Temecula Wine Country
Trip Start
Apr 19, 2008
1
Trip End
Apr 20, 2008
Where I stayed
Temecula, California
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Temecula's avocado groves and grape vineyards had caught my attention during a previous visit to a friend's home in Fullbrook. From the internet, I print out a list of Temecul's twenty-one wineries. We narrow it down to 4 or 5 that we confidently feel can be managed in an afternoon's time. The tasting rooms are open from 9-5; however, we have slept in this Saturday morning. Not because our external alarm didn't go off but because our internal alarm didn't go off! We had stayed up late to celebrate our son's 28th birthday at the 3-thirty-3 located in Newport Beach. One can easily loose track of time when one's hour hand is alcohol! I also love people-watching. You get to witness a gossip magazine unfold in real time. I love the body language, the clothes, the facial expressions, the sweeping of the eyes when someone is on the prowl. I love it when people huddle together and their incessant talking takes on the characteristics of chattering birds. My son introduces me to the term 'cougar' which is an older woman on the hunt for a younger guy. There are lots of cougars and lots of young guys so my people watching goes wildly into overtime.
So now, it is Saturday afternoon and we are arriving in Temecula around 1:30. Tempting us to go off course are several roadside avocado stands. Their signs advertise '15 for $1.00' and, just in case this price doesn't catch your attention, the words are hand-scrawled in big letters using a bright red marker.
The winery trail leads you west of the I-15, so you miss the historic old town all together. Temecula is one of California's true Western frontier towns. Back in 1859, the state's second post office was located here - San Francisco gets the honors for having the first. If history is not your thing, the Pechanga Indian Reservation built a $260 million dollar resort and casino here in 2001. A popular option should wine tasting be low on your list of to-do activities or you have more than one afternoon.
I have been to wineries in California, Washington state and Italy; however, I don't speak the exquisite vocabulary that some wine lovers prefer. I describe my experience based on my preference. It is a fact that most red wines are dry; however, I prefer the fruitier red wines that are not dry. Some of my favorites include Napa's Beaulieu Vineyard BV coastal estates cabernet; Talus Collection Cabernet; Three Vineyards Row Eleven Pinot Noir; and Bearboat's Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. They aren't too dry and I can typically find them priced under $25.
Whites are not my favorite just because I love the full fruity flavor that the reds can guarantee. During a visit to Napa valley, the Frog's Leap winery surprised me with some wonderful whites! Occasionally this variety is sold at the World Market store.
Keeping this in mind, I'll share some thoughts about the wineries we visited in Temecula. We includes myself, my husband Dennis, our son Chad, and his girlfriend Abra.
Our first stop is at Palumbo Winery. The atmosphere here is laid back and their two large sleeping dogs don't even acknowledge us as we walk through the doorway. The tasting fee is $10 for five wines and a souvenir glass. We settle on the $7 fee and no souvenir. Typically you get to choose your preference but they provide a set list for the five tastings. These tastings always begin with the light, crispy whites and end with the heavier reds. Dennis and I share the tasting, which means we get about two swallows each. The couple in charge are not real friendly or chatty. They answer questions with little emotion until Dennis politely points out to the woman that she has skipped over tasting #4 with us. She actually gets offended and defensive with us. This makes one of the dogs curious enough to walk over and check us out.
As mentioned earlier, we're not big fans of white wine; however, several of the Palumbo whites really are refreshing and light and wonderful. We purchase the Visgnier - when you buy 2 the third one is free. Great deal. Their reds are too dry for us. So now the woman is happy and the dog lies down again. As we depart, we all agree that this is not a return stop in the future.
Second on the list is Wilson Winery. Immediately everything is completely opposite that of Palumbo. For one, there are a lot of people here and everyone is talking and laughing and you feel like you just walked in to somebody's party. I talk with several 'wine club' members. Membership is free but you have to sign up for it. This puts into play a monthly shipment of two wines to your home. The membership also entitles you to free tastings and invitations to this winery's events. These members love their winery. There is music playing and people are sitting around tables and sipping glasses of wine and champagne. They winery is known for their Almond Champagne.
