Wine Country- Southern California

    Temecula, Southern California’s Wine Country

 

         If you have never heard of this area before, you are in league with us. We were only tipped off to the region, and its attractions, by neighbor’s in Amherst, who are friends of the owner of the John Renzoni Winery there. The valley, once called Rancho California, is located about 90 minutes southeast of Los Angeles and the same distance northeast of San Diego. It is back in the desert country, south of Big Bear Mountain and Palm Springs. All of these attractions run along the axis of U.S. Route # 15, that takes you through the desert of the American Southwest, from Las Vegas to San Diego. Temecula is native American for “The Place where the sun breaks through the mist.”

 

       We had set out from coastal San Clemente on a Monday morning, after visiting family in the region for two days. The direct route to Temecula from San Clemente is the “Ortega Highway” which runs due east from San Clemente. It is a two-lane circuitous roadway that winds through the hills and valleys on inland Southern California. My brother Bill had said “forget it.” The area is isolated and the traffic roars by you like a motor speedway laden with accidents. Following his good advice, we drove south on Route #5, exiting onto Rte. # 76 east and finally flowing Northbound Rte. # 15 into Temecula. The traffic was heavy for the middle of a Monday morning. We were to find out later that the area has doubled its population twice in the last twenty years, rising from a small desert community to the 117,000 souls who now reside here.

 

         A raised, iron archway spanned over and above the road, announcing “Old Town” Temecula, founded in 1887. The five-block stretch of Frontier St. is a series of gift shops, fancy eateries and other tourist attractions, many with a western motif, featuring cowboys and saloons. Sprinkled among them are Tex-Mex restaurants. In that the prime “season’ of the area runs from late May through October, the pedestrian population was light. We first oriented ourselves from our Holiday Inn hotel, further north, and then circled back to town, following the pleasant directions of the car’s GPS. What did we ever do before this marvelous invention?

 

       The GPS led us outward some twenty minutes, through lush subdivisions and arid hill country, out in to the “Wine Country.” There are 58 separate wineries in the area, with two or three opening every year. It seemed like all of the gently rolling hills were planted with the rows of grape vineyards. All were now bare, awaiting the first plantings in May and then a harvest of white grapes in August and the luscious reds later in September and October.

 

      Developers and terra formers had done a very good job in transforming this arid, semi-desert land, covered in scrub brush and string pine trees into a lush valley that much resembled Tuscany in Italy. Indeed, there were olive trees planted along the road ways and those tall, narrow spruce trees so prominent in Italy. The occasional flash of orange and yellow made you aware of orange and lemon groves planted amidst the grapes.

 

       The roads got a little rougher the further away from town you travelled. One stretch had a small sign that said “not maintained by County Highway Dept.” I wonder who did keep the rough road in shape? We espied several small horse ranches sprinkled amidst the wineries. The mix of western and chic wineries seemed like an apt combination. Finally, the GPS led us to our destination, The John Renzoni winery. The proprietor, Fred Renzoni, had hailed from the Buffalo area and was a friend of our Amherst neighbors. We promised them that we would stop by.

 

          It is a well-formed complex of vineyards and Tuscan/Adobe architecture. We settled in, to the large patio at the rear of the winery, and enjoyed Caesar salads and a glass of San Giovese wine. It was a pleasant stop. We missed meeting the owner, but left a note telling we had stopped by.

 

        After lunch, we retraced our way back into Old Town. It was sunny and a pleasant 65 degrees out. We walked up and down Frontier St, looking into the various gift shops and enjoying the day. At the “Espresso Presso” we stopped by for good Café au laits and biscotti.

The day was waning and we were tiring. We repaired to our room and settled in for the night. We had a chauffeured, four-winery tour scheduled for tomorrow by the “Grape Vine Tour Company.”

 

 

      The following morning, we stood outside of our hotel at ten O’clock, awaiting pickup by the tour van. Shortly, an 18 passenger, comfortable and A/C equipped tour bus scooped us up. Three women, who were staying at the nearby mega casino in Pechanga, were already on board. We made our introductions and then set out. Next, Mike picked up six guys from Kansas City and then several couples from Boston, Laguna Beach and Pittsburgh from various hotels tucked back in the wine country. One estate Winery, that of the Ponte Family, looked like an especially attractive place to refer guests to. Equipped with two restaurants, a pool and spacious wine tasting area, it looked comfortable amidst the arid hills. Finally, with a full complement of pilgrims, we set out.

 

      Our first stop on the tour was the Oak Mountain Winery. The extensive vineyards featured a cave complex that the owners had drilled out of the mountain. The ten-million-dollar project left them with ample storage space, for casked wine, that would withstand the heat of the Southern California's summer. It also reduced the amount of barrel evaporation from the casked wine. Normal loss can run to 9% of the barrel. At Oak Mountain they had reduce the loss which they called “Angel’s share” to 2%.

 

     After sampling a light, crisp Fiume Blanc, a fruitier Chardonnay and a rich, smooth and full bodied Temparillo in their spacious tasting area, we were ushered into “The cave.” Staff gave us a presentation about the winery, the area and how the grapes are planted and harvested. It was both interesting and informative. The harvested and fermented wine is casked in oak barrels for three years. The new barrels come from Hungary, France and Pennsylvania. All have different properties that leech into the variolous wines, enhancing their flavor and after taste. The barrels, holding 60 gallons of wine, can cost up to $2,200 each and are only used twice. The staffer told us that the wine industry provided $3 billion dollar to the California economy. Currently “Temecula” was listed as one of the top ten wine regions in the world to visit.

