But Patrick Rupert, owner of the Saratoga wine shop Uncorked, thinks there is a reason why he's seeing more wine-tasting shops popping up in the South Bay.

Sure, customers can buy wine without trying it at retail wine shops, or they could go to a bar, where a bartender might be familiar with wine. They could even visit wineries, but the selection is limited and the atmosphere can be intimidating. But at wine shops that have tastings, it's the best of all worlds.

Take Vintage Wine Merchants, for example. Sitting across from CineArts in Santana Row, the wine shop offers 900-plus labels, from $7 to $1,500.

Plus, its great cheese platter, down-to-earth sales reps and perfect people-watching venue make it a nice destination or waiting spot.

"Sometimes, people swing by here when they are waiting for their tables to be called," says Mike Guerra, a partner at Vintage.

Vintage came from humble beginnings, and that is one characteristic that is carried throughout the store.

"Two wine guys and two business guys got together, and they wanted a place where they could buy and drink wine," Guerra says. "Our motto is no pretension, no condescension."

Vintage offers 3-ounce tastings, but it also serves wine by the glass. And Guerra says there's no need to be worried about being intimidated when it comes to asking questions about wine.

Vintage opened its doors in 2003, the same year as Uncorked in Saratoga.

Sticking to small wine producers and carrying about 200 different wines from California, France and Italy, Uncorked has an unassuming attitude that draws in customers. Plus, it's in the foothills of the Santa Cruz's wine country, says Rupert, one of the three owners of the store.

"I think that we tend to have a very relaxed atmosphere," Rupert says. "We want people to be able to talk to us, whether they are at the wine bar or buying retail. We keep the attitude out of wine-buying."

Uncorked offers tastings on a daily basis and charges $12 for three "generous" ounce pours; on the weekend it costs $20 for five tastes.

The store's approach to tastings is similar to how the owners chose the wine that is sold.

"We sell what we like," Rupert says.

Five bottles are chosen "at random" on a daily basis for the tastings.

This is Rupert's second wine shop venture. His first was Grapevine in Willow Glen, which opened in 2000 and is now owned by Cara Finn and Ruth Hennigar. Unlike Uncorked, which does not serve any food, Grapevine is not only an exquisite European wine shop, but it also serves over 100 cheeses.

For $5, the store also offers small plates, ranging from a cheese plate, paté and Brie, a dish of olives and prosciutto and melon. This, Finn says, is what sets Grapevine apart from other wine bars in the area.

Morphing from a premier wine and cheese shop by day to a wine and bar bistro by night, Grapevine offers about 350 different bottles of wine, and Finn says that they are handpicked.

"We're pretty wine-geeky here," Finn says. "We're not snobby, but we love to talk about wine. You just have to tell us to stop, or we'll talk about it all night long."

While some wine bars, such as Grapevine and Uncorked, only offer tastings, other shops, such as Vintage and Unwined in Almaden, also offer wines by the glass.

Unwined is one of the newest additions to the wine shops in the area, opened by Dean and Lori Madsen and Dan and Leticia Crouzet-Pascal. After deciding to open the shop in February 2004, the couples eventually celebrated the opening of their shop on June 14, 2005. Today, Dan and Leticia own the store.

Unwined offers about 300 labels, and features close to 50 wines to taste or drink by the glass.

Unlike Unwined's selection of wine, which spans the globe but features Santa Cruz wines, the French Cellar in Los Gatos features only French wine.

"We're either really smart or really dumb," owner Jay Druian jokes.

So far, the venture has proven to be smart. Selling close to 600 labels, Druian and his wife, Sallie Robbins-Druian, have been committed to researching and handpicking the wines from Druian's home country.

"We're very selective in the producers we chose to represent the store," Druian says. "I've met with them personally, and each bottle has a story behind it."

The store not only offers French wines but it also has French chocolates and biscuits.

For its tastings, the French Cellar generally offers three wines by the glass: a red, a white and a champagne. Depending on the cost of the bottle, tasting prices range from $3 to $15.

Druian acknowledges a shift in the world of wine tasting.

"It used to be wineries that offered tastings, and that goes back well over 20 years ago," he says.

But why go to France when you can visit the French Cellar?

"Before we opened the French Cellar, I knew that if I wanted French wine in the South Bay, I couldn't find it. I had to go to San Francisco and Berkeley," he says.

Each wine shop has its own atmosphere, own wine selection and own attitude. And each owner is passionate about wine.

But Rupert of Uncorked thinks he knows why the wine shops are catching on in the South Bay.

"There's something to be said," he says, "when a customer comes in and you can greet them by their name."

The French Cellar, 32 E. Main St., Los Gatos, 408.354.0993.

The Grapevine Wine Shop, 1389 Lincoln Ave., San Jose, 408.293.7574.

Uncorked, 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite A, Saratoga, 408.741.9000.

Unwined Wine Bar and Shop, 6946 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, 408.323.WINE.

Vintage Wine Merchants, 377 Santana Row, Suite 1135, San Jose, 408.260.1115.