the Domaine Philippe Colin Chassagne-Montrachet 2014 ($76), which was bursting with lime and idyllic layers of acidity.

And then there was the Crocker & Starr Sauvignon Blanc 2015 ($30), momentarily startling with an almost honey-like sweetness and texture which immediately plummeted into a weighty dryness.

If nothing exists without its opposite, that held true for the evening’s fabulous whites of cool and warm composure.

The deeper I got into the Chardonnays, the more aware I became that I now live in California. The state’s reputation for big, bold and oaky held true, but each vintage was distinguished enough to even get a nod from the haters.

Then of course there are the lovers, which was clear from wine rep Cindy Kaster’s history of local wine distributing:

“I’ve been selling Rombauer’s Chardonnay since 1985, and it’s the one I’m always asked for. Consistently our top seller, it’s the most popular in California.”

The new release ($41) will do well in the region too: It’s very “California” with creamy notes along with ripe apple and luscious butter. Crème brulee in the glass.

Pahlmeyer’s Napa presence was exemplified in his Napa Valley Chardonnay 2013 ($88)—the toasty taste was there, but it hushed the butter in a classy way. Nickel and Nickel’s Truchard Vineyard 2014 ($65) skipped the second fermentation, which focused its cream and fruit impressions and let the region’s terroir shine.

Ramey’s Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2013 ($46) was low on oak and high on wet stone minerality and orchard fruit—gracefully expressing a varietal they’ve been juicing for decades.

Now seems as good a time as any to admit that I am a lightweight. By the time I’d had my fill of whites, my cursive was getting loose.

No problem, for along the cool, lush path I had made friends who could guide me in the right direction.

One distributor I met had visited my hometown in South Africa—Cape Town—and loved it so much that she ended up living there. She even lived in Constantia, the same tiny suburb where I spent half my life (and the same tiny suburb which wine expert Karen MacNeil recommends “If you only have time for one South African taste”).

My new friend was the second person to steer me toward Wayfarer Estates Fort Ross-Seaview Pinot Noir 2013 ($92); Fort Ross being the vineyard and winery brainchild of two South Africans who painstakingly brought Pinotage to Sonoma (and waited five years while it was quarantined at UC Davis), so I’m told.

A beautiful red to begin with, this Pinot was erupting with dark, delicious berries, balancing soft, woodsy oak and heady earthiness.

The clock was ticking, and decided I had to be more selective choosing which reds I had time for. That was until I turned to see a bucket of Champagne, and realized there was a hole in my notes and my heart.

It’s not every day I can afford the real deal, so I jumped into the bubbly.

Toasty and mature Saint Chamant Champagne Blanc de Blancs ($55)? Yes, please.

How about some small family businesses and top quality producers like J. Lassalle 1er Cru Brut Rosé ($64) and Paul Bara Grand Cru Brut Rosé ($63)? I’ll try that.

And who am I to neglect a good old Rosé? Château Maupague Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire Rosé 2015 ($22)? A mouthful of traditional Provence easy drinking, and also welcome.

The reds beckoned, but I had to take a quick break. I stood in the middle of the room hoping I was inconspicuous as I crammed in Humboldt Fog chevre and crackers.

A guy walked over and encouraged me to go for it. I guess he was just trying to make conversation, but I was clearly already going for it.

I waved him away and kept going—does anything hit the spot like the cream of Truffle Tremor, with its buttery brilliance and mushroomy whispers slathered on the softness of a good French baguette? I’m only human.

After my sparkly (and cheesy) affairs, time was running even lower. I ran down the list and hustled toward Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 ($310), a new release from Stave and a wine that the distributor assured me would hurt her feelings if I poured out.

If my heart belongs to Champagne, my soul belongs to a good Cab. For the price I was expecting the flavor to knock me off my feet, but to be honest my buzz alone was ready to do that anyway.

Ripe blackberries, violets, chocolate and mocha enticed me, but another new friend, a wine tour guide, whispered that Hacienda Monasterio Rioja 2010 ($50) at the next table was better.

Up for a challenge (and because some of my favorite wines have been Riojas), I side-stepped to table 8. Dark, fruity and spicy, I could see why I had been ushered this way.

The Lucia Syrah Soberanes Vineyard 2014 ($62) was also a knockout, thick and inky as a Syrah should be and an homage to Big Sur locals who could probably use a glass right about now.

The ballroom doors were closing, but there was still a treat to be had next door for those who made it to the after-party at Stave’s tasting room: Far Niente’s Dolce 2010 ($64), a Sauterne-style dessert wine that was rich but not syrupy, sweet but not overbearing.

I had been informed earlier of the extreme attention paid in creating this wine, and a secret source shared that only 7 percent of the hand-picked grapes grown for Dolce are actually selected. Picture a bucket of 100 grapes, of which you decide only seven are good enough.

And perhaps Dolce was a fitting way to close the night, for it was evident that Stave itself has seemingly endless wines to choose from—in Monterey County alone there are over 175 vineyards, and Stave imports from across the globe—and Stave Wine Cellar, the reason for all the evening’s magic, makes quite a careful selection itself.