 

Lastly, we tried a “Cabernet/Franc.” It is a hybrid I had never heard of. It is a deep red, full-bodied and delicious. We also wolfed down several small pieces of bread, dipping them into the variously-flavored, olive oils provided. It is always wise to “carb up” when sampling wines and spirits.

 

Next, our driver collected us and we set out for the “Cougar Vineyards.” You could tell that all of the passengers were beginning to get a buzz on. The driver played some old songs, from the sixties and seventies, and got quite a sing along going. It would turn much more voluble later in the day.

 

At Cougar Vineyards, Mike had laid out a nice lunch for all of us in the barrel storage area. A salad, sandwich and a great brownie, topped off with a light red wine named “Nebollio” were delicious. We chatted with couples from Boston and Pittsburgh. There is a curious comradery that evolves with people from these cities who house AFL Teams. Perhaps it is a shared recognition of the passion from the sport and the individual excellence of the athletic performance that each recognized in the other. We all shared a humorous ribbing towards the Kansas City guys, whose team had just won the Super Bowl. John Mahomes performance had left all football fans in awe.

 

      In the Cougar Winery tasting area, we tried several of their varietals. “Estate Fallangino” is a light, crisp white, with the after taste of apples. The Multipulciano is a deeper red, with a smooth finish. The estate Primativo Zinfandel is a lighter and very tasty red. Finally, the San Giovese is a deep red, with a smooth finish and a pleasure to sample.

 

     After the tasting, all passengers were feeling in good spirits. We sat on the back patio, with couples from Pittsburgh and Boston, and had a lively conversation about a whole range of subjects, including immigration, politics and family life. It is a surprising collegiality, this confraternity of the befuddled.  I had grown up with it in the Buffalo taverns and always appreciated the bonding process. We were fortunate in that all of the pilgrims, that we travelled with on the tour, were affable, well-informed and interesting. It made the day much more enjoyable.

 

      It was already getting late in the day. We drove over to the Robert Renzoni winery nearby, where we had had lunch yesterday. This time we planted ourselves in the tasting room, and also enjoyed a brief conversation with Fred Renzoni, the owner. We passed along greetings from our mutual friends and complimented him on building such a fine establishment.

 

      “Fred’s Big Red” was our first sample. It was a blend of San Giovese and Zinfandel and is very tasty. Next, we tried the “estate San Giovese” for which the winery is justly proud. It is a deep red, very smooth and slightly dry wine that we much aappreciated. It is these noble grapes that form the blends from which “Chianti wine” is fermented. Next, we tried another Tempranillo, a wine we had first sampled in San Antonio, Texas. It is Spanish in origin. It is a deep-red, with a plumb aftertaste, that is just wonderful. Lastly, we sampled a Wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon. It is deep, and full bodied and lip smacking. You soon run out of adjectives for these tasty concoctions. And after several generous samplings, your praise becomes more voluble. The wine servers were all patient, very well informed about wine and pleasant to talk to.  It was 78 degrees out here in the desert on a sunny afternoon, as we waited for Mike to bring the chariot back for us. Several of our pilgrims were already in the bag, god bless them. A full day’s sampling entails imbibing at least a bottle of wine or more.

 

      From the Renzoni winery we drove, amidst the planted vineyards, to a surprise destination. Mike knew of a small hillock upon which rests a small petting zoo and a lady who makes chocolate. “The Sugar Plumb Petting” Zoo was a quick stop. We got to ogle a camel, two bovines, a few donkeys and zebras and a covey of various birds. A lazy, fat old pig lay across the door stop to the small home. A tiny shop offered chocolates for sale, which we dutifully purchased. The scenery all around us was azure skied with deep brown hills and picture-perfect western.

 

Our last stop for the afternoon was the Longshadow Ranch Winery. As we pulled into the western style ranch, we saw a few Belgian dray horses in open corrals. We walked over and admired these beautiful animals, cousins of the famous Clydesdales. We had visited their breeding stables in Austria and are much impressed with them.

 

Collectively, we bellied up to the Western style bar and sampled some more wine. A fruity and full-bodied Chardonnay was followed by a deep red San Giovese and a lighter and drier Merlot. Lastly, we double portioned a very tasty Tempranillo, as we talked with the couple from Laguna. The guy had gone to RPI in Troy, N.Y and worked in Manhattan for several years.

 

By now, it was after four P.M and the bus passengers were all pretty much in the bag. On the way back towards town, Mike played all the classic sing along songs, like Neil Diamond and 60’s/ 70’s favorites. The entire compliment sang lustily though, slightly off key. A few impromptu aisle dances broke out. It was a good finish to a nice day.

 

We dropped our comrades off, in reverse order, to “Europa” and the Ponte hotels. Mike said that Hilton, Marriott and another chain already had plans to build hotels out here in the vineyards. We again thought that the Ponte Estate would be the best place to refer friends.

 

The last group, before we got off, were staying at the Pechanga Casino complex south of town. It is enormous and is labeled the biggest resort in California. Thousands of rooms, entertainment venues, pools and 14 restaurants cater to its residents.

 

It was now after five P.M as Mike motored back through Old Town and headed to our hotel. We were mildly lit, but had been careful all day to eat food and drink water as we sampled the many tasty wines. We thanked Mike, tipped him liberally and then retired to our room, to write up my notes and watch the electoral results of the “Super Tuesday” Primary. It had been a very enjoyable tour, in the beautiful wine country of Southern California. I heartily encourage others to follow after us and see how much fun it is.

 

                                             -30-

                                      (2,242 words)

 

                                  Joseph Xavier Martin