Again, Dennis and I share the tasting. We get to choose five from a list. We definately prefer Palumbo's Visgnier to Wilsons. Again, the reds are too dry for us. We learn that the summer temps can get up to 110 here and this affects the wine's taste and means that the grapes used for the Pinot Noir (my husband's favorite wine) cannot be grown here.
Our last two tastings are the champagne. I'm not a big fan of champagne and have reservations about how sweet and syrupy the Almond Champagne may taste. We start with the Grand Cuvee Champagne and WOW! Light, bubbly and just wonderful!!! I can't believe I am drinking and actually enjoying champagne! Wow! The bubbles are racing over my tongue and the fragrance is bubbling up from the wine glass and flirting with my nose! I love this champagne! My excitement catches the ear of Chad and Abra and they cheerfully echo their agreement! The next tasting poured into our empty wine glass is Wilson's signature Almond Champagne. The woman pouring these wonderful liquids is laughing with us and our reaction is no surprise to her. Another WOW! Light and bubbly and just a hint of almond. We fall in love with it and we fall in love with the price because we are cheap and this champagne sells for under $20. We latch on to four bottles of the almond champagne. We are so enjoying our tasting and the hospitality and the music and the friendly people. I want to live here and own a winery just like this!
Another club member encourages us to visit South Coast Winery just down the road. By now the time is 4:30 and we have two more wineries to go. They close at 5:00. South Coast will have to wait for another visit.
We drive up the hill to Faulkner Winery and scan the views from this hilltop winery. The blustery wind is very active up here and literally blows us through the door of the tasting room. I had printed off 2-for-1 coupons from the internet which means we don't need to share our tasting. Most are $8, so I'm thinking $4 each. This winery has different tasting tiers so these coupons provide us with top tier tastings, eight tastings priced at $8 each - normally $16. At this point, eight tastings is overkill. We start selecting our tastings from their list. The whites are too sweet and the reds are too dry. After five tastings Dennis and I are done. I'm afraid I'll forfeit all my tastings if I drink one more here. Next to us is a large group celebrating a woman's birthday. We chime out a Happy Birthday to her and gift her our remaining tokens. She is so delighted but the clock is ringing out 5 chimes and the employees behind the bar are not in a birthday mood. Their body language clearly states that they want to go home.
We learn that our next winery is actually open until 6 so we head onward to #4, Mount Palomare. We park the car and music begins to fill our ears as we approach the front gates. Inside the courtyard is a fountain and people are sitting around tables, sipping their wine. A trio is playing some welcome jazz and a wonderful smell is drifting out from nearby grills where a chef is busy grilling some wonderfully fragrant shish-ka-bobs. We are starving and the thrill of wine tasting is long gone. However, we are planning to eat dinner at another winery whose web site enticed us with live 'Saturday Night Blues Jam' featuring incredible food and great wine. This event begins at 5:30... it is 5:15, so we forfeit the food and the tastings and depart for our final winery. This ends up being a mistake (food wise).
Stop #5 is Miramont winery. The last two wineries had provided outdoor courtyards, so I had assumed there would be a wonderful courtyard sharing the sound of jazz with the evening's sunset. The steep walk up from Miramont's overflow lot brings us to a narrow tasting room. Inside we eye about 10 tables, and all are spoken for. We arrive just as the quartet begins their first set of blues. Everyone watches us because the entry door is right next to the stage. It's a no-brainer to continue walking straight back to the wine tasting counter. Also, we are starving and do have priorities here. There are no menus and no sign of a kitchen with some Italian chef busy throwing his pasta up in the air. There is, however, next to the tasting bar, these 2 or 3 warming bins. Next to these bins is a sheet of white paper with four circles drawn on it. They are offering for sale - four varieties of, well, it looks like 'hot pockets' to me. Four different flavors of hot pockets. Meat skillfully hidden inside a folded over sheet of cooked, dry pastry. My group turns to have a look at me and they all have the most questioning of expressions on their faces. And, I know that, If there had been a shish-ka-bob poker in the vicinity, I would have been the target for its' point.
