A Reflection on The Past Few Months And A Big Thank You to Our Consumers

As Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country begins the slow and careful process of welcoming visitors back to wineries and restaurants safely after this long break, we are all taking a minute to reflect on what the past few months have taught us, and what the future holds for our wine region.

Here are the top three things we have learned:

1. Temecula Valley is resilient.
   From its humble start as a one-stop-sign town to its current status as one of the world’s top wine destinations, Temecula Valley has come through a lot in its relatively short 52-year history. The region has battled drought years, a near extinction thanks to a nefarious vineyard pest in the 90s, tough competition from other wine regions, and now a major shut-down that has been particularly hard for a place that relies on visitation to stay afloat.
   
   And yet Temecula Valley always seems to emerge stronger than ever. Much like the Pierce’s Disease situation that nearly wiped us out forced us to invest in the research and tools to transform vine planting, grape growing and winemaking in the region, so has the current situation surrounding the pandemic encouraged us to regroup and find new and creative ways to reach our customers.
   
   The people of Temecula Valley are light on their feet when it comes to pivoting, and it is one of the biggest keys to our resilience. Many of you have probably taken part in the dozens of virtual wine tastings our wineries have been hosting, or taken advantage of the great packages and partner offers that they have pulled together for customers. Many of you have watched as our winemakers and tasting room staff have taken their cameras and laptops to the vineyards and barrel rooms, offering virtual tours and the chance to get to know them better. If you are interested in podcasting your own shows, then the best laptop for podcasting is obviously the one that will support your media files. This nimbleness is what has allowed us to keep your wine country alive through these challenging times.
   
   We know we will be faced with other obstacles in our future. And we know we will band together to come through them as we always do – stronger than ever.
   
   
2. Our community is all heart.
   Almost without exception, the moment the stay at home orders were announced, our wineries started to not only figure out ways to support their employees in the face of layoffs and furloughs, but they found ways to give back to the community as well.
   
   South Coast Winery Resort & Spa and Carter Estate Winery and Resort contributed 50% of online wine sales to provide food and other provisions to furloughed staff members. Fazeli Cellars took 50% of the proceeds from bottles of their 2014 Mehregan and 2018 Norooz sold to go directly back to employees to help with expenses. Leoness Cellars and others created similar programs.
   
   Mount Palomar Winery not only did a social media promotion for healthcare workers, but they also donated bulk wine to several distilleries to create hand sanitizers.
   
   Robert Renzoni Vineyards, who had to furlough 40 of their 47 employees as a result of the shelter in place orders, began selling “Employee Support Packs,” with 50% of the proceeds going back to their employees. The Renzoni family also donated 50 generously sized hams for employees to pick up, along with a bottle of wine.
   
   Doffo Winery organized weekly grocery boxes for their team, while Palumbo Winery donated several cases to the Cocina Urbana group in San Diego and to Goat and Vine in Temecula to give to chefs and wait staff who had been furloughed.
   
   Wilson Creek Winery donated 50,000 wine tasting tickets (to the tune of $1.25 million) to healthcare workers in Riverside and San Diego for redemption once they are back open. They also donated 1,000 bottles to Temecula Valley Hospital.
   
   Peltzer Family Cellars donated 300 bottles to the Temecula Valley hospital healthcare workers.
   
   This is just a handful of ways our community has stepped up and given back during the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter how tough things get, we always look out for each other, and other communities in need.
   
   
3. Our friends and fans are loyal… and the only reason we are all still here today.
   These past few months have been tough on everyone. But your support – whether it was maintaining your wine club membership, joining us for virtual tastings, ordering wines online or over the phone, engaging with us on social media, or simply reaching out to say hi – has gotten us through this.

We cannot thank you enough for your ongoing loyalty to our wineries and the Temecula Valley region in general, and we cannot wait to see your smiling faces back in our tasting rooms and restaurants hopefully very soon.