Temecula Part IV
As is becoming our tradition Mrs. Wine Guy and I celebrated Valentines in Temecula California to do some wine tasting and relax. This was our third consecutive Valentines, our fourth trip overall.
As we did last year we stayed at the Inn at Europa Village The inn is a 10 room bed and breakfast run by Chef Dean Thomas and his wife Nicole. The rooms are what you would expect from a B & B, the breakfasts are amazing, and the views are fantastic. Chef Dean also prepared our amazing Valentines day dinner served in the cave room of the adjacent Europa Village Winery. You can click on a link of Chef Dean describing one of his breakfasts here, and describing his Valentine dinner here.
As far as wine tasting goes our overall impression is that wines from Temecula are overpriced, they plant vines as much if not more so that couples can get married at a vineyard than to produce great wine, the white wines are better than the red wines, and that the reds use lots of oak to cover up ordinary or perhaps flaws in the wine. That said we keep going back because the area is reasonably close to home, the scenery is fantastic, it is easy to get around, most of the tasting rooms are pretty incredible, and the restaurants are wonderful
As far as winery visits go we visited our old friends at Weines Family Cellars, SC Cellars, and of course Europa Village. Our impressions of those places has not changed much from our prior visits so you can find out about those places by clicking on one of the following: Temecula Part III, Temecula the Sequel, or Wine Tasting Trip to Temecula (you will notice my opinion of whites being better than the reds evolved).
Our discovery of the trip was Peltzer Family Cellars . The tasting room, open for less than a year, was inviting and unpretentious, the staff friendly and accommodating,and the wine was really very good. There was nothing that we tasted that we did not enjoy but the stars of the show for us were the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc ($28), and especially the 2015 Barbara ($42). As fate would have the grapes for both these wines come from places other than Temecula. The Sauvignon Blanc uses grapes from the Central Coast and the Barbara uses fruit from Conta Costa County.
Our most unique wine tasting experience was at Briar Rose Winery. The tasting room is located in the former home of Brendon Fields an associate of Walt Disney who helped design many of the buildings at Disneyland. The home was designed to be a replica of Snow White's cottage. The current owners, Les and Dorian Linkogle purchased the home and surrounding land in the 1990's and planted their vines. They are by appointment only, have pretty strict rules about what you can or can't bring on the property. The grounds are beautiful, and they sit you down at tables outside to taste, You don't have to worry about drinking and driving because the pours they provide are anemic. They produce really good $20-$40 wine but to complete the Disney experience they charge between $52-$120 for them. Because of their insane pricing, even by Temecula standards, I can't recommend any of the wines but I think the tasting room is worth visiting at least once.
One place we can recommend is South Coast Winery. We had stayed away from it because it looks like a large resort and did not seem to provide much charm. Some friends encouraged us to try it and I'm glad we did. The wines we tried were all very good, and by Temecula standards, reasonably priced. We especially liked the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc ($16), and the 2014 Mourvedre ($18).
A great place to visit for the view is Miramonte Winery. The tasting room is high on a hill overlooking the valley. The wine was good but because the reds, priced $35 and up, and the whites, priced $25 and up, are not worth the price being charged I can't recommend any of them.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
As we did last year we stayed at the Inn at Europa Village The inn is a 10 room bed and breakfast run by Chef Dean Thomas and his wife Nicole. The rooms are what you would expect from a B & B, the breakfasts are amazing, and the views are fantastic. Chef Dean also prepared our amazing Valentines day dinner served in the cave room of the adjacent Europa Village Winery. You can click on a link of Chef Dean describing one of his breakfasts here, and describing his Valentine dinner here.
As far as wine tasting goes our overall impression is that wines from Temecula are overpriced, they plant vines as much if not more so that couples can get married at a vineyard than to produce great wine, the white wines are better than the red wines, and that the reds use lots of oak to cover up ordinary or perhaps flaws in the wine. That said we keep going back because the area is reasonably close to home, the scenery is fantastic, it is easy to get around, most of the tasting rooms are pretty incredible, and the restaurants are wonderful
As far as winery visits go we visited our old friends at Weines Family Cellars, SC Cellars, and of course Europa Village. Our impressions of those places has not changed much from our prior visits so you can find out about those places by clicking on one of the following: Temecula Part III, Temecula the Sequel, or Wine Tasting Trip to Temecula (you will notice my opinion of whites being better than the reds evolved).
Our most unique wine tasting experience was at Briar Rose Winery. The tasting room is located in the former home of Brendon Fields an associate of Walt Disney who helped design many of the buildings at Disneyland. The home was designed to be a replica of Snow White's cottage. The current owners, Les and Dorian Linkogle purchased the home and surrounding land in the 1990's and planted their vines. They are by appointment only, have pretty strict rules about what you can or can't bring on the property. The grounds are beautiful, and they sit you down at tables outside to taste, You don't have to worry about drinking and driving because the pours they provide are anemic. They produce really good $20-$40 wine but to complete the Disney experience they charge between $52-$120 for them. Because of their insane pricing, even by Temecula standards, I can't recommend any of the wines but I think the tasting room is worth visiting at least once. 
One place we can recommend is South Coast Winery. We had stayed away from it because it looks like a large resort and did not seem to provide much charm. Some friends encouraged us to try it and I'm glad we did. The wines we tried were all very good, and by Temecula standards, reasonably priced. We especially liked the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc ($16), and the 2014 Mourvedre ($18).
A great place to visit for the view is Miramonte Winery. The tasting room is high on a hill overlooking the valley. The wine was good but because the reds, priced $35 and up, and the whites, priced $25 and up, are not worth the price being charged I can't recommend any of them.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
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