The nice thing about family is that an expression can be so wonderfully understood. No words are needed nor are they worth the effort when one is starving and the only thing available to eat are semi-warm hot pockets. I must confess, it would have been helpful had there been some familiar aroma or some fragrant steam rising upward from the warmers.
I turned back to the blues band and eyed the room for options. On the right sits a young couple with their own table. I zero in and locate one-then two - then three-then four stray chairs throughout the room. I send Chad off to collect the treasured chairs and then I approach this wonderful young couple and we all become their new best friends. This action actually saves my skin for the rest of the night. This couple is celebrating their first anniversary and they are so much fun. They are club members and they know their wine and we are all on the same page with taste. They introduce us to the 2004 Estate Syrah which is wonderful. We purchase one bottle of Syrah with a Rolling Stones logo etched on the side and a second bottle that had a tribute to Madonna etched on it. The owner of this winery does his own etchings and creates these wonderful designs. Our 'new best friend couple' shows us a bottle the winery had provided to them as club members with 'happy anniversary' etched on its' side! What a neat touch! They go up to the tasting counter and bring us back a glass of the 2005 Opulente, a red that is wonderful and soft like velvet in my mouth. This is probably my new favorite red wine! They return with a glass of the 2006 Riesling which is white and isn't bad but not after hot pockets and red wine. We are like old friends together and this is so much fun....
....unfortunately, we are not the new best friend of Billy Watson and his jammin blues band. From his mike, Billy jokes with the noisy crowd about how distracted everyone is. Apparently, he has forgotten that he's in wine country and that by 6pm most of us are now toast. He makes it known that he doesn't like people sitting with their backs to him. With a cheshire-like cat grin, he strolls over to our table, grabs the chair of the person whose back is facing him - 'our new best girlfriend' - and spins her chair around to face the band. A short while later, he rolls down on the floor next to Abra and jerks his legs up in the air while playing the harmonica. He goes on and on with his harmonica solo right there on the floor. At various times he comments to the group about our table or mimics our talking by using his hand and saying blah-blah-blah. We aren't loud - just not paying attention to him - we are so enjoying our wine tasting and have been busy purchasing bottles from the counter. I must confess, our table sat right next to the band which gets you into trouble even when you are paying attention.
There were one or two older gals that danced on the small floor area just in front of the band. Their dancing was synchronized almost like line dancing but not line dancing. We wondered why the singer wasn't agitated as these gals were almost in competition with him for people's attention. Their deliberate steps and spins and down swoops. Our new best friends inform us that these women were part of the band's groupies and occupied two of the ten tables right next to us. The groupies knew the rules. They all had their chairs facing the band and they listened intently. At the back of the room, about a dozen people had no option but to stand for the entire two hours.
Billy, the lead singer complains about the lack of dancing. His groupie gals come over to our table. One grabs Abra's hand and the other grabs our 'new best girlfriend's hand and they lead them out to the floor and commences to dance. Throughout that last hour, they filter themselves through the crowded tables and pull out women to the dance floor. It works when the band plays fun songs but just when a nice sized group is pulled out there, he switches to a strange tune that begs everyone to sit down and just shut up about it.
After a 28th birthday bash and an afternoon of binge drinking on wine, our bodies begin a self-imposed 8pm shutdown. We are loosing Chad and at six foot five, this is not a good person to loose! We wish our new friends a wonderful second year of marriage and thank them for their wonderful company and great wine recommendations.
Our hotel is a 10-minute drive and is located near a McDonalds which sounds so wonderful after our great evening of 'Saturday Night Blues Jam' featuring incredible food and great wine! We are so hungry and so groggy and we will probably never drink wine again - at least not until tomorrow.
Would we come back to Temecula's wine country? I think so. Next time we will return to Wilson, and then visit South Coast Winery and Longshadow Ranch which several people highly recommended at breakfast the next day. Longshadow also has a Saturday night bonfire with live music and a barbecue! What fun! I am always ready for another adventure!
