When most people think of California and wine, the mind automatically drifts to Napa & Sonoma, but there are many more wine regions in California that are just as good. After the boat show this weekend, we still had our rental car a couple of more days. Scott suggested we get away from boats and do something that we both really enjoy....WINE TASTING!!! The closest region is Temecula Valley. It's down the 15 at the edge of Riverside County on the way to San Diego. It's little more than an hour drive from Newport Beach, our current residence.
Tuesday started off sunny and warm in Newport and with a quick glance at the weather it was to be 85 in the valley. Definitely perfect wine tasting weather. After consulting a few web sites we had a couple of vineyards we wanted to see, directions, and a charged tablet to get us there. The drive was amazing along SR 74. It winds through the Cleveland National Forest and on the other side it deposited us over looking Lake Elsinore and the mountains beyond. If you are RVing there were several great little campgrounds along this route. There is also one at Lake Elsinore right on the lake.
I digress: we got into Temecula around 12:30 and started looking for our first vineyard. We had decided on Callaway Vineyard & Winery, because on of the websites said the best time was to go during the week and the views were amazing, and they were dead on right! We headed into their improvised tasting room. The main tasting room is under renovation. We were one of only two couples in the room. I get a little sticker shock at some of the tasting room prices and this was no exception. $15 for 6 one ounce tastes. We went ahead and did the tasting, and we weren't disappointed. At first after trying their sparkling wine, I had my doubts, but when I went onto the Calliope white I was impressed, and by the time I reached the reds I was hooked. Our experience in Temecula leads us to believe it is better suited to reds than whites. Every winery we've been to, we've preferred their reds. Callaway was no exception. While we still prefer Eola Hill's Sangiovese in Oregon to Callaway's, every other red got better and better. The Reserve Meritage was definitely peak of there selection. Scott also found a lovely Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon we added to our desert wine locker. We found our server to be an excellent source of knowledge both about wines and the local area. We ended our time at Callaway by joining their wine club. They send out two wines every other month at 30% off, you receive discounts at the restaurant and gift shop. Wine Club members also receive free tastings when they stop by and when the new tasting room is open club members have a private tasting room. As for the views..... I'm speechless..... and many of you know how difficult it is to get me quiet! We asked our server to outline a couple of wineries she would recommend and she did. We found one of them, but were disappointed with it's wines, but again the views were staggering. Even if you aren't a wine person, a drive through Temecula wine country is well advised. Winding through vine skirted hills with the scent of spring flowers on a warm day was a perfect way to spend an afternoon, an afternoon we soon won't forget and are planning on spending a few more over the months to come. I have to go back and pick up my wine of the month, don't I?
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