Temecula Tasting Trip

A few weeks ago, I made a wine tasting trip out to Temecula with several friends. A friend of mine lives out in Temecula and has wanted us to come down for a while. After missing the first group outing down there, I decided it was time to try it out for myself. I’m not gonna lie that I was had a snobby attitude when it came to Temecula and the wine they produce down there. Of course, I’d never had a wine from Temecula prior to my trip there so my prejudice was unfounded, but now I’ve had a few wines from there so I can say a bit about what they’re doing down there.   We went to a few wineries that our host had scouted out for us. To say the least, I was not impressed. The wineries themselves were beautiful and they were crowded with people so there was a good feeling there among the people doing the tasting, but the people conducting the tastings did not leave me with such a good impression.
At the first winery, the woman pouring our wine only gave us the time of day when we yelled at her telling her what we wanted and only gave us her attention long enough to pour our wine, tell us it was good (without any further explanation) and mark our tasting card saying we’d had the wine in question. Now a great first stop for someone looking to learn about the area. I didn’t need her opinion or insight though- the wines weren’t great. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a tasting where I haven’t been the least bit tempted to buy a wine that I tried. This was the first. On the way out, we saw a woman passed out on a sofa in the tasting room. It was 1pm. The tasting room was beautiful as was the scenery, but the wine and the employees got a “F” in my book.
Tasting room number two was also beautiful. It was set on a gorgeous plot of land overlooking some of the vineyard, the tasting room was a little shack like building that was charming, and there was even a bocce court there! Also, the staff was friendly and helpful. Great start to the visit, but the wine couldn’t complete the picture of perfection. I tried the Sangiovese (I always try Sangiovese when I can). The Sangiovese was terrible. One of my friends accurately said that the wine smelled like urinal cakes. Picture it. Smell it. I tasted it. Luckily, the rest of my tasting was (slightly) better, but one of my friends tried a wine that was, without a doubt, the worst wine (or thing) I’d ever tasted. It tasted like grape juice mixed with gasoline. Not for me. On to the next stop.
Tasting room number three actually had decent wine. They made Italian style wine (that didn’t smell like urinal cakes). They had a beautiful set up (complete with big screens showing us college football). But, again, the staff disappointed me here. I tried the wines made in the Italian style, but was put off when the guy pouring my wine corrected me, not once, but twice on my pronunciation of Italian wine varietals. I speak Italian. I was saying the names of these wines correctly, and it may be snobby of me to say this, but that pissed me off and made me want to move on to the next one.
The last stop of the day was the one I was dreading. This last stop was one of those wineries that seem like they prey on suckers. They have wine tasting, but they are more a resort than anything. Complete with a spa and boutique hotel. Complete tourist trap wine establishment at its finest. I tried 8 or 9 wines here and was pleasantly surprised given what I’d tried up to this point. Still nothing that stood out to me as worthy of a purchase until I tried their desertish wines. The port was great. Maybe the best I’ve had from California. Their late harvest Riesling was also brilliant. I bought both, much to my own
surprise given the tastings I’d had that day. Still, I’m eager to try them and glad I found something other than the scenery and company to justify the trip down there.
With my day of tasting done, and after a few weeks of reflection, I’ve come to a few conclusions about Temecula. First, there is a reason that you don’t see wines from Temecula on the grocery store shelves. They just aren’t that good. Second, the wine world is small (but growing daily), but there is a reason that all the wine makers down there work in Temecula. They just aren’t that good at what they do. In an era where you can import grapes from hundreds of miles away to make wine with. In an era where you can make wine without growing grapes yourself. In an era that you can choose your ingredients from some of the best grape growing regions in the world, you still have to make wine from those ingredients. Making that wine isn’t easy even with quality ingredients, and they just don’t do it well in Temecula. Sure, this is a generalization, and a snobby one at that, but now that I’ve actually had a few wines from there, I can safely say that I will now avoid Temecula wine whenever possible.
I don’t want my negative post and view of Temecula’s wine to take away from my trip down there. It was phenomenal. My hosts were great. I had a wonderful dinner (orange chicken from a little outdoor restaurant while listening to live music). I got to experience the day with great friends, and I got to visit another wine region. All in all, it was a great day, I just wish the wines and the people serving me the wine were half as good as the company